9 minute read
GLOBAL INNOVATOR TO VISIT
AROUND THE COMMUNITY
AUSTRALIAN FRIENDS OF HEBREW UNIVERSITY
Global innovator and changemaker to visit Australia
Professor Yaakov “Koby” Nahmias is an Israeli biomedical engineer and entrepreneur. After serving as a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, Nahmias now calls The Hebrew University of Jerusalem home.
In the last decade, Nahmias has raised more than $12 million in competitive research funding. He is the founder of Future Meat Technologies, a global leader in cultured meat (meat grown in a laboratory) and Tissue Dynamics, a drug development company. Arguably, these two firms do more for the environment, as well as finding alternatives to animal experimentation, than most companies.
Ahead of his upcoming Australian visit, The Jewish Report spoke with Professor Nahmias.
Why did you make Hebrew University your home?
The Hebrew University is Israel’s number one university. It consistently ranks in the world’s top 100. I was offered an opportunity to build a centre for bioengineering. I couldn’t pass up the chance to build something new.
Hebrew U offers the freedom to seek accomplishments in academia and
Professor Yaakov Nahmias
beyond. The university supports student and faculty innovation more than most other institutions in the world.
Why should potential students choose to study at Hebrew U?
Hebrew U counts eight Nobel laureates among its faculty members and graduates. The student body is diverse and inclusive, offering ample opportunities for international students.
What has been your favourite moment at Hebrew U?
Every year, it is the first day of class – standing in front of 180 students, introducing myself and starting to teach them the basics of human physiology.
What has been your biggest research breakthrough at Hebrew U?
One? We have had more than 20 patents over the last decade and quite a few research papers in the scientific journal Nature Cell Biology. The most recent work is always the most exciting. Recently, we identified a new mechanism of arrhythmia in human micro-hearts.
It is always exciting to rewrite important chapters in textbooks … changing the basic understanding of human physiology.
At the invitation of the Australian Friends of Hebrew University (AUSTFHU), Professor Nahmias will be visiting Australia later this year. He will appear at two public functions – in Sydney on 4th December and in Melbourne on 8th December.
For details and more information, please contact the AUSTFHU National office on (02) 9389 2825 or email austfhu@ austfhu.org.au
Australian Friends of The Hebrew University
Our passion for progress
MISHPATIM 2023
SEMINAR IN ISRAELI AND INTERNATIONAL LAW
9 JANUARY -2 FEBRUARY 2023
The Mishpatim Seminar on Israeli and International law aims to provide Australian students with an overview of the contemporary Israeli legal system and explore current issues at the core of the Israeli legal debate.
The seminar is conducted exclusively in English with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. JD and LLM students are eligible to apply.
Applications close 15 November 2022
Cost of the program
Application fee: USD$120 Course: USD$2430
For more details contact
02 9389 2825 study@austfhu.org.au
OUR COMMUNITY YOUR PAPER
Be part of it! Share your news, advice, updates, opinions and ideas. www.thejewishreport.com.au
JUDAICA QUIZ
RABBI DAVID FREEDMAN
A heartfelt thank you to readers who have reached out to say just how much they enjoyed answering the dedicated Rosh Hashanah edition quiz at so many Yom Tov tables recently. The positive feedback is received with thanks!
Rabbi David Freedman is back with a fresh quiz – once again he effortlessly dips and dives into the global Jewish landscape of past and present. You’ll find your ‘Yiddishe Kop’ – your mental agility, stretched in the best possible way!
Explore literature; history; geography; the bible; the arts, sport and so much more – all viewed through a Jewish lens.
Enjoy! 1. Which year was the Sydney Chevra Kadisha founded? a) 1789 b) 1809 c) 1817 2. The Source is a historical novel by James A. Michener. It is a survey of the history of the Jewish people and the Land of Israel from pre-monotheistic days to the birth of the modern State of Israel. James Michener was a member of which religious group?
3. The National Theatre of Israel is known in Hebrew as what? 4. Salo Baron (May 26, 1895 – November 25, 1989) was a Polish-born American Jew, described as the greatest Jewish: a) Economist b) Historian, or c) Ventriloquist of the 20th Century? 5. Eugenio Pacelli signed an agreement with Adolph Hitler in 1933. He died in 1958. Of which country was he the head of state? 6. Galei Tchelet Street is considered to be the most luxurious and most expensive street in Israel. Where is it located? 7. Eliyahu Korngold was born in Nuremberg in 1907 and displayed a rare artistic talent from an early age. After studying at the Gymnasium, Korngold attended the Kunstschule der Stadt Nurnberg, the city's School of Graphic and Applied Art, completing a six-year course of graphic art, applied art, and stained glass in three years. After coming to Israel in 1933, he changed his name and by the early 1960s, began to work on what would become his most significant work. He was committed to publishing a Hebrew Bible designed, edited, printed, and bound by Jews—something that had not been accomplished in nearly 500 years. What was the name of the company he founded? 8. The following three quotes are attributed to which Jewish-American actor, director and writer?
