Page 11 - Perspective 2022 - 11.9.22

“YOU HAVE TO DREAM. SET HIGH GOALS FOR
YOURSELF AND DON’T BE SCARED TO REACH
THEM. IF YOU HAVE A GOAL IN MIND, YOU
WORK HARD ENOUGH AND HAVE HELP FROM
UP ABOVE YOU’RE GOING TO DO IT.”
scary statistic is, only 0.7% of people in high-tech that are
making more than 17,000 NIS (about $4,900) a month, are
Haredim. That means that Haredim are not in the start-up
nation. We’re changing that.”
The new Tal Campus is set to speed up that evolutionary
process — but it’s only one of the achievements Hershkowitz
is fond of from his time at JCT.
A cursory stroll along the campus reveals the impressive
construction of other projects that are now complete —
like its sprawling promenade, fitness center, and renovated
dormitories that can accommodate married couples and
single students.
Academically, its Torah V’Mada program analyzes the
cross-section of where scientific and halachic dilemmas
meet. Is man-made cultured meat kosher? Can one ride
an automated vehicle on Shabbat? These are some of the
questions examined at the center.
At its heart, though, JCT is a community. That feeling was
evident during the Tal Campus groundbreaking ceremony
last month, where decades-long supporters gathered to
witness a crowning achievement in the school’s history.
That sense of camaraderie is being passed on to the next
generation through JCT’s newly revamped Shagririm
B’Lev application which is geared to the modern
orthodox community. The app, which was built upon a
networking organization already in place on campus,
helps set up students with a suitable match for dating.
Today, 100 couples have gotten married thanks to the
app.
As for Hershkowitz himself, while he hopes to spend more
time at home with his grandchildren, he understands
his retirement probably won’t be all R&R. The educator,
banker, and lawyer hopes to devote more time to causes
that are dear to him like the Orthodox Union, Jerusalem
Foundation, and Nishmat. And, in true JCT fashion, he’d
like to spend more time studying the Talmud alongside his
more secular endeavors.
“The groundbreaking has been almost 11 years of day-
to-day work after so many people told me it would never
happen. But we’re almost there now, we have over $80
million raised,” he says. “You have to dream. Set high goals
for yourself and don’t be scared to reach for them. You’re
going to fail and have a lot of frustrations, but if you have a
goal in mind, you work hard enough and have help from up
above you’re going to succeed.”
Adapted from an article that originally appeared in the Jerusalem Report
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