FROM VISION TO REALITY Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence in Torah and Technology JCT Perspective Rosh Hashanah 5780 September 2019 Vol. 23 COMMENTARY Jerusalem College JCT’s future and Jerusalem’s future: an of Technology – inextricable connection Lev Academic Center As I reflect on the significance of JCT’s 50th anniversary, I’m reminded of a different milestone President that occurred two years ago: the 50th anniversary Prof. Chaim Sukenik of a reunified Jerusalem. Rabbinic Head th Rav Yosef Zvi Rimon Just like Jerusalem’s 50 , JCT’s 50th serves not only Rector as a time to celebrate, but as an unmistakable call Prof. Kenneth Hochberg to action. It is time to create a more equitable socioeconomic reality for all Director General residents of Israel’s eternal capital. Yosef Zeira Jerusalem has long been the poorest of Israel’s major cities — largely Vice President Stuart Hershkowitz because it has the country’s highest concentration of Arabs and Haredim, communities with disproportionately high poverty rates. Editor Rosalind Elbaum As Jerusalem is the center of the Jewish world, it is incumbent upon the Copy Editor Jewish people to help ensure a brighter future for vulnerable populations J Cubed Communications in this city. That imperative is at the heart of JCT’s institutional mission. Content Editor Debbie Ross Alongside 52 years of a reunified Jerusalem, JCT’s 50 years are defined by Staff our inspiring work to endow Israel’s underserved populations with the Ronit Kullok gifts of academia and employment. Indeed, from the Haredi community Tzipporah Eisen to Ethiopian-Israelis, JCT has pioneered academic solutions to acute Photography employment conundrums. Hudson Taylor, Shaxaf Haber, Michael Ehrenberg, Zikron Digital Our Haredi graduates have an 89% employment rate, including 77% in Design & Production their chosen field — far exceeding the roughly 50% employment rate Hagit Bodenstein - Swissa for Haredi men nationwide. We achieve this by providing the necessary Printing House academic support and resources to succeed in STEM disciplines, enabling Old City Press Ltd. our students to attain employment in the professions with the greatest demand for skilled labor in Israel’s job market. It is important to note that the views of the writers and the claims of the advertisers JCT also shatters the stereotype of women’s relative lack of interest in do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the College, nor are they to be seen as an STEM, as 53% of our computer science students are women — 18% higher endorsement by the College. JCT Perspective than any other Israeli college or university. reserves the right to edit accepted manuscripts as appropriate. Finally, our Reuven Surkis Program for Students from the Ethiopian Community helps young Ethiopian-Israelis improve their lives by allowing Jerusalem College of Technology – them to earn an academic degree and pursue careers in high-tech, Lev Academic Center business, and the Israel Defense Forces, producing graduates with a 95% Department of Development employment rate. and External Affairs P.O.Box 16031, Jerusalem 9116001 As we celebrate this momentous anniversary for JCT, let’s commit to doing Tel: 972-2-6751269 all we can to ensure a more prosperous future for the city of Jerusalem as Fax: 972-2-6751190 a whole. That means doubling down on the college’s mission to alleviate Email: [email protected] poverty, most prominently by supporting high-quality academics for Website: www.jct.ac.il/en Haredim, Ethiopians, and other vulnerable populations. Together, we will write an even more inspiring story for the next 50 years. Copyright 2019, JCT Perspective Material in this publication may not be reprinted without the prior consent of JCT Perspective. Volume 23 Printed in Israel Stuart Hershkowitz, Vice President 2 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Prof. Ze’ev Lev: a man of is the major effort we are making to address the Jewish state’s vision whose impact is severe shortage of nurses (Israel stands near the bottom of stronger today than ever the OECD in nurse-to-patient ratio). Our Nursing Department (ranked first by the Ministry of Health among its 24 peers th As JCT celebrates its milestone 50 nationwide) produces hundreds of BSN nurses each year and is anniversary, it is remarkable to witness pioneering the training of Nurse Practitioners in Israel. how the original vision of our founder, Prof. Ze’ev Lev, is both maintained and Through it all, JCT has also maintained the importance of amplified at our institution. Torah study as part of our DNA. Moreover, Prof. Lev himself staunchly believed in the centrality of the religious Zionist An Israel Prize-winning physicist and influential Torah scholar, dream. The religious atmosphere of our campuses that Prof. Lev emphasized in his writings the central importance results from the combination of these two values has also of training yeshiva students to be the State of Israel’s leaders made us the go-to destination for Israeli Haredim who wish in