JONATHAN ROSENBLUM How It All Began way through both college and law school. themselves in disagreement about how to Dr. Avraham Mattisyahu (Mati) Fuss, By the time he founded the Mercaz proceed. Interestingly, it was Dr. Fuss, who z”l, a successful international commercial Chareidi Institute of Technology, he had had never learned in mainstream Israeli lawyer, went to college at long since escaped the poverty of his yeshivos, who insisted that the first step, University, earned a doctorate in Jewish youth; but from the large number of without which nothing else could history, and received a law degree from collectors who came to his door soliciting proceed, was to gain the haskamos of the New York University. funds just to feed their families, he knew Gedolim. Weinberger feared that formal He had, however, grown up in poverty well how rampant poverty was in the haskamos for what was at that time a and knew its bitter taste. He worked his chareidi community. And he was totally innovative idea would not be determined to do something about it. easily obtained. The best that he hoped When Dr. Tzvi Weinberger, his old for was that the Gedolim would offer their friend and classmate from tacit support for the idea by their silence. Rabbeinu Yaakov Yosef, approached him But Dr. Fuss didn’t agree. Precisely for legal assistance in setting up a small because the idea of vocational training high-tech company in 1994, Dr. Fuss told for chareidim was so new, he knew that it him to put the company on hold and would never succeed without the explicit assist him in setting up a vocational support of the Gedolim. And he trusted training center for chareidi men. Dr. their sagacity and daas . Weinberger was eminently suited for the Dr. Weinberger first approached his task; he was at that time the president of longtime Rav, Mordechai Shlomo the College of Technology, had Steinmetz, a Vizhnitzer in Har Nof, learned as a bachur in Yeshivas Chevron, for his opinion. To his great surprise, and held a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Rabbi Steinmetz greeted the idea with Institute of Technology (MIT). great enthusiasm and agreed to present the concept to Harav Yosef Shalom Gaining the Support Elyashiv, shlita. Of the Gedolim Rav Elyashiv supported the plan and Dr. Weinberger agreed to help, but the even appointed two other respected two friends immediately found Rabbanim to join Rabbi Steinmetz on the

(Above) Dr. Mattisyahu Fuss Harav Chaim(Above) Kreiswirth, Dr. Maƫ z”lsyahu, Chief Fuss Rabbi of Antwerp,Harav visiting Chaim Mercaz Kreiswirth in its z”learly, Chief Rabbi years. of Antwerp , visiƟng in Mercaz in its early years.

