Jewish Portal of Teacher Education

Source: Jerusalem Post

The Israel Independence Day ceremony at Mount Herzl annually recognizes outstanding citizens. The "breakthrough achievement" concept is the central theme of this year’s beacon-lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl, which will usher in Israel’s 67th Independence Day celebrations. Since Israel’s inception, its reputation as a “Start-up Nation” has been enhanced by breakthroughs in almost every field of human endeavor. The 14 people selected to light beacons this year are all breakthrough achievers in various aspects of Israel's society, culture and science.

Among this year's Independence Day beacon lighters are:

• Brig.-Gen. (res.) Dr. Danny Gold - Gold initiated the Iron Dome missile defense system while serving as head of the IDF’s research and development division.
• Ehud Shabtai – one of the inventors of WAZE, the worldwide automobile navigation application.
• Alice Miller - When Alice applied for service in a pilots’ course, she was told by president Ezer Weizman, a former commander of the Israel Air Force, to go home and knit socks. She decided instead, after being initially rejected, to take her case to the High Court of Justice and paved the way for women pilots in the IAF.
• Lucy Aharish – Lucy is a fiery Israeli-Arab evening news presenter on I24 News. Born in Dimona, she was the only Arab student in her school. She is well versed in Jewish culture as well as her own Muslim background and serves as a bridge of tolerance.
• Gal Lusky – founder of Israel Flying Aid, a dynamic organization with a distinguished record of providing humanitarian aid to countries around the world stricken by natural disasters and terrorist attacks.
• Prof. Marta Weinstock- Rosin - last year’s Israel Prize laureate in medicine, who developed a drug to slow dementia caused by Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
• Rabbanit Malka Piotrkowski - a teacher and women’s rights activist with an enviable knowledge of Torah and Halacha, who advocates amending the ketuba – the Jewish marriage contract – to include a clause according to which a man who refuses to give his wife a Jewish bill of divorce would be imprisoned.

Read about all the Beacon Lighters in the Jerusalem Post.

See the Israel Ministry of Culture & Sports web site to see the official announcement about the Beacon Lighters (in Ivrit) as well as more detailed information about their achievements.