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Yair Lapid
Photo: Yoni Hamenachem

Jewish genius still here

Latest Nobel win proves Jewish genius didn’t stay on ship that brought us here

How could it be that in a state where the general education system is in the process of collapse, the Higher Education system is crumpling, budgets earmarked for research are shrinking, the brain-drain is reaching new heights, and the government doesn’t care as we know –time and again Israeli scientists win Nobel Prizes?

 

Perhaps this should be the topic of the next research project to be undertaken by latest Israeli Nobel Laureate Ada Yonath.

 

Professor Yonath has dedicated the last 30 years to looking into the genetic code of protein cells, so now she may wish to turn her attention to figuring out the genetic code of Israeli scientists. What prompts such scientists, while facing such seemingly impossible conditions, to fly so high?

 

How could it be that we boast more Nobel Prize laureates than India, Australia, Japan and Canada? How come that we won more Nobel Prizes than all the billion and a half residents of the Islamic world? What is this thing we are doing right? Is it possible that if we look into it quietly, by undertaking a scientifically sound experiment perhaps, it will turn out that we’re doing alright after all?

 

Enjoying a moment of shared pleasure

Up until a few days ago, very few Israelis ever heard of Professor Ada Yonath. Chemistry is not exactly the type of subject that would prompt the average Israeli journalist to yell out: “Hold the presses! We discovered the ribosome!”

 

There is also great temptation here to make a note to remind us that this prize is Professor Yonath’s, not ours.

 

However, in order to flourish, scientists need to live and work within a certain environment - which comprises among other things intellectual alertness, patience, academic tolerance, and a healthy sense of competition.

 

If in the past seven years we have seen five Israeli scientists winning the most important prize of them all (and by the way, during the same period, Portugal, Argentina, and China combined for a grand total of 0,) perhaps we too are allowed to enjoy a moment of shared pleasure.

 

The Jewish genius, as opposed to what it may appear to us, did not stay on the ship that brought us to this land. It’s still here.

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.09.09, 16:21
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