i) “I'm not afraid of death; I just don't want to be there when it happens.” ii) “I don't want to achieve immortality through my work; I want to achieve immortality through not dying. I don't want to live on in the hearts of my countrymen; I want to live on in my apartment.” iii) “You can live to be a hundred if you give up all the things that make you want to live to be a hundred.” 9. Who in the Bible is said to have been buried in an aron (a coffin or box) in Egypt? 10. The Me'am Lo'ez initiated by Rabbi Yaakov Culi in 1730, is a widely studied commentary on the Tanakh. In which language was it originally written? 11. Which of the following statements are correct? a) The Bible is the best-selling book in history b) China produces the most bibles in the world today c) The Bible is the most commonly stolen book in the world 12. What was the name of the book on Jewish philosophy written by Joseph Albo? 13. Who wrote: a) the music & b) the lyrics for My Fair Lady? 14. Who said, “There are two things that are infinite, the universe and man's stupidity, and I am not sure about the universe.” 15. The mother of which famous biblical personality was told not to drink alcohol in advance of becoming pregnant?
16. Why is the Uzi machine gun so named? 17. Who created the stained glass windows for the synagogue of the Hebrew University's Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem? 18. Which Chasidic leader was the great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov (the founder of Chasidism)? 19. Why was the Aleinu prayer censored by Christians in the Middle Ages? 20. Born in September 1972, which actress whose paternal great-great grandfather was a rabbi in Nowogród, Poland, won an Oscar for her performance as Viola de Lesseps in the historical romance film Shakespeare in Love (1998)? 21. According to Israel Fast Facts, CNN Editorial Research published in May 2020, what is the median age in the State of Israel: a) 30.4 b) 40.7 or c) 50.3? 22. Where would one find the Marais? 23. Name the four species used on Sukkot. 24. In soccer, who are the current champions of the Israeli Premier League? 25. Born in 1903 in a village near Warsaw, he was the son of both a rabbi and rabbi’s daughter. He died in 1991 in Florida, and was buried in Cedar Park (Jewish) Cemetery, New Jersey. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1978 – who is he?
Test your knowledge
ANSWERS PAGE 12
CANDLE LIGHTING TIMES
Friday, Oct 28, 2022 7:32 pm Shabbat ends, Oct 29, 2022 8:33 pm Friday, Nov 4, 2022 7:40 pm Shabbat ends, Nov 5, 2022 8:41 pm Friday, Nov 11, 2022 7:47 pm Shabbat ends, Nov 12, 2022 8:50 pm Friday, Nov 18, 2022 7:55 pm Shabbat ends, Nov 19, 2022 8:58 pm Friday, Nov 25, 2022 8:02 pm Shabbat ends, Nov 26, 2022 9:07 pm Friday, Dec 2, 2022 8:09 pm Shabbat ends, Dec 3, 2022 9:15 pm Friday, Dec 9, 2022 8:16 pm Shabbat ends, Dec 10, 2022 9:21 pm Friday, Dec 16, 2022 8:21 pm Shabbat ends, Dec 17, 2022 9:27 pm Friday, Dec 23, 2022 8:25 pm Shabbat ends, Dec 24, 2022 9:30 pm
Best Jewish student public speaker named
MIKOLOT: VOICES OF THE FUTURE
Rebecca Paratz from Bialik College has won first prize in the 2022 Mikolot: Voices of the Future Public Speaking Competition.
Second prize went to Naomi Kawaz from the Carmel School in WA, while third place was South African entrant Noa Nerwich, from King David Linksfield in Johannesburg.
The judging panel consisted of The Honourable Justice Rabbi Marcus Solomon, Cheryl Bart AO, Josh Burns MP and Paul Rubenstein from Arnold Bloch Leibler.
Mikolot is a Moriah College initiative, backed by The Moriah Foundation, as part of its endeavours to bring innovative programs and global opportunities to students at Jewish schools.
Launched in 2014, together with The Joint Australia, the competition aims to bring together Jewish pupils and foster a more refined expression of Jewish voices.
Six students made this year’s grand final.
They included Asher Freedman from Moriah College and Asher Hasofer from Masada College, along with Bialik College students Dana Bagle-Zevin and Rebecca Paratz.
The two others were Naomi Kawaz and Noa Nerwich.
All grand finalists were asked to prepare an impromptu address and a four-minute speech.
The formal topic was: “Do I really matter”? In Jewish thought, there is a relationship between God’s presence in the world and our freedom of choice. One of the existential questions based on this is ‘if God controls the world, does what I do really matter?’ How do you reconcile this tension and how does your approach impact the way in which you contribute to the Jewish people and the world at large?”
All place getters received a major contribution towards an approved Israel program with the support of The Moriah Foundation and the competition’s corporate sponsor, Arnold Block Leibler.
