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P.O. Box 16031, Jerusalem 91160 ISRAEL

Jerusalem College of Technology

Fall 2010

Department of Development & External Affairs Tel: (02) 675 1269 Fax: (02) 675 1190 email: development@jct.ac.il

By JCT Staff

new masters program in tele-communication systems engineering has opened this semester under the auspices of the Dr. H. Stephen E. and Frances B. Schloss Center of Communication Sciences. Today telecommunication systems engineering is at the heart of hi-tech, as most technological devices being developed and manufactured include a communications component. Imagine a digital display on your refrigerator that shows you exactly how much milk you have left and prepares a grocery list that can be sent directly to the supermarket. In todays global village, the world has become one giant network. Concepts that were thought to be futuristic are already at our doorstep. Almost every electronic device or development has

a communications card, and it is expected that for the present time there will continue to be a high market demand for them. JCT was chosen as one of two academic institutions (the other is Ben-Gurion University) in Israel to offer an MSc degree in telecommunication systems engineering. It took almost ten years to convince the Council for Higher Education that there was a need to teach this eld as a separate degree. At JCT, an emphasis is placed on the software aspect, which plays a more signicant role today in the communications market than hardware. Hardware is important, but what is even more important is speed of communication, and
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Presidents Message
Dear Friends, As I put pen to paper, I am aware that aside from Rosh Hashanah fast approaching, I am also almost at the end of my rst year as President of this special institution. Both these junctures represent a time for cheshbon nefesh, or self-evaluation; a time for drawing conclusions from events that have taken place and decisions that have been made over the last 12 months and a time to pray to G-d to help us fulll our goals for the coming year. For me personally, this past year has been both educational and challenging. I have learnt much and am full of energy and determination to continue to work towards ensuring the quality of our education. As you will read, our rst Masters program in Business Administration has proven itself, and this coming academic year we have more than 100 new students registered. In addition, we will also be opening up our second Masters program in Telecommunication Systems Engineering. With many new areas of study on the agenda for the next few years, our work is great and, together with our devoted team of academic faculty and administrative staff, I am certain that we will succeed, not only for the good of our own students but also for the benet of the State of Israel. In these lines, I would like to make special mention of Lady Amelie Jacobovits zl who, aside from her numerous and varied titles and positions, was Honorary President of our womens college, Machon Tal. For me, this holds great meaning, since during the time of WW II, Lady J (as she was fondly called by all around her) was a close friend of my mothers zl. This family connection was renewed upon my entering ofce as President of JCT, albeit briey. However, the British Friends have taken upon themselves to perpetuate her association with JCT by establishing a much-needed scholarship fund in her memory that will benet our nursing students at Machon Tal. In this way, the link continues, as the Righteous are alive, although physically they are no longer with us. This mention of righteousness and life brings us back to the topic with which I opened Rosh Hashanah. I would like to extend to you and your families every good wish for the coming year; may we all be given many opportunities to prove our worthiness to be inscribed in the Book of Life. Noah Dana-Picard oah

The Father and the Son

By Rabbi Hillel Rudolph
here was once a father and a son, both musically talented. The father was a brilliant violinist, and the son a piano virtuoso, a child prodigy. Together they played beautiful music. One day they decided to compose a piece of music together. This composition was solely for their own personal enjoyment. This piece of music represented their bond -- a symbol of their love. On cold nights they would spend their time together, playing and perfecting this magnicent melody. The years went by and the son grew up. He felt it was time to forge his own way and start his own family. So he packed up and traveled to a distant land. There he settled, got married and worked in the local orchestra. He became very busy at work and with his

up in his fathers house. He recalled the way the violin danced in his fathers hands when he played. The son thought to himself, how could he reenact those times? How could he bring back that love his father had for him and he for his father? He wanted to honor his father and recapture his fathers brilliance. He suddenly remembered the nigun, the tune, the wonderful composition that he and his father had written together and played as one, all those years ago. He decided that he would publish it and make his father famous. Despite not having played the tune for many years, the son was determined. So he sat down at his piano to try to jog his memory. He hesitated at rst but then began to play. He thought he remembered the

