I prayed in my father’s Egyptian shul
help farmers, often in the developing world, to increase their yields and so save environmental resources. CropX, for example, lets farmers get advanced statistics on soil that allow them to get the best from their land, all using a smartphone and a device that resemble a pogo stick.
Some exhibitors are aiming at the next big thing in tech for kids. Particula has come to the conclusion that we will not tear our kids away from their smartphones, so is making physical “edutainment” games that connect to the phone. It was showing off the GoCube, which looks similar to a Rubik’s Cube and which you solve with instructions from your phone. Kids commonly play it with parents.
There were innovators too working to give us better football games. Track160 had screens showing matches demonstrating how it track players and the ball’s trajectories. This data is gold dust to managers who want to improve team tactics.
Mr Medved said that as well as showing off Israeli innovation, the summit was about helping potential investors to understand likely growth areas for the next decade.
“The rise and dominance of artificial intelligence, the revolution around self-driving cars, the breakthroughs in digital health, and the very urgent need to stay ahead of the game in cybersecurity — [these] can help us plot where there is a need for more investment and where there are opportunities for new ideas.”
EGYPT IS traditionally associated with departure for Jews — during the Exodus, and more recently for those forced to leave between 1948 and 1970 following the Arab–Israeli wars.
From a community that numbered 85,000 in its heyday and which contributed significantly to Egypt’s political, economic and cultural development, fewer than 10 Jews remain today.
As if symbolising this decline, the roof of the main Eliahu Hanavi synagogue in Alexandria, built in the 1860s and one of the largest in the Middle East, collapsed four years ago. Refusing funding from abroad, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities launched a $4 million (£3.1 million) restoration programme which also uncovered the ruins of a 13th century synagogue upon which the actual one had been built.
As work completed last December, the Nebi Daniel International Association, which is dedicated to preserving Jewish cultural and religious heritage in Egypt, decided to celebrate Shabbat on February 14-15. Jews born in Egypt gathered at the shul with their families in Alexandria — 180 in all.
Funds had been raised to clear the three Jewish cemeteries from overgrown trees and kaddish was recited over the graves. A Chanukat Habayit ceremony to re-dedicate the synagogue was held in the afternoon when a new mezuzah was affixed by
Rabbi Baker of the American Jewish Committee, watched by US ambassador to Egypt Jonathan Cohen, former Israeli Ambassador David Govrin, and British and French consuls.
Three Sifrei Torah were carried into the synagogue under a tallit and the shofar was sounded, followed by chants and speeches marking the return and thanking the Egyptian authorities. Memorial candles were lit and the names of departed relatives recalled. The Kabbalat Shabbat service was celebrated by two rabbis, including Yosef Nefoussi, son of the last rabbi in Alexandria.
The service on Saturday morning included the procession of 12 Torah scrolls before the largest congregation in that synagogue for 50 years. This return stirred deep emotions: nameplates have been preserved and I was deeply moved when praying in my father’s seat.
“Visiting our dear ones at the cemeteries signified a return to say that in spite of all past problems, we have not abandoned you, we are back to see you, you are not forgotten,” says Elie Chilton, who was born in Alexandria.
Levana Zamir, of the International Association of Jews from Egypt, added: “I never imagined I would see my grandson here, holding a Sefer Torah. I cried, there is so much emotion, it was just like seeing my father there.”
It can bring Israelis, Palestinians and the Middle East together
Alec Nacamuli was born in Alexandria and left in 1956 after the Suez Crisis