Gerald Flanzbaum, a former Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey president, second from left, cuts the ribbon to officially open the Mack Ness Science Library in Hadera. With him are, from left, Sami Levy, deputy mayor of Hadera, Yosi Bachar, IT manager of Technoda, Noga Cohen-Tamir, library coordinator, and Dr. Gadi Mador, executive director of Technoda.
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March 26, 2009
In Hadera, an Israeli town struggling to give its inhabitants a better life, for the past 20 years one place has stood out as an example of positive achievement — Technoda Dorset Science and Technology Center.
Every year it also welcomes in more than 10,000 students from across the region, offering them programs in astronomy, medicine, chemistry, physics, computers, robotics, and more. It also serves as an after-school educational haven for hundreds of local children.
Now its potential outreach has been hugely expanded with the establishment of a new science library, made possible by a grant from the Jewish Community Endowment Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey.
The money came from a fund established in the name of the late Mack Ness, the reclusive farmer who left his multi-million-dollar estate to the federation with the express purpose of helping people in Israel. The fund honors Ness, his mother, Ann, and his brother, Sanford.
At the ceremony marking the library’s opening last month, the Central NJ community was represented by longtime community leader Gerald Flanzbaum. He and his wife, Marilyn — like him a former president of the Central federation — have a home in Hadera, a five-minute walk from Technoda, as well as one in Warren. He has served as chair of American Friends of Technoda, and his daughter, Laurie Ovadia, is its resource development officer.
Also at the ceremony were Technoda executive director Dr. Gadi Mador, Hadera deputy mayor Sami Levy, and library coordinator Noga Cohen-Tamir.
Gerald Flanzbaum, speaking from Israel by phone earlier this week, said the center represents “the real future of Israel” and is an example of achievement that should be replicated elsewhere in the country.
He pointed out that Israel — for all the accomplishments of its scientists and inventors — ranks way behind most developed countries in the quality of its science education: 37th out of 43, according to a recent survey.
Flanzbaum said that two members of Technoda’s board of directors, both former chiefs of the Israeli Air Force, told him that young recruits are often ill equipped to deal with the technology and electronics used by the defense forces.
“It takes them the whole first year they’re in the army to be able to deal with it,” Flanzbaum said they told him.
Needed: another miracle
Technoda has developed a national reputation for offering the kinds of supplementary and extracurricular programs that make up for the deficit in the education system.
Gerald Flanzbaum tells the story of philanthropist Mack Ness at the dedication of new science library at Technoda in Hadera, while library coordinator Noga Cohen-Tamir translates.
Located in the impoverished neighborhood of Givat Olga, the center also serves as a “home away from home” for hundreds of underprivileged and immigrant children from the area. It provides them with a daily hot meal, help with homework, and innovative enrichment programs.
For many of those kids, the library — with its huge collection of books, journals, DVDs, and software, as well as a computer area and young readers’ corner — will offer the first access they have ever had to a lending system that lets them take material home.
Technoda prides itself on the integration that takes places within its walls. According to its publicity, “Jews, Arabs, religious, secular, immigrant, native, wealthy, and poor discover the world of science and technology together.”
But given the economic climate, sustaining its programs could prove tough going forward. Flanzbaum said that in addition to suffering from the economic downturn, the center has been badly hit by the Bernard Madoff scandal.
At the library dedication, Mador mentioned that many of the expected grants and contributions that keep the center running have been reduced or eliminated completely.
He pointed out a nice irony: the Hebrew word “nes” means miracle in English. He went on to say, “In order for Technoda to continue providing the programs essential to closing the gaps between stronger and weaker populations, we are going to need another ‘Ness,’ another miracle.”
For more information about the Mack Ness Library or Technoda, visit www.technoda.org.il or contact Laurie Ovadia at technoda@technoda.org.il.
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