Blowing the shofar in the Hurva Synagogue in 1947 (Courtesy of the Old Yishuv Court Museum)

growing family, while the relationship with his father steadily declined. Without e-mail or text messages, their communication was very limited. After many years, the son got word of his fathers passing. The son was lled with remorse and guilt. He felt guilty for the lack of communication, for the separation and erosion of their relationship. He remembered the beautiful times he had spent growing

rst part but then couldnt continue. He tried a second time, only to feel that the rst time had been entirely incorrect. As much as he tried, he just could not remember the exact notes. So much time had elapsed since he had played that tune. He had grown so distant that he couldnt remember those precious notes. Heartbroken, the son continued as best as he could. When he nished,

his own son remarked how beautiful the music was and that if that was the symbol of their bond, then they must truly have loved each other. But the father, with tears in his eyes, responded, If I truly loved my father, I would never have let myself forget our tune. At the end of Gemara Rosh Hashana, the Mishna discusses the types and numbers of blasts one needs in order to fulll the commandment of blowing the shofar. But the Gemara brings a contradictory teaching that requires a different type of sound. It says there are two opinions as to how we should blow the staccato sound. One opinion states that the shofar mimics a groaning sound, while the other one is a cry. The Gemara concludes that we dont know the right opinion and says that perhaps even both are required. Therefore, the law states, we blow both, rst a groan and then a cry, since the way of someone who cries is rst to groan and then to cry. In The Laws of Shofar Blowing, Chapter 3, Law 2, the Rambam writes about this uncertainty. But, unlike the Rambams usual terseness regarding laws, here he includes a short introduction. The Rambam writes " ". Due to the length of the exile, we have forgotten the exact sound of the shofar. Like the son who grew so distant that he could not remember the notes, so we too have become so estranged from Hashem that we cannot remember the exact sounds to the call of the shofar. When we listen to the sound of the shofar, we recall how long weve been in exile and renew our commitment to become closer to Hashem. May we merit this year the ultimate shofar blast with the coming of Mashiach and the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash.

JCT Offers MSc in Telecommunication Systems Engineering

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that is what the software is responsible for. In JCTs bachelor program, students gain important knowledge in computer communications and their applications. In the masters program, they are trained to become independent thinkers with a broader scope of knowledge that will help them integrate into industry and assume key positions as product engineers and project managers. There is a growing demand for high-quality graduates who combine theoretical and practical knowledge in communications engineering with the ability to manage, develop and chart new pathways. The employment opportunities in Israel are many and varied at companies such as Motorola, Amdocs, Cisco and Intel. The head of the masters program is 55-year-old Dr. Azriel Heuman, who was born in the United States and grew up in Massachusetts, Montreal and New York. After completing high school, he came to Israel for a year to study at Yeshiva Kol Torah, where a fellow student tried to persuade him to study at the then edgling Machon Lev. However, he felt obliged to return home to North America, where he studied electrical engineering while at the same time learning in yeshiva and becoming ordained as a rabbi. After completing his bachelors and masters degrees, he became a product engineer at the renowned Bell Laboratories while pursuing PhD studies in electrical engineering. Nevertheless, Dr. Heuman wanted to return to Israel. Several years later, he and his wife and children made aliya and made their home in the settlement of Ginot Shomron. In Israel, Dr. Heuman continued to acquire experience in the eld of communications and worked at telecommunications companies such as Telrad, ECI, and Logotel. At Logotel he met Dr. Jack Ben-Simon, a lecturer at Machon Lev. Closely involved with the establishing of the MSc program, Dr. BenSimon convinced him to come to JCT.

