[img]96|left|||no_popup[/img] Dateline Jerusalem — Silicon Wadi? That is the name of Israel's Silicon Valley. When I first moved to Rehovot, I was under the impression that it was the Silicon Valley of Israel until a taxi driver told me that Rehovot is only one of the cities comprising Israel's Silicon Wadi/Valley. Because Israel is the 100th smallest country in the world, about the size of New Jersey and 1/19th the size of California, Rehovot and five other coastal plain cities make up what is known as Israel's Silicon Valley, second only in the world to Silicon Valley in California with respect to level of innovation and ingenuity. China comes in at a close third.

Rehovot is considered part of the Silicon Valley of Israel due to the research and development that takes place in its Science Park and the Weizmann Institute of Science. Weizmann, one of seven research universities in Israel, is considered one of the top 100 academic institutions in the world. Known for excellence in physics, computer science, mathematics and natural sciences, it boasts a recent Nobel Prize winner in chemistry. Israel has won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry four times, as well as Nobels in several other disciplines. Not bad for a nation of less than eight million people. In fact, Israel has the highest concentration of scientists and engineers in the world.

High tech makes up 40 percent of Israel's exports. Start-up companies with inventions that the average person in the U.S. takes as commonplace, began in Israel. For example, ICQ, invented by four young Israelis, was the first internet instant message service. AOL bought that start-up technology. Snaptu is an Israeli mobile application platform that was acquired by Facebook. Google bought an Israeli system that predicts what the user is searching for by just plugging in a few letters. Intel's Dual Core Processor is Israeli, as well as a GPS social satellite navigation system, the first computer anti-virus, and memory sticks. As long ago as 1964, Motorola was the first U.S. corporation to set up R & D in Israel. Now Israel hosts major R & D of Google, Microsoft and Intel, to name a few. In fact, Warren Buffet invests heavily in Israel.

I love living in Rehovot even though I have nothing to do with its Silicon Valley, other than having many friends who work at Weizmann and for companies in the Science Park. When it comes to technology or anything dealing with computers, I am as illiterate as I am in the Hebrew language. Considering two of the four sentences I know in Hebrew are “Ani lo medeberet Ivrit” (“I do not speak Hebrew”) and “Ani lo mevina Ivrit” (“I do not understand Hebrew”), my technology confession says a lot. And for those who want to know the other two sentences, they are “Ani orechet din” (“I am a female attorney”) and “Ani ha iti shoteret” (“I was a policewoman”).

L'hitraot. Shachar.