30 Hamodia May 9, 2012 rabbinical board of the proposed center: his son-in-law, Rabbi Yosef Yisraelson, zt”l, and, ybl”c, Rabbi Shmuel Eliezer Stern, a leading member of the beis din of Rabbi Shmuel Wosner, shlita. Rabbi Yerachmiel Boyer, who was then the mayor of Bnei Brak, approached Rabbi Elazar Menachem Man Schach, zt”l, for his approval, which was also forthcoming. That which had been deemed impossible just a few months earlier had been achieved, especially after Dr. Fuss guaranteed that at every stage of the process he would comply with whatever rabbinical conditions were placed on the new Mercaz. Thus, no man was allowed to sign-up for the new program unless he was at least twenty-three or had received a letter from his Rosh Yeshivah or Rosh Kollel stating that the program would be suitable for him. All classes are given in the evenings so that the students could continue learning Dr. Zvi Weinberger at graduation ceremony. in kollel. Dr. Fuss also insisted that there be no beis medrash or designated room for generally outnumbered the men, though brings groups of students twice a week to prayer at the center, in order to emphasize the numbers are moving closer to parity pursue academic studies in a fully chareidi that Mercaz Chareidi was purely a with each passing year. environment. vocational center and not some sort of Today, Mercaz Chareidi operates five At present, Mercaz Chareidi offers amalgam of secular and religious studies. campuses — in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, thirty different courses, though some are Haifa, Ashdod, and Modiin Ilit, with the only available in Jerusalem and Bnei The Institute Takes Off largest in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak. The Brak. These vary from a one-year course Once the crucial rabbinic approbations student body for the current academic leading to certification as a medical were obtained, Dr. Fuss took out his year is over 1,800 (55 percent women and secretary to three-year courses in checkbook and wrote a check for $10,000. 45 percent men). That number has tripled architecture or construction engineering. He would eventually raise or donate over the last four years. (Most of the male students in the latter millions of dollars to the center. The success of Mercaz Chareidi drew courses also require a parallel six-month The Mercaz Chareidi Institute for the attention of the Israeli Council on preparatory program to make up for gaps Technology opened its doors on the Higher Education (MALAG), which in their secular education in mathematics campus of Boys Town in Jerusalem’s Bayit approached Dr. Fuss about the possibility and English.) Mercaz Chareidi is unique Vegan neighborhood in 1996. All of establishing a chareidi college that among those institutions primarily beginnings are hard, and this one was to would offer academic programs from serving the chareidi community in that all prove no exception. The first class Israel’s major universities. Once again, its courses are approved by the Israeli consisted of thirty-five men, and the only after gaining the approval of the government and involve nationally course offerings were limited to Gedolim did Dr. Fuss proceed with this administered exams. bookkeeping and graphic design. project. Prior to registration, each student takes Dr. Fuss soon realized that it made no Today the chareidi college, Mivhar, a thorough aptitude test and has a sense economically to utilize the facilities offers B.A. programs (and some M.A. personal interview to determine such of Mercaz Chareidi only at night, and the programs) in social work and a number of factors as inclinations, degree of next year he opened training programs different types of therapy. It shares a Bnei commitment, and salary aspirations. for women during the day. There was a Brak campus with Mercaz Chareidi and Though the courses are subsidized, tuition significant demand for the women’s serves approximately 1,500 students. At payments of six hundred shekels a month courses, and the women students have least one prominent Jerusalem seminary still represent a substantial commitment

Hamodia Inyan Magazine 17 Iyar 5772 31 on the part of the students, most of whom community and helped to refute some only six months, have proven capable of already have families. So it is important prevalent myths. One of those myths was providing students with a working to Mercaz Chareidi to ensure that each that the lack of background in knowledge of English that enables them student will be able to complete his or her mathematics and English — most chareidi to read and comprehend texts, and the chosen course and to use the education to men end their formal math training in equivalent of a three- or four-point high- secure employment. eighth grade and know no English — school matriculation exam in math. The school makes an effort to keep represented an insurmountable barrier to Several students I interviewed said that abreast of the job market and to offer success in technical fields, especially those their instructors have frequently been courses that meet current demands. The where many of the textbooks are in amazed by the rapidity with which they Bnei Brak center, for instance, recently English, such as computer programming pick up the math, even those who started added an industrial design course. Great and networking. with severe deficits — a claim that the emphasis is placed on hiring instructors Students at Mercaz Chareidi have lecturers confirmed. A chassid from Beitar who are active in their fields and have consistently scored in the upper Ilit said that he waited for eight years for extensive experience. For the medical percentiles on national exams for Mercaz Chareidi to offer a civil secretary course, for example, almost all certification in their fields, sometimes engineering course for a second time. He the teachers are doctors. dramatically so. Recently, the students in would not take the course any place else, the construction engineering program but he did not give up on his dream. He Refuting the Stereotypes received grades among the highest added, with a twinkle in his eye, that he From the very beginning, Mercaz median scores on a national test on the and his fellow students often do better on Chareidi demonstrated the untapped properties of cement. the more difficult math tests than on the economic potential of the chareidi The preparatory courses, which run easier ones. “We like a challenge and

MosheThe women’s Lieberman, industrial Mercaz design graduate workshop recieving studio. (Inset) outstanding Course coordinatorinnovaƟve Achiaemployee Grizim. award.

32 Hamodia May 9, 2012 Sir Ian Gainsford examining a therapist’s device created for Aleh (disabled children) by women’s Industrial design students Malam purchased Sapirtech, a software company started by Oren Amar, a Mercaz graduate.

Judaica created in Industrial Design course

study harder for the hard tests,” he said. expensive British computer program served him well, and within a few One of the center’s early graduates, proved incompatible with a specific months Lieberman had unraveled the Moshe Lieberman, is a chassid and father military platform, Lieberman asked if he problem. For his efforts, he received of five. After graduating from the could work on the problem, whose Elta’s award for employee innovation. It computer programming course in 2002, solution had already eluded the leading was the first of eight such awards he was employed by Elta Systems, a major experts in the department. His boss was Lieberman would garner from the Israeli defense contractor located in his only too happy to delegate this thankless company. town. His immediate supervisors initially task to him. Oren Amar, another graduate of seemed less than enthusiastic about his The ability to concentrate for long Mercaz Chareidi’s advanced computer arrival and told him that they did not periods of time on a single topic, which he programming course, set up his own have that much for him to do. When an had gained in years of study, software company, Sapirtech, based on a payroll program that he developed. The 2012 graduation in Jerusalem. (R-L) Rabbi Yosef Perl chairman; Rabbi Avraham M Horen, Sapirtech was subsequently bought out CEO; Rabbi Yitzchok Pindurss,deputy mayor of Jerusalem; Rabbi Yehuda Fuss, board member and son of founder. by a major software firm, Malaam, and Amar asked to stay on to run one of the new parent company’s divisions. Only a few years after her graduation from the architecture program in 2003, Miriam Lefkowitz won a commission to design a new shopping center in Ramat Beit Shemesh. Graduates like Lieberman, Amar, and Lefkowitz, of course, are not the norm, nor would they be even if we were discussing MIT. But they do serve to highlight how much talent exists in the chareidi community and the success Mercaz Chareidi programs have had in unleashing that potential.

Inyan Magazine 17 Iyar 5772 33 Lives Changed about an unkempt woman who came to depression. Several years later, Mrs. Statistics on Mercaz Chareidi’s Mercaz Chareidi about eight years ago. Epstein attended a bar mitzvah in this thousands of graduates convey only part Her appearance and demeanor cried out, family. The mother of the bar mitzvah boy of the story. It took a recent visit to a “Nebach.” The aptitude tests did little to was unrecognizable as the same woman women’s graduation program in change that assessment. Hoping to who had come into her office a few years Jerusalem for us to fully appreciate the prevent her from wasting money on a earlier. She had blossomed, and her entire center’s impact on its students. There were course in which she was unlikely to family along with her. 157 graduates as opposed to 95 only a succeed, Mrs. Epstein tried to tell her gently I was unprepared for the passion with year earlier, and many of their final that while she undoubtedly had many which the women discussed their projects projects were displayed around the room. talents, they were not in the areas in at the Jerusalem graduation ceremony. While the desire to contribute to their which the center was offering courses. The One recent immigrant from France gave families’ economic well-being was no young woman began to cry and insisted me an enthusiastic tour of a model of a doubt the initial impetus for the women to that her social worker had sent her to multilevel store for natural health undertake long and taxing training Mercaz Chareidi to study. products, on which she had obviously programs, it was clear that a love of what As soon as she mentioned the social given free rein to her imagination. In they were doing had sustained them worker, Mrs. Epstein knew she had no rapid-fire French-inflected Hebrew, she throughout their studies. choice but to accept the woman. She explained how form meshed with content Mrs. Bracha Gutterman, head of the placed her in an office management in the various sections of her health Mercaz Chareidi women’s program in course, one of Mercaz Chareidi’s less products outlet. Bnei Brak and of the Mivhar women’s challenging offerings. The young woman A younger woman showed me her division, insists that more important than worked hard to succeed and formed a model of a beis din in which no detail had greater earning capacity is the elevated close connection with her instructor, which been overlooked. She told me how she and self-confidence the women achieve. Most she still maintains. Within weeks, there her husband, an outstanding avreich, had already have children, and they are no was a palpable change in her entire visited batei din before she developed the longer in the position of seminary girls appearance and bearing. design in order to understand the who can give their total attention to their Mrs. Epstein subsequently learned that requirements of such a building. The studies. When they overcome their initial both the young woman and her husband thought she had invested to create a fear of studying large quantities of came from respected families. A series of highly efficient and pleasant environment material and discover the joy of mastering tragedies had turned their immediate for both dayanim and litigants was evident a new body of knowledge, their entire family into a “social services case.” But as in every detail, down to the basement bearing changes, says Mrs. Gutterman. the mother grew in confidence, especially archives. Mrs. Rivka Epstein, who heads the after she found employment, she lifted the A third architecture graduate, married women’s divisions in Jerusalem and Haifa, whole family with her, including her to a kollel student and living in one of the shared a story that confirms this. She tells husband, who had fallen into a Poalei Agudah settlements close to the

The Chani and Yehuda Neuberger Computer Lab.

