On a personal note
About two years ago, just before her 100th birthday, I interviewed Mira (Cherniavsky) Cohen. During our meetings, Mira revealed to me her family roots, her father's acquaintance with Haim Weizman, the family's move to Haifa following her father's invitation to teach physics at the Technion and later, as the first director of the respected institution. About the volunteering of the sisters Sarah and Mira in the Women's Corps in the British Army in World War II and more...
Shortly after the publication of the article, the director Uri Rosenvaks contacted me. That's how I learned that at about the same time, he was preparing a documentary to mark the 100th anniversary of the Technion, directed by him, and after Roni the investigator drew his attention to the article, he asked for my assistance in connecting to Mira. A week later, the camera crew "took over" her apartment. The day of filming, long and exhausting even for many decades younger than her, Mira passed in an amazing way, alongside Danny, her relative. For me it was an interesting opportunity to watch the work of the team of professionals.
The interview segments with Mira are included in the fascinating film that was screened last night in front of an excited invited audience that I had the privilege of being a part of with my mother alongside Mira (soon to be 102!) and her relatives, Danny and Tali Levin. But first, a moment of history.

1912 - Laying of the cornerstone for the Technion, first steps
On April 11, 1912, just a few years before the end of the Ottoman rule in the Land of Israel and 36 before the establishment of the State of Israel, the cornerstone was laid for the "Technicum" building on the "bald Bald Mountain" on the slopes of Carmel. In 1924, 12 years after the modest ceremony of laying the cornerstone, the first class of 17 students was opened at Technion (as it was written as the proposal of Haim Nachman Bialik), then in Hadar HaCarmel: 16 male students and one female student. About two decades later, at the end of a heated discussion, it was decided to change the spelling of the name of the institution fromתMall toטa shopping mall Another challenge that accompanied the establishment was the "language war" against the "Ezra" company that demanded that the language of instruction in the technical school and the real school that would be built next to it be German.
Today it is hard to believe that that classroom at the back of the British Empire was the beginning of the Technion, one of the leading technological research institutions in the world. About 100 students study in the 2,100th cohort of the Technion, which was recently launched, of which about 48% are women. The story of the hundred years of this institution on Mount Carmel provides a fascinating prism for describing the events of the State of Israel, which the Technion grew alongside and for. The establishment of the Technion was a defining cultural event for the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel of those days and of enormous importance to the city of Haifa - then and now.
Today, it is hard to imagine Israel's 75-year-old strong economy and its scientific and technological achievements without the Technion. With 18 faculties and academic departments, 52 research centers and over 13,000 students, the Technion stands at the forefront of groundbreaking research in a variety of fields. From the country on the way, in the dramatic moments during wartime, through the birth of the startup nation and research breakthroughs on a global scale - the Technion was always there.

The movie Technion 102 - world premiere
Dozens of Technion graduates, from the leaders of the Israeli economy, joined the Technion president yesterday (Tuesday) evening. Prof. Uri Sion, for the premiere of the special docu-film in honor of the 100th anniversary of the Israel Institute of Technology, directed by Uri Rosenwax. The name of the film, Technion 10²" is the brainchild of the president of the Technion, Prof. Uri Sivan.
Among the invitees and participants in the screening held last night at the Taub Faculty of Computer Science on the Technion campus were:
Former Minister of Science and Technology and high-tech entrepreneur, Yizhar Shay; The mayor of Haifa, Mr Yona Yahav; the high-tech entrepreneur, Dr. Yossi Vardi; CEO of "Intel" Israel, Karin Eybshitz-staff; CEO of Insightek, Dr. Kobi Wortman; Director of the Amazon AWS R&D Center, Billik (Billie) the multitude; Former CEO of Intel Israel, Rafi Neve; The founders of the "Alpha Omega" company, rim וImad Younes; Former CEO of "Applied Materials" Israel, Dan Wilensky; The entrepreneur and former vice president of "Intel" worldwide, Dedi Perlmutter; The former presidents of the Technion, members of the Technion's management, members of the Technion's executive committee, the participants of the film as well as other graduates of the Technion.
Among the interviewees in the film, as mentioned, also Mira Cohen The 102-year-old, daughter of Aharon Cherniavsky, a physics lecturer who served as the director of the Technion in the 20s, and his character is played by an actor in the opening scene of the film.





