Jerusalem (Special) -- Students at the Jerusalem College of Technology have new dorm 
rooms to stay in because a San Diego philanthropist was charmed by the idea that 
engineering students also study classic Jewish texts. 

The Beverly & Joseph Glickman Dormitory Pavilion at the Jerusalem College of 
Technology--a men’s college with 810 students -- was dedicated in November during a 
ceremony in which the Glickmans were represented by their daughter, Elaine Galinson of 
San Diego. 

Before the Glickmans’ names were unveiled atop the dormitory building, the school’s president, Prof. Joseph Bodenheimer, fondly recalled Joseph Glickman’s first visit to the school.  “It seemed to me from the first that he fell in love with this place,” Bodenheimer said.  “He loved the idea of the combination of a professional education combined with a commitment to the Jewish heritage. That clicked with him; that made sense to him.  He said, “I want to come back here; I want to be more deeply involved in this place, and the relationship between us developed.”About the dormitory pavilion itself, Yehuda Hoffman, a student from the former Soviet Union, said “it will not be an exaggeration if I say this building is not only a dormitory but a real home for us. ...I really do not believe that any of the students who have lived in this dormitory will forget the rooms because the rooms were a place where they studied and gave them an opportunity to finish their studies and be successful.”

Elaine Galinson dedicates dormitory

When the name of the dormitory at last was unveiled, “tears came to my eyes,” Elaine 
Galinson said later.  “What I thought of, I guess, is that I am seeing this now when they are 
alive, but who knows how many more times I will come back there but they won’t be there 
anymore but their names will be there.  It was very touching.” 

Bodenheimer and other members of the Jerusalem College of Technology were in San 
Diego last week to show the Glickmans a videotape of that ceremony in Jerusalem and to 
present him with a “key” to the dormitory. 

As family and friends were gathering for the formal presentation at the home of Qualcomm 
founder Irwin Jacobs and Joan Jacobs, Glickman said he was attracted to the college 
because “it is a high tech university but it also has a stress on Judaism and Judaic ethics 
and morals. 

“I think every day they start with an hour of teaching and studying and arguing about Jewish 
ethics and morals and that seemed to me to be a very good combination.” 

Bodenheimer stressed the importance of that combination in his speech. “As technology changes rapidly--changes in dimensions, speed, size, power requirements--it has to cope with a human being that is essentially unchanged,” he said. 

“That is a major problem.   I think this is maybe the reason why during the last century we 
have seen some of the most horrible manifestations of humanity that humanity has ever 
seen.... 

“It is only if human wisdom can keep up with technological expertise that we are going to be 
able to survive into the millenium,” the JCT president said. 

“We have enormous resources to draw upon and those resources are our Jewish traditions 
because Judaism has given to the world some of its most important human values,” 
Bodenheimer continued. 

“Monotheism is something that Judaism brought to this world. Before, people were 
worshiping idols.  We have the idea of charity, which is something that Judaism has given 
the world.  Personal responsibility--the fact that a person is responsible for his actions. 
Even though he may feel that circumstances caused him to do a certain action, according 
to our Jewish ethics a person is always responsible for his actions and should not blame 
his actions on society.” 

In the new age of high tech, the JCT president said, “Jewish values have a lot to give us in 
the sense of being able to cope with the challenge of the mismatch between technology and 
the more or less steady state of humanity in its ability, its emotions and its instincts.” 

He expressed pride that 95 percent of the college’s graduates take jobs in Israel despite the 
fact that more lucrative offers come from abroad.  He said the college stresses the values of 
loyalty, devotion, commitment, honesty and helping to build the state. 

The Israeli government contributes 65 percent of the cost of a college student’s education, 
and “we should not have a brain drain of those precious professionals whom we have 
educated at such a great expense,” he said. 

Qualcomm’s Jacobs commented: 

“We  have an operation in Haifa, and we are probably about 150 engineers and other 
support people there right now.  We went originally to Israel-well, of course, we have quite 
an attachment--but also about the time a number of Russians were immigrating to Israel.  It 
appeared there would be a surplus of engineers and high tech people in Israel and given 
the shortage here, it was very important to have an operation in Israel as well. 

“I must say that today the shortage there is at least as striking as it is in the U.S.  High-tech 
is growing very rapidly in Israel; it is demanding all the graduates of the technical 
universities and colleges, so it seems important to support those universities and see them 
grow.  They are now an important part of the economy of Israel.”