Dr. Azriel Heuman

Although there are many advantages to working in industry, Dr. Heuman found that reality can be quite different. Most new projects are given to young engineers, and the more experienced engineers can nd themselves struggling to be given a project. As a student, Dr. Heuman had appreciated lecturers that came from industry and brought with them actual experience, and he had always wanted to teach. The time had come for him to bring his experience to the students of the Computer Department at JCT. In the rst year he taught only two courses while gaining teaching experience, but he quickly fell in love with teaching and now heads the masters program in telecommunication systems engineering. The MSc program in telecommunication systems engineering is a two-year program open to graduates with a BSc and relevant experience in the eld. The program aims to help graduates nd top positions in hi-tech and industry by providing the students with highlevel professional knowledge, as well as management skills that will enable them to become leaders in the communications industry in Israel and abroad.

Rabbi Hillel Rudolph is an academic advisor and lecturer in the English Speakers Program at JCT. He received semicha and has a Masters degree from Yeshiva University. Rabbi Rudolph lives in Beit Shemesh with his wife and three children.

A Dream of Bridging the Secular and the Divine

uring my rst meeting at Bar-Ilan University, my advisor asked me what my long-term plan was after completing my PhD. I immediately answered, To work at Machon Lev. Now I get up every morning and I do it and I love it, says 36-year-old senior lecturer Avi Rosenfeld. Working at his dream job since 2006, Rosenfeld is the head of information systems courses within the Industrial Engineering and Accounting Departments, responsible for updating and redesigning the curricula in those areas. The courses he teaches at Machon Lev and Machon Tal range from basic programming to upper-level electives such as e-commerce, data mining and other database applications. I was brought in to teach courses in how to create a cluster of core systems in engineering; to teach students to be program managers in the Israeli workforce, explains the native New Yorker who made aliya in 2002. At rst I wanted to be a rabbi, admits Rosenfeld, who received his ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in New York in 1997 and graduated from Yeshiva University cum laude in 1994 with a BA in mathematics and computer science. However, his life experiences led him on
Avi Roseneld with Sony Aibo Robotic Dogs used in AI research

By Ruth Beloff

a different path. After working in the eld and teaching at YU for several years, he went on to study for his PhD at Bar-Ilan, where he collaborated with Nobel Prize winners and renowned researchers from such institutions as Harvard and Carnegie Mellon. One of his PhD advisors was Sarit Kraus, whom Rosenfeld describes as one of the worlds leading researchers in articial intelligence. She was a good role model for me, combining Torah and mada, he says. Aliya was the best thing for my professional career. I am proud to say that, states Rosenfeld, who has made his home in the religious community of Yad Binyamin in Central Israel with his wife Esther and their four children. Simply put, Rosenfeld specializes in articial intelligence (AI) and focuses on how to devise systems that will enable people and other systems to communicate. In his own words, My research focus lies within developing algorithms [a formula or set of steps for solving a particular problem] that coordinate behavior in distributed systems given limited computational resources. He designs sophisticated algorithms for information systems to direct how they think. His work on database applications can range from helping people nd information on the Internet and assisting corporations streamline their operations to helping ghter pilots improve their tactics. Search engines, business intelligence and text mining are all grist for his mill. I come up with ways to come up with suggestions, says Rosenfeld. Creative hi-tech is my research and my passion. There is a tremendous need across the country for smart database applications, says Rosenfeld. To that end, he believes that he is preparing his students to enter that eld and ll the need. Teaching 100 to 125 students a year, Rosenfeld says, My goal is to give the students the skills to get a good job in the hi-tech world. I feel I am doing that. I give them a skill set that

