How One Stone Changed the World

A flyer courageously advocates the use of revived Hebrew as a language of instruction for the Technion.

In October 1909, Prussian architect Alexander Baerwald was asked to come up with a first plan for the new building. This architect – who used to play cello in a string quarter with Albert Einstein – was inspired by the idea of blending European form with Eastern elements. His oustanding design was approved by the Kuratorium, and in August 1910, Baerwald was awarded the assignment to draw up the detailed plans and supervise the execution. Aside from the stone, most of the other building material came from abroad. The lime was from France, the cement from Germany. Plumbing installations and various fixtures also came from Europe and to this day, visitors at the historic building can read the German manufacturers’ inscriptions on floor plates and elsewhere in the building. Digging of the well also created problems. First attempts could only reach 40 meters, at which point work was suspended due to a lack of skilled labor. A special permit to import the required dynamite was acquired, but it was only when a foreign expert was brought in that work on the well could finally be resumed and water was finally struck at 93 meters. The well was deepened to a 100 meters. The existence of a water source on the upper slopes of Mount Carmel would transform Haifa, becoming an elemental center for the sustenance of life for the following decades and for three invading armies. The well and its water would also become a vital source of income for the young, impoverished Technikum.

In the year of the sinking of the Titanic, and a rare, total solar eclipse, the cornerstone of the new Technikum was finally laid. On April 11, 1912, 36 years before Israel declared independence, under the auspices of the occupying Ottoman Empire the local Jewish community turned out in full to witness the first physical implementation of a dream that lasted for decades.

The Tale of the Century

The extent to which technology determines history and the creation and destiny of nations is a question of historical scholarship, with the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology cited as a striking example. Initiated with the help of increasing Jewish unity made possible by the new communication technologies of the Second Industrial Revolution, the Technion was born 36 years before Israel declared independence. In that time it educated the engineers and brought the expertise to literally lay the infrastructure for a modern state. This included the fundamental infrastructure of electricity, water supplies and roads.

Throughout the century – since the laying of the first cornerstone in 1912 – Technion has had a historic task in anticipating future needs in order to ensure the survival and growth of the State of Israel. According to a leading British journalist, the Technion story is exemplary for other groups caught in the seemingly impossible task of creating an independent nation: “For more than two decades before the state was created, Technion (Israel Institute of Technology) helped to lay the foundations of the modern state of Israel. The identity of the country as a player in the field of science and technology can be traced to the vision of Technion.”
Technion would grow rapidly, becoming a global pioneer in biotechnology, satellite research, computer science, nanotechnology and energy. In 2004, Technion professors won Israel’s first Nobel Prizes in science. In 2011, Distinguished Prof. Dan Shechtman became Technion’s third Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, for his discovery of quasicrystals, or Shechtmanite. As it celebrates its cornerstone centennial in 2012, Technion City is a thriving world center of research and teaching, with 12,850 students and 80 graduate programs. In 2011, Technion partnered with Cornell University to submit a winning proposal to New York City to set up the Technion Cornell Institute of Innovation (TCII) on Roosevelt Island.

A Moment in history: Nobel Laureate 2011 Dan Shechtman notates his observation of Quasicrystals in 1983.

 First Plans

From the outset, The Zionist movement had a vision of the creation of a Jewish University in the historic land of Israel. Jews were often barred from technical or scientific training, and without these skills and a grounded education in engineering, the Zionist vision of creating a nation would remain just a dream.
In 1902, Theodor Herzl envisioned Haifa as “a great park….with an overhead electrical train…. a city of magnificent homes and public institutions all made possible by applied science, engineering and technology.” (Altneuland) Herzl infused political Zionism with a new and practical urgency. By the fifth Zionist congress in 1901, the pressure was on to found a number of cultural institutions and a resolution was adopted for a “fundamental survey of the question of founding a Jewish university.”

A group of three young men in their twenties: Martin Buber of Vienna, student of philosophy and Zionist; Berthold Feiwel of Berlin – political writer and editor and Chaim Weizmann – formed a caucus emphasizing the need for a Jewish university with a first objective of education in technology. They produced a document pointing out the difficulties of Jewish youth who sought admission to universities where they lived. The lack of opportunities for technical studies, they wrote, was much more serious for Jewish students than in other studies. The problem was “eminiently economic and social”. It meant that in Russia, the Jews were practically excluded from technical professions with the result that they were pushed into commercial occupations.

The plan was to set up a preparatory Technikum, in part to train students for the university and in part to serve as an independent institution for the training of young people in technical, agricultural and similar professions. Graduates would be the basis for establishing and maintaining a Jewish industry.
In 1903, 60,000 Jews of Palestine had just held elections for the first national democratic assembly, the grandfather of the present Knesset (Israel’s parliament). It was called the Knessiah Rishonah (1st assembly). This gathering was special as a first grass-roots attempt to set up the structures of Jewish self government. Zionist leader Dr. Menahem Ussishkin used the occasion to deliver a keynote address in which he expressed the urgency for an institution of higher education in Palestine. The convention supported a resolution for the establishment of a polytechnical institute in Palestine and the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (at least on paper) was born.

Paul Nathan of the Hilfsverein der Deutschen Juden (“Relief Organization of German Jews”), played a central role in bringing together diverse Jewish groups under the Technikum umbrella, and in raising resources.

Technion Centennial Stamp… already circling the world.

First Funds

Founder Jacob Schiff was determined to ensure that the Technion would maintain its independence.
The late Russian tea merchant Kalonymous Zeev Wissotzky had left a large fund in his will from which allocations were to be made to public institutions twice a decade. Among the executors was Ahad Ha-Am, the distinguished Zionist philosopher. Ahad Ha-Am was able to recruit Wissotsky’s son David to the Technikum plan, and a first contribution of 100,000 rubles was made. In 1908, the American philanthropist Jacob Schiff was visiting the “holy land”. Schiff was affected by the poverty and destitution he found among many of the Jews of Palestine and was inspired by the idea of an institution that would provide technical training.

Back in Europe, interest in the new Technikum was kept high. In 1909 Dr. Chaim Weizmann, who would later become President of the State of Israel, reported to a Zionist conference in Manchester that things were going well with the “National Polytecnikum”. Wealthy Jews from many lands were already promising generous support.

Choice of Haifa

A campaign was mounted by the Jewish community in Jerusalem to host the Technikum, and a special committee was set up to put forward a strong, Jerusalem case. The case for Haifa proved stronger, and in the end won the day:

Haifa was destined to be the city of the future… a great port center of industry and shipping. With the building of the Hedjaz railroad, it would be linked to Damascus and Baghdad and would become an important crossroads for land transport as well.

The local Jewish community was not yet rigid in its organization and character, unlike Jerusalem, the center of Orthodoxy; or Jaffa, which was a hotbed of Jewish nationalism. The neutrality of Haifa would minimalize conflicts, they argued.

The local Jewish community was small, and its influence hardly felt in the city. The Technikum would give impetus to the expansion and growth of the Jewish population in the North.


Source: Wikipedia.