By

Debra Rich Gettleman

If you were asked to join a club founded by Chaim Weizmann, Martin Buber, Berthold Feiwel, and later joined by Albert Einstein, would you do it? Wait. Before you answer, what if the “club” was actually a technical learning institution, a university perhaps, that started in 1924 and would ultimately provide the moral, scientific, cultural and economic foundation for the Jewish homeland?

From the first class of 17 students in 1924 to the present, the Technion leads Israel and the world in building innovative technology, advanced medical breakthroughs, artificial intelligence, and previously unimaginable defense innovations. Considered “a light unto the nations,” the Technion has and continues to push science, engineering, and technology forward into unknown territory for Israel and the world.

As the Technion marks its centennial, they served breakfast here in Phoenix co-chaired by Dr. Daniel and Sharona Feller, Randi and Alan Jablin, and Julee Landau-Shahon and Robert Shahon. In addition to breakfast, we were served a fascinating program with Professor Moran Bercovici, a renowned scientist with a list of prestigious awards too numerous to mention (due to my word count limit). The youngest full professor at the Technion, Bercovici, a mechanical engineer, established and currently heads the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering’s Fluidic Technologies Laboratory.

While some of his technical content was beyond my grasp, (he spoke of spheres and gravity, pressure and polymers), I got the gist that he had figured out a way to shape liquid volumes into useful optical components. He basically discovered how to use liquid droplets to make eyeglasses, thereby revolutionizing the 300-year-old process of machine grinding that takes forever and due to its waste, is environmentally detrimental.

By the way, he also collaborates with NASA and is designing a space telescope that’ll exponentially surpass James Webb’s telescopic achievement whose focal length is a mere 131.4 meters.  Full disclosure, his accomplishments gave me some much-needed perspective on my morning’s Sudoko frustration.

Our keynote speaker that morning was New York Times and Wall Steet Journal bestselling author, Saul Singer. Whose wildly popular book, “Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle,” co-authored with Dan Senor has been translated into 35 languages.

Singer lectures around the world on what makes countries and companies innovative. Did you know Israel has more start-up companies per capita than anywhere in the world? In his new, already New York Times bestseller, “The Genius of Israel: The Surprising Resilience of a Divided Nation in a Troubled World,” also co-authored with Dan Senor, Singer unveils some fascinating insights into the relationship between happiness, resiliency, and nation growth. He also outlines some startling statistics on population replacement, which keeps countries young and growing, versus the US and most every other wealthy country’s descension into demographic collapse.

Singer described Israel’s vibrancy and resilience and pointed out how Israel shifted from the depths of division on October 6^th to the heights of unity on October 7^th. “We will win,” he said, “We have to win. But we must stay unified, or our strength will be sapped out of us.” Then he quoted beloved Fauda actor wounded in Gaza, Idan Amedi, and continued, “The Israelis are the strongest in the world, when we are united, we are invincible.”

To learn more about The Technion, visit their website.