"The only university in the world that is protected by technology developed by its graduate students"
"The story of the Technion is a wonderful story," said Prof. Sivan, the president of the Technion. "It is no less than a miracle how from 17 students in one building grew a university that is among the ten best technological universities in the world, Nobel Prizes, amazing contributions to the State of Israel and humanity...
And in the spirit of these days: from my office there is a view of the "Iron Dome" intercepts. I thought that we are probably the only university in the world that is protected by technology developed by its graduate students..."
Some of the photos were taken in the history class at Medatech. I sat there on the wooden benches (which are very uncomfortable) and thought of my parents, who fled Europe before the war and were sent here to study in Palestine with a student certificate. They came to Haifa and studied at the Technion in 1936. I sat on the wooden benches and saw them sitting on these benches more than 80 years earlier. I realized how great the significance of this institution, which was present throughout my life, was great. And then as the president of the Technion you also understand how great this means for the State of Israel and the entire Jewish people. The way in which Uri managed to capture the interweaving of the history of the Jewish people in the 20th century and the history of the Technion is miraculous."


The words of Prof. Uri Sivan, president of the Technion ► Watch
Greetings from the Mayor of Haifa, Yona Yahav on the evening of the premiere ► Watch
The film will be broadcast on TV - you are welcome to watch
The film will be broadcast on Saturday, 21.12.24, at 08:30 on Kan 11 and also at the annual film festival that opens its doors in Haifa in about two weeks. It will also be available for viewing here digital - on the YouTube channel of "Kaan" as well as in the Kaan BOX app.
And instead of NIS 300 million that went down the drain on a stupid cable car that is constantly closed because of another excuse - war, repairs, winter weather.
To sell the components abroad (gondolas, engines, etc.) it is possible to make a bus connection road between the Technion and the university.
And let the bus arrive even before a slow cable car from the center of the bay to the university in a 15-minute drive along the route.
An institution that is mainly engaged in tricking all the rich people of the world in order to continue the celebration of Menaomi Academy of the senior staff. The research declines every year in the international indices.
Impressive and exciting. Respect to the founders and their successors.
Indeed a fascinating film for a magnificent institution
"Haifa is already small for the Technion" so said a former president of the Technion and indeed they started opening study branches in Sharon, building a campus in New York and China... had big ambitions. They pretty much crashed.
Today there are many leading faculties that have closed. The Faculty of Soil Engineering has disappeared. The Faculty of Transportation Engineering disappeared with it. Both were absorbed in the Faculty of Civil-Environmental Engineering.
rope. There were leading and fascinating study programs that disappeared. The Grand Water Institute, which was a world leader in collecting information on the planning of the water sector in Israel and the situation in the Middle East, was closed and disappeared. with him they became extinct
Other important research institutes. The Technion is in the process of retreating in its academic level, in no small measure due to
An academic boycott that will just now rise above the ground (if before it was in the background..)
The Technion operates internationally in a difficult and challenging time as a country and as an academy. It has difficulty recruiting international researchers and even more difficulty generating international collaborations, which is essential today.
Also the fact that Haifa does not have an international airport and you have to drive an hour and a quarter to Nabvi makes it difficult,
Personal contact and work in laboratories is essential even in the zoom era. After the difficulties of the corona virus came the war.
The Technion opened after the horrific World War I and managed to establish itself until the even more terrible World War II. The hope that after the current world war it will be able to grow again. The "Chinese" dream has faded, in fact it was only a transfer of knowledge and technology to Chinese control.
The "American" dream is slowly fading. We need to go back and develop the Haifa campus - it turns out that Haifa does not
Little about the Technion" but the Technion should be an engine to increase Haifa's status as a world city.
A fascinating film and a shame...
If you have already touched on the Levy family, your favorite Mizrahi, then in the same breath remember all the Mizrahis you rejected because you thought they were not worthy....
a wave As an oriental, I tell you to sober up and go to Israel. We have passed this period. And all the best to the mentioned family.
An instructive film, but of all the faculties surveyed in it, one faculty was missing, the one that was the first to open at the Technion 100 years ago - the Faculty of Architecture. Maybe its location is no longer at the Technion today?!
Like everything the Technion does, it's just raising more funds to continue their salary celebrations and world trips. That's why they mentioned only faculties that can recruit rich Heitkists. It's interesting that Azrieli, who they recruited at the Faculty of Architecture, apparently can't manage to get more money, so they didn't mention it.
Yes, what to do at the Technion is like this, every event is only intended to bring rich donors and swindle them.
This is not a new thing. It was always like that.
It is worth remembering the subject "Mathematics for Architects" and the explanation that the material is included in the curriculum of the 12th grade.
Dear Yael,
Thanks for the important and interesting article.
As usual, you chose an interesting topic and uploaded it in your prism but also in detail. I learned a historical chapter that I did not know.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart, dear Irit
What an exciting movie!! Like the entire history of the Technion and the bright future ahead!
Well done to you, my friend Yael Horvitz, for this report. Have a blessed and blessed Sabbath.
As exciting as I am... I am a fourth year student at the Technion and have been in the reserves for more than 250 days in an elite unit. It warms the heart that the Technion so appreciates the students who left everything and serve our country.
All the best to Yael Horvitz, Uri Rosenwax, Prof. Sivan and all involved in the commemoration.