will serve them the rest of their lives. Open to teaching labs and applications that will suit their needs, he creates the lesson plans that will best serve his students. His curriculum for this year includes such courses as Introduction to Information Systems; Introduction to Programming; Systems Analysis I and II; E-commerce and Business Applications; Data Mining; and Business Intelligence. Practicing what he preaches, Rosenfeld extends his expertise in industrial engineering beyond the classroom. For example, he does work for Elbit, which manufactures military equipment, and has worked with the IDF to create more intelligent planning programs to process the large amounts of information it is constantly accessing. Also in the works is a search engine he has devised called PHIRST. Offering access to useful pockets of information, PHIRST uses cell phones to form a cooperative network in which users can share their les, which are listed in a dedicated index. The idea has already won awards, and PHIRST is awaiting patent approval. With such success in the eld, Rosenfeld is often asked why he doesnt start his own company. The answer is simple: He loves what he does. I get up in the morning and enjoy the job. I love the interaction with the students, he says. It is very rewarding. It is equally rewarding for the students, as they are being trained in cutting-edge concepts and technology.
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CAMPUS NEWS

The Electro Optics Engineering Department at JCT, in cooperation with the Society of Electrical and Electronics Engineers in Israel, recently hosted the 2010 Optical Engineering Conference. More than 400 people attended the conference, including academic researchers and representatives of Israels industry and the military, among them 100 JCT graduates. The conference was chaired by Prof. Joseph Bodenheimer, who in his opening remarks outlined the way in which JCT has contributed to making Israel a world leader in the eld of optical engineering. differences between the ways in which the Israeli and American governments perceive the current challenges in the Middle East. He noted that despite occasional differences in perceptions of the conict, there was a great deal of overlap between the interests of the two countries with regard to the future of the region. In the second lecture, Well provided insights regarding effective negotiation skills. An internationally recognized expert in the area of privatization and securities, Well presented ways in which the students could be more successful in negotiations in their professional and private lives.

The IDF Rabbinate recently opened a technological development unit at Machon Lev. The unit aims to nd solutions to halachic issues faced by soldiers in situations that are not life threatening. Captain Rabbi Ronen Aharon, a graduate of JCT, was appointed to head the unit. what has become a tradition in the Department of Technological Management and Marketing, annual student conferences were held at Machon Tal and Machon Lev. The Machon Tal meeting, which was held in May, featured a workshop on interpersonal communication at the workplace. Following opening remarks by Prof. Abba Engelberg, the head of Machon Tal, and Dr. Avi Kay, department chair; students broke up into groups so they could apply the knowledge and practice the skills they had learned to improve their personal and professional communication. A few weeks later, the department held its annual conference for students at Machon Lev, featuring Dr. Dore Gold, Israels former ambassador to the United Nations, and Avraham Well, a senior partner at Fisher, Behar, Chen, Well, Orion. Dr. Gold presented an overview of Israels security challenges and delineated

Dr. Dore Gold

The Samson Gate at the entrance to the Machon Lev campus

was recently dedicated in the presence of Editha Samson; the daughters and granddaughter of Heinz Samson zl, Debra Ziff-Samson, Karen Lewis-Samson and Joanna Samson; and Pieter Biermann. Heinz, who passed away last September, was a long-time friend and supporter of JCT and, together with his wife Editha, made several major gifts to JCT.

Continuing

Members of the Samson family with Prof. Noah Dana-Picard at the Samson Gate dedication

Graduations
This year, 419 students graduated from JCT an increase of over 10% from last year. At Machon Tal, 86 women graduated, and another 39 graduated Daat, the program for haredi women. At Machon Lustig in Ramat Gan, 80 women graduated. At Machon Lev, 136 men graduated, and 78 students graduated at Machon Naveh. MK Zevulun Orlev, chairman of the Knesset Education Committee, was the guest of honor at the Machon Lev graduation ceremony at which Dr. Yaacov Zerem, CEO of Ophir Optronics, was awarded an honorary

Machon Lev Graduation Ceremony

(L-R) MK Zevulun Orlev, Dr. Yaacov Zerem, Prof. Noah Dana-Picard

fellowship for his outstanding achievements. In his address to the graduates, Dr. Zerem expressed his profound gratitude to Prof. Zeev Lev zl, JCTs founder who inspired and helped teachers and students develop ideas and establish hi-tech companies such as Ophir Optronics. Established in 1976, Ophir Optronics started in a small laboratory at Machon Lev and has become a global leader in precision infrared optic components and laser measurement equipment. The Machon Naveh graduation was honored by the presence of Minister of Religious Affairs Yaacov Margi and guest of honor JCT graduate Benny Levy, CEO and chief engineer of AccuBeat Ltd. At Machon Tals graduation ceremony, guests of honor Rami Dror, Adina Brenner and Avraham Guetta of Hadas Arazim Investment House presented scholarships to outstanding students.

