The Israeli media is abuzz with the news that one of the recipients of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2013 is a citizen, Professor Aryeh Warshel, now affiliated with the University of Southern California.
While the esteemed professor earned his PhD in Israel, from the prestigious Weizmann Institute, his higher education was not all a bowl of cherries for his kibbutz refused to pay for his BA back in the day. The kibbutz directors felt he was wasting his time and they wanted him to study something practical. Today however, 51 years later, it appears the kibbutz may be willing to forgive him for entering the field of chemistry, perhaps even acknowledging there may be a measure of merit to his life’s work.
As a result of the kibbutz’s refusal Aryeh was compelled to back his bags and go it on his own, which he did.
Interestingly, a report appearing in the local media earlier in the week cited that there are a growing number of high-level Israeli academics who opt to remain abroad. Many leave Israel to complete their doctorate or post doctorate studies and after settling in to a position, prefer to remain.
The report cited that in Columbia University for example, Israeli lecturers make up 10% of its business science division. That number is growing in many prominent universities outside of Israel due to a number of factors, including higher salaries and benefits abroad. The report on the Columbia academics stated the average salary in the university is 70,000 NIS monthly, as compared to 22,000 NIS in Israel for the same level academic.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
1. Secular Israelis frequently prefer to live elsewhere. If your goal in life is to live like a goy, why not live among the goyim?
2. Socialism fails because it assumes the powers that be no better than you do what is good for you. That is why socialism in most countries has become quite discredited. In the 1950s, something like 2/3 of the kenesset were socialists – today its only a handful (even most members of the socialist parties have given up on socialism).
hindsight is 20/20.
it was the policy of kibbutzes to fund their members learning if it would help the kibbutz. This was a clear policy back then and not blindness on the part of a kibbutz.
Before writing a report like this making the kibbutz look bad, YWN should understand what it was like then.
I lived through that period and know. Looks like your people didn’t.