Celebrating Israeli icons: Judea Pearl

The story of the Pearl family is one of accomplishment marked with senseless tragedy. A family of intelligence, science, creativity, and philosophy that met the worst of human barbarism in a very personal way.

When you discuss Judea Pearl, there are two men to talk about. The first is the noted academic and computer scientist who is responsible for some of the most important advances in the field of Artificial Intelligence. The other is the father of slain Jewish reporter Danial Pearl, kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in 2002. 

Judea was born in Tel Aviv in 1936. A gifted and curious student, Judea enrolled in the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology where he would first be exposed to the systems and computers that would become his life's work. He studied there until graduating with a B.S. In Electrical Engineering in 1960 before moving to the United States for further education at the Newark College of Engineering and Rutgets University. 

It was in America where Judea's career accelerated. He became a prolific academic, publishing hundreds of scientific papers on emerging technologies and leaving his own mark on the field. In the field of superconductivity, an off-shoot of quantum mechanics, the term "Pearl vortex” is named after his own theories and contributions to the literature. In 1965 he published Vortex Theory of Superconductive Memories, a seminal work in the field. He joined the faculty of UCLA in '69 where he still teaches today as the director of the Cognitive Systems Laboratory.

Judea's work dives into areas of science and reason that few people comprehend. An expert in Bayesian networks, a kind of complex statistical model for determining probability, causality, the multidisciplinary and highly abstract study of how and why events occur, and artificial intelligence, Judea has been at the very forefront of scientific through for the past 60 years. He has spent his career breaking down the fundamental questions of not only how our world works, but how we perceive it to work and why. 

While the stereotype of a UCLA scientific alumni may suggest that Judea would be a heartless atheist, driven only by what can be seen under a microscope, the reality is far from that. Judea mixes science with philosophy, recognizing the value of traditional Jewish beliefs, the importance of daily prayer, tefillin, and Kiddush. In addition to his academic writing, Judea has also published works on morality and the need to identify right from wrong in a very human way.

It is likely this background that has allowed him and his wife Ruth to take the devastating crime committed against their son and turn it to a force for good.

In 2002, while working as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, investigating links between the "shoe bomber” Richard Reid and Al-Qaeda, Daniel Pearl was kidnapped by Pakistani terrorists. 

Held for nine days, the terrorists sent the US government a series of bizarre and unrealistic demands in exchange for Daniel's release. During this time, his captors filmed and released images of them abusing and threatening Daniel, forced him to repeat anti-Israeli and anti-US propaganda at gunpoint, and subjected him to a series of ludicrous accusations, insisting the journalist was actually a "Jewish spy.”

Despite his grave situation, Daniel retained his composure and even while being threatened and made to repeat propaganda showed glimmers of defiance. In the tapes, Daniel references his family's Jewish heritage and in particular notes that a street in Beni Bark that was named after his grandfather. While the statement seems to be an obscure tangent, Judea Pearl would later interpret it as an attempt of his son's to reference the Jewish tradition of city building and creation as opposed to the nihilism and violence of his captors. 

After nine days of hellish captivity, Daniel was executed by beheading. His death filmed as an attempt to intimidate Western governments and Jewish citizens around the world.

That would not be Daniel's legacy however.

Judea and Ruth Pearl took their grief and heartache at murder of their son and channeled it towards a productive defiance of hate. They called on artists, scholars, and rabbis across the world to send their thoughts and responses to the crime and published them in a collected volume entitled I am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl.

Since then, in addition to his academic work, Judea has also been a voice in social advocacy. He and his wife Ruth established the Daniel Pearl Foundation to forward the cause of fearless journalism, and the quest for peace around the world. 

Judea's writings and personal work has focused on improving relations and establishing a dialogue between Muslims and Jews. Co-existence and peace are at the forefront of his thoughts, but so is justice. Judea draws clear lines between the need for tolerance and understanding versus those who allow themselves to become apologists for barbarity and hatred. It is a frank and honest approach to what has become a dialog mired in half-measures and exceptions.