BOr HaTorah Moves to JCT

Volume 20 to be published in December 2010!
JCT is the new publisher of the BOr HaTorah Journal of Science, Art & Life in the Light of the Torah. Physicist Professor Joseph S. Bodenheimer, president emeritus of JCT, is the new editor-in-chief of BHT. The former head of the JCT department of electro-optics, he has published more than eighty papers and holds twelve patents in this eld. Ilana Attia will continue as its managing editor. The title, purpose, outlook, and style of BHT will also continue the same. A peer-reviewed journal, BHT is known and loved for its readable literary quality and creative mix of papers on physics, biology, halakhah, and philosophy alongside health, psychology, and Jewish mysticismilluminated by nature photography, ne Judaica art, and poetry. For orders and subscription queries: Email: bht@jct.ac.il Tel: 972-2-6751269 Fax: 972-2-6751190 www.borhatorah.org

Adina Brenner

Annual Lecture in Applied Mathematics was given by Prof. David Harel of the Weizmann Institute entitled Computers Are Not Omnipotent. Prof. Harel, an Israel Prize winner, surveyed results obtained over the last 70 years by mathematicians, logicians and computer scientists that disprove the notion that there are no limits to what a computer can do.

The Seventh Yehuda Leib Golomb

A Blend of Business and Ethics

By JCT Staff

he Masters Program in Business Administration at JCT has successfully completed its rst year. There are over 120 students in the program headed by Prof. Herzl Patel, a leading accountant and sought-after lecturer in the eld of auditing at some of the leading accountancy rms in Israel. A special focus on ethics, directed by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir of the Jerusalem Ethics Center, aims to encourage the implementation of ethical values in all elds of management and entrepreneurship. Prof. Noam Wasserman of the Harvard Business School played a key role in creating the program. He spent time at JCT working with the MA program faculty on case study presentations, another important component of this program. The methodology of teaching through

Prof. Noam Wasserman

case studies, an accepted technique at the Harvard Business School, provides the students with advanced management skills. Many of the students in the MBA program are JCT graduates who have worked in hi-tech and industry for several years. For example, Gilad Taub, who heads the technological infrastructure department at El-Op, one of Israels leading hi-tech companies, already has a masters degree in computer science. He graduated from JCT sixteen years ago with a bachelors degree in computer engineering. Since then, he has worked in a variety of high-level management

positions, such as vice president at a start-up company. Despite the experience he has acquired over the years, he feels it is no substitute for acquiring knowledge in a structured context. He returned to JCT because the combination of high-level professionalism and Torah values was important for him. At JCT, I met a group of serious people with vast experience in management, some from hi-tech and business and others with important technological positions in the IDF. I was very pleased to see that there is a lot of sharing of ideas and not an atmosphere of competition that characterizes other academic institutions, he says. Taub elected to specialize in technological entrepreneurship. Having worked at several start-up companies, the eld of entrepreneurship is close to his heart. He has developed two technological patents in the area of multimedia. In regard to coping with the added pressure and workload, he says, When the courses are interesting and the atmosphere is pleasant, it is easier to deal with the extra demands. Roy Mendel, an IDF ofcer responsible for systems projects, has a bachelors degree from Machon Lev in electro-optic engineering. He chose to study in JCTs MBA program because of its specialization in management ethics. The short-range attack systems unit of the Israel Navy, where Mendel works, requires the highest level of professionalism and management to meet the IDFs military needs. Honing his management skills at JCT, Mendel believes that the focus on ethics in business will give him the tools to expand those skills. In the short time the program has existed, the students have already begun to make a name for the JCT program, successfully progressing to the second stage of a Case Study competition sponsored by The Marker, the Dan David

