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I/; f.vv ir; /.-fi,' THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE November 21, 1986 Page 17 From shoemaking to lasers: ORT adapts by Richard