Judah Folkman (1933-2008): The Rabbi-like Doctor Judah Folkman
(1933-2008): The Rabbi-like Doctor MARK B. ABELSON, MD • ARTHUR
H. NEUFELD, PHD Success and innovation in science are guided by
many things, but persistence, constant learning, and noticing
what others overlook may be the most important skills of a
scientist. In a 1999 interview, Judah Folkman, MD, mentioned
that, as a child, every night during dinner his parents asked
him and his siblings what they learned that day and showed rapt
interest in what their children had to say — as if their
children's new knowledge was new to them too. He was also
influenced by his teachers, who often challenged their students
to think of solutions outside of those provided by the
textbook.1 On trips to the hospital with his father, a rabbi,
the young Judah observed that doctors had the chance to directly
affect a patient's health. When he told his father, that he
wanted to be a doctor, his father said, "So you can be a rabbi-
like doctor." These childhood lessons of