Jewish Press of Pinellas County

Adapt, survive, succeed



 

I consider myself something of a tree-hugger. In fact, care for the environment is one of the prime tenets of my personal Jewish identity. So a couple weeks ago when I switched from a traditional gas-powered car to an electric auto, I felt that I had taken the next step in shrinking my eco-footprint.

I meandered in my thoughts congratulating myself for no longer supporting the Middle East through purchase of gasoline; I considered not only my overall savings in gasoline purchase but also the avoidance of the federal tax of 18.4 cents per gallon and the Florida tax of 41.36 cents per gallon. For these taxes, I realize that I no longer will contribute to the transportation projects and programs that I will benefit from (bridges, adequate road surfaces, transit operations, and so forth), which presents a perplexing dilemma.

Admittedly, plugging in and charging an electric car is not “free” nor is the environmental impact absent, as Duke Energy services my home with power derived from coal, natural gas, oil, nuclear power, and a thought-provoking “other” (which I understand to mean power generated outside of the other sources and alternative sources). Further digging reveals that just 1.18 percent of our own Sunshine State’s power comes from solar, and none to very little from wind power. We have a ways to go.

Yet leave it to Israelis to take a technological challenge and address it even more creatively. The Australian-Israeli company, Electriq Global, seeks to up the ante by creating a water-based fuel cell for electric vehicles. This hydrogenbased option can be refueled in five minutes and uses a recyclable chemical and water. The technology is already proven to power bicycles; next up are test trucks operating out of a recycling plant in Israel with the support of the Transportation Ministry. This exploration goes hand-in-hand with the Energy Ministry’s announcement a few months back that Israel will move entirely away from gas-powered vehicles by 2030.

Electriq-Global isn’t the only game in town. The Israeli start-up Chakrateq has my vote for the most likely to make it to market with their fast-charging promises that depend on developing “floating flywheels suspended in midair by magnetic levitation.” The CEO, Ilan Ben-David, likens it to a Hanukkah dreidel that spins off electricity. (If you’re interested to read more, visit www.israel21c.org and search for “Chakratec.”)

These ambitious ideas shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of us, given Israel’s mindset of “go big or go home” when it comes to innovation. Israel’s top minds can take credit for things as broad reaching as capsule endoscopy to paraplegic walking systems, from the USB flash drive to WeCU terrorist facial-recognition technology; from hybrid disease-resistant cucumber seeds to bringing back the extinct Judean date palm. Rummikub. The Wonder Pot. The Epilady. Krav Maga. Bamba.

Even the world’s first domesticated hamster – the Golden Hamster – was bred at Hebrew University of Jerusalem way back in 1930.

Beyond new technologies, as a Jewish people (both in Israel and the diaspora) we question constantly, seeking to improve and incubate new mindsets. Along the lines of my personal environmental lens, the eco-kashrut movement (or “eco-kosher”) is another fascinating modern idea on aligning our practice with our belief. In this system, the traditional laws of kashrut are supplemented with the consideration of the human and environmental impact of our food’s consumption – recognizing what it takes to get it to the table. This can include ethical production, local sourcing, sustainable farming, preservation of the earth, and balanced consumption. Ecokashrut has been around since the 1970s, and has not really garnered traction, largely because of its lack of definition and potential overlap with many existing environmental concepts. It even has its own hecksher (symbol of certification): the Magen Tzedek, or “Shield of Justice” as overseen by the Conservative movement, intending to identify products that are healthy, safe, and free of labor issues in the food’s production. Unfortunately, no products carry the seal.

What inspires us to embrace these new, far-afield lines of thought that do nothing short of change the world?

Avraham Arnan knew back in 1957 the importance of designing for chaos as a means of responding to the changing world around us. At just 27 years old, this battalion officer created a special-forces unit in the IDF (which became the Sayeret Matkal) that ultimately spawned Team Tubul, a reconnaissance unit that specialized in on-demand solutions and in-the-moment action. The team had no precedent to follow, no playbook. They only had their own creativity, ambition, and the challenge at hand. Looking back on the responses to chaos that Team Tubul and the larger Sayeret Matkal operation created, we see the scaffolding for what has emerged in modern-day Israel as an ethos that values what has not yet been considered. Team Tubul allowed for the chaos of being dropped anywhere in the Middle East and having to adapt, survive, and succeed. (For more inspiration on this and other IDF stories of success, check out the new documentary on Netflix, “The Mossad: Imperfect Spies.”)

Adapt, survive, succeed in a chaotic world: a mentality that has reshaped our world time and again.

Liked it? Loathed it? Want to react? I would welcome your feedback and can be reached at emilie@jewishpinellas.org.

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