JCT case study competition team

Foundation, and nancial consulting company TASC. Students were asked to draw up business plans to solve dilemmas that major companies face. Some 1,500 students from 12 institutions of higher education signed up for the contest, and more than 200 teams participated in the preliminary phase. Forty teams, including JCT, made it to the next stage when the teams met with top management from Partner, Bank Leumi, Matrix and El Al. The JCT MBA team -- Eliezer Zeiger, Joshua Kanter and Jonathan Heller -- met with EL Al CEO Chaim Romano and was asked to advise El Al on how to broaden its activities as a tourist company.

Prof. Herzl Patel

With more than 100 additional students registered to begin their MBA courses in October, the program is fast becoming one of the most popular elds of study at JCT.

The Lady Amelie Jakobovits Scholarship Fund

( ) , ,
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and the law of kindness is on her tongue.
(Eshet Chayil, Proverbs 31:26)

Jerusalem College of Technology was saddened by the sudden and untimely passing of Lady Amelie Jakobovits ." Lady J, as she was fondly known, was a very special woman whose capacity for love and concern for others knew no bounds. Lady Jakobovits was the honorary president of Machon Tal, the institute for women at JCT. She was a staunch supporter of JCT from its earliest days

The

and keenly followed its progress. She was especially enthusiastic about the opportunity Machon Tal gives religious women to study for degrees in hi-tech professions such as computer science and applied physics, as well as other elds such as accountancy and nursing. The British Friends of JCT is establishing a scholarship fund in Lady Jakobovitss memory to support nursing students from the United Kingdom who study at Machon Tal. The academic studies at JCT are demanding, all the more for British students, who must adapt to life in Israel, face the challenge of studying in Hebrew and are far from family and friends. The support these students will receive from the Lady Amelie Jakobovits Scholarship Fund will not only help to

Prof. Zeev Lev zl & Lady Amelie Jakobovits zl at the opening of Machon Tal

alleviate the nancial burden and enable them to excel in their studies, but it will also serve to inspire them to follow in Lady Js path and give of their heart and their expertise to care for those in need.

A Dream of Bridging...

The Board of Trustees, administration, faculty, staff and students of the Jerusalem College of Technology wish you a year of peace, happiness, good health and prosperity

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Business intelligence is a very interesting eld, says Rosenfeld, and Israel is at the forefront of that eld. In fact, he ventures, I would love to turn Machon Lev into the center of AI in that area. We could bring in more teachers, as well as students to do research. The beauty of this type of research is that it requires only the brain, not elaborate labs or equipment. All you need, says Rosenfeld, are good computers, competent teachers and keen researchers. There is real application for that kind of eld. It is very important in the world, and it is very exciting to be part of it, says the man who won JCTs Henry and Betty Rosenfelder Lecturer of the Year Award in 2008.

Canadian Friends of JCT 3101 Bathurst St., Suite 502 Toronto, Ontario M6A 2A6 Tel: (416) 787 7565 Fax: (416) 787 8457 Email: arieh@cfjct.org

Friends of JCT (U.S.) East Coast 358 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1406 New York, N.Y. 10001 Tel: (212) 563 5620 Fax: (212) 563 5623 Email: ofce@friendsofjct.org

Friends of JCT (U.S.) West Coast 9454 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 600 Beverly Hills, CA 90202 Tel: (310) 273 5777 Fax: (310) 275 5155 Email: fjct@pacbell.net

British Friends of JCT Commerce House 2a Licheld Grove London N3 2TN Tel: 020 8349 5129 Fax: 020 8349 5110 Email: info@bfjct.co.uk