In this fast-moving world, you don’t get
anywhere just by standing still and you achieve little if you simply “go with
the flow”. Israeli entrepreneurs,
innovators and those concerned with the welfare of others recognize that to
succeed they need to steer their own course and overcome major challenges to
arrive at their destination.
In the 1970s Israeli citizens Arieh Warshel
and Michael Levitt overcame the challenge of combining physical chemistry with
quantum theory when they developed computer models for predicting the
flow of chemical processes.
Their work won a share of the 2013
Nobel Prize for Chemistry, an honor that has been awarded previously to
four Israelis. Both Professors had strong links to Israel’s Weizmann
Institute’s in common with an (unnamed) high-flyer nanotechnology
doctoral student whose challenge is to juggle five days a week behind a
microscope with one day as a reservist fighter pilot soaring across Israeli
skies.
Jewish student David Fintzi found himself
up against the flow of electricity when he leaned out of a train window in
Romania. He struck an electric cable and 27,000
volts flowed through his body. He was close to death when the Jewish
Agency flew him to Jerusalem’s Hadassah hospital, where a medical miracle took
place. David’s was just one of 137,142
emergency cases that Hadassah has handled during the last 12 months. The total flow
of patients reached almost one million, including 10,971 newborn
babies. Meanwhile, Israeli hospitals
continue to struggle with the flow
of wounded Syrians. Last week
the IDF brought in the 124th victim to the Ziv (Sieff) Medical Center – over
300 having been treated in Israel overall.
A flow
of light illuminated World Sight Day with Israel21c’s summary of the 10
top contributions that the “Light to the Nations” has made towards alleviating
the challenges of the visually impaired. They include implants, keyboards, a
smartphone for the blind, electronic spectacles and cameras. We should see a tremendous flow
of brainwaves at the first-ever International Brain Technology
Conference in Tel Aviv. President Shimon Peres will present a check for $1
million to whoever can demonstrate the most exciting neuroscience development
in order to win the Global B.R.A.I.N. (Breakthrough Research And Innovation in
Neurotechnology) contest. The finalists
have all initiated projects that will ultimately benefit humanity.
Israel is literally overflowing with
companies and innovations that have overcome the challenge of the world’s
limited water resources. Israel’s latest
water
technology breakthroughs will be publicized at Tel Aviv’s
internationally acclaimed WATEC
2013 conference later this month.
An example of Israel’s success in water conservation is seen from the 20
percent increased yield of this year’s date crop in the Arava desert
region. The 7,500 tons has been
achieved with a corresponding 20 percent reduction
in water consumption.
Brian Sandoval, governor of the US
State of Nevada, has already consulted Israel’s national water company,
Mekorot, and has just visited Israel’s Negev desert to learn how using Israeli
technology could rejuvenate Nevada’s farming industry. I hope Governor Sandoval meets Yoni and
Shoshana Rappeport who are making the Negev desert bloom with Argan trees. They
have already planted 1000 trees that will eventually produce fruit from which rich, nutritious Argan oil
will flow. Yoni and Shoshana
are now preparing the land for planting another 1000 saplings in the spring.
Drivers frequently have to struggle against
the flow of busy city traffic. They are then faced with the problem of parking
their car. Israel’s Anagog helps
with this challenge by monitoring mobile phone sensors to detect
parking spaces that are about to be vacated – in real time. Anagog
is now working with Finland’s PARX, the owner of Easy Park, which has
users in 130 countries.
Staying on the road, when Shai Rishoni was
a fast-flowing Israeli cyclist he decided to bring the Italian endurance cycle
race Gran
Fondo Giro d’Italia to Jerusalem.
Then in 2011 Shai had to struggle with another challenge when he was
diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease).
He continued his quest and on 11
Oct 2013 it all happened. The
event also raised funds for ALS research.
I hope Stephen Hawking reads this.
Israel’s economy has its ebbs and flows,
but last week there were at least four pieces of positive news:
-
A net inflow
of foreign currency resulted in an all-time record for the Bank of
Israel’s reserves.
-
Increased flows
of Canadian tourists to Israel are expected following a new aviation
agreement.
-
Funding for Israeli start-ups continues
to flow thanks to the US Israel Business Council’s latest New York City
road show.
Finally, Private Or Meidan went against
the flow in an Abrahamic kind of way when she left her Ugandan
birthplace to follow her Israeli stepfather to Israel in 2011. She is joining the IDF’s Nativ program to
convert to Judaism and operates the Iron Dome missile defense system to save
the lives of all citizens of Israel.
Israel’s positive news continues to
flow. Our challenge is to get it to the
right destination.
Michael Ordman writes a free weekly
newsletter containing Good News stories about Israel.
For a free subscription, email a request to
michael.goodnewsisrael@gmail.com