34 Hamodia May 9, 2012 Mediterranean coast, has been very gratified to find that she has succeeded in changing the way religious Jews are perceived in her workplace. The woman who hired her, a secular architect, is now eager to employ other graduates of Mercaz Chareidi, so impressed has she been by her first employee’s training, work ethic, and pleasant manner. The walls of the graduation room were papered with displays of advertising material produced by the graphics graduates for various imaginary businesses. One of the most visually arresting ads featured brightly colored An architectural model of a library designed by a Mercaz student. macaroon-like cookies. As beautiful as the colors were, I could not imagine myself that in the forty-eight hours before our abilities rather than on his relationship eating blue, green, and pink cookies. The conversation he had slept only two hours with his boss. One of the computer young woman who had created the ads, because he was working on his monthly instructors told me that he has recently however, assured me that such cookies are project — outside of kollel hours. seen a marked upswing in the number of very popular in France and that her Nor is the pressure just a matter of chareidim who already have some basic campaign was for a real business she had sleep deprivation. After our talk, we joined familiarity with computers, and that is started in Bayit Vegan, where there is a a design class for second-year students in certainly true for Mordechai, who has large population of recent immigrants which two instructors were ripping apart a been busy taking apart and fixing from France. plan for a shopping area submitted by computers since he was fifteen. He has another chassid. I leaned over and asked always been able to solve problems and In Their Own Voices the man I’d just interviewed whether his fix things, but he appreciates having been I did not attend a graduation ceremony friend would be able to benefit from such trained in a systematic approach to for men or have an opportunity to review withering criticism. addressing work challenges. He spoke their final projects, but I did spend hours “He’ll have to,” he replied. “We are not confidently of the future; he also at the Jerusalem branch of Mercaz here just to receive degrees but to be able mentioned a Chassidic friend who also Chareidi speaking to students and to work, hopefully one day in our own studied networking and has already been lecturers. Without those conversations one offices. If you want to work, you have to invited to Microsoft’s Washington state cannot really appreciate what the Mercaz attract clients, and to do that you have to headquarters five times. He clearly expects is about and the complexity of the be really good.” nothing less for himself. decisions students must make. The week after that interview I spoke to My first interviewee, a chassid from the two lecturers in that design course and Plans and Dreams Boro Park who has a heter horaah, commented that they had been pretty The Mercaz Chareidi Institute of described many of the tensions. His father rough on their students. They explained Technology was not only the first is a maggid shiur, and he himself has been that when presented with an empty advanced institution to provide technical learning in kollel for thirteen years since space, one must consider all the training for the chareidi community, it has marriage. Still, he realized that he and his possibilities; he cannot imitate others but remained the leader in the field. From its wife have no hope of ever purchasing an must think for himself. The point of their first class of thirty-five students, it has apartment unless he too is contributing criticism is to help students learn how to grown into a center that now serves 1,846. financially. Even more important, he analyze the possibilities for a given space, Plans are under way for another campus would like his wife, who works in a and that requires rigorous dissection of a in Beit Shemesh and an in-house job government office’s computer unit, to be project. placement center to make sure that able to spend more time with their Mordechai has six children and was students find employment in their fields. children, just as his mother did. working as a kashrus supervisor before Some dreams do come true. Dr. As difficult as it was to make the starting his computer networking course. Avraham Mattisyahu Fuss dreamed of decision to begin architectural studies, he He wanted a profession that would stretch providing chareidim with the tools to fulfill confesses that he had no idea what kind of him intellectually and where he felt their aspirations. And that has happened pressure would be involved. He told me advancement would be dependent on his beyond his wildest imagination. ]I

Hamodia Inyan Magazine 17 Iyar 5772 35