the military, academia, science, and industry. Today, his to benefit from the high-quality academics that provide words have proven prescient as JCT looks back on a half- a practical foundation for future employment. Today JCT century of producing scores of talented engineers and other functions as an indispensable bridge between not only alumni who have infused the IDF and Israeli start-ups alike Israel’s religious and high-tech communities, but also within with their values, high-tech prowess, and ingenuity. the religious community itself. In my capacity as JCT’s sixth Times have changed, yet the impact of Prof. Lev’s vision is president, I’m honored and humbled each day to watch Prof. Lev’s founding vision continue to reach greater heights. May more apparent than ever. JCT graduates continue to shine in the next 50 years be characterized by the same pioneering leadership roles in settings ranging from the technological spirit and sense of purpose, as we go Me’Chayil el Chayil – units of the IDF and of prominent defense contractors to from strength to strength. SpaceIL, the company that captured hearts and minds worldwide this year through Israel’s mission to the moon. Our alumni have spearheaded the development of crucial defense infrastructure like the Iron Dome and Arrow anti- missile systems, and have stood at the head of the IDF Prof. Chaim Sukenik, President satellite surveillance unit as well as the laboratory integrating the sensor data that uncovered terror tunnels from Gaza to Lebanon. Prof. Lev saw the need and JCT’s students delivered, using their unique training to pioneer the technologies that continue to ensure the safety of countless Israeli citizens. This is no accident. It reflects a notable aspect of Prof. Lev’s blueprint — a special sensitivity to the State of Israel’s greatest needs. When JCT’s Electro-Optics Engineering Department was launched in 1969, electro-optics was not Wishing you all even an accepted academic discipline. We were only the second institution of higher education in the world to teach this specialty. Today, the electro-optics expertise emanating a Happy from JCT’s campus holds the key to the high-speed communication and high resolution imaging capabilities that are the backbone of everything from Israel’s defense and Healthy sector to its booming tech start-up scene. While the study of electronics with a focus on low-voltage devices is an important activity at JCT and at other academic institutions, in light of Israel’s shortage of high-voltage engineers, in Ne w Year recent years we have opened a special track to fill this need as well. Extending beyond engineering, the same vision emanates from other programs at the college. An outstanding example of this 3 FLYING TO THE MOON The scientific and spiritual success to us that there won't be any procedures on Shabbat that story of Israel’s lunar mission were not approved by the Chief Rabbi. We used technological innovations that were designed by JCT and the College Although it did not have a “soft landing,” Israel’s lunar mission provided us with keyboards and mice which can be operated in April was still a tremendous accomplishment, as it made through a grama (an indirect action which involves a less the Jewish state only the seventh nation to orbit the moon. serious violation of Shabbat). Additionally, we instructed the Moreover, the Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL achieved lunar orbit staff to do only what is strictly necessary to ensure the safety through the Beresheet spacecraft while working with what of Beresheet on Shabbat and no more." experts widely considered a shoestring budget of $100 million. Rabbi Dahan said that "working with the staff of Beresheet JCT graduate Ariel Gomez, a senior system engineer at SpaceIL, has been a wonderful experience. I feel that I'm dealing played a major role in making this historic moment a reality. with heavenly matters in the double meaning of the word. Not only was Ariel responsible for keen components of the Witnessing Jewish people working together on the project project, but he was also involved in the research, consultation has been a very meaningful experience. We can truly be and technology needed to minimize the violation of Shabbat proud of the Jewish nation." while simultaneously ensuring the continued safety of the spacecraft. Gomez consulted another JCT graduate — Rabbi Shraga Dahan, former head of the IDF’s Beit Midrash — regarding how to operate Beresheet on Shabbat. "The head of staff of Beresheet is a Chabad chassid and avoiding the violation of Shabbat is very important to him," Gomez said. "In our contract with the American company, there's a clause that the launch won't take place on Shabbat." He continued, "We saw Beresheet's mission as a mission of the entire Jewish people and therefore it was very important Earlier this year, Jews in Israel and worldwide bubbled JCT has played a major role in developing these with anticipation as the Israeli non-profit SpaceIL’s significant and even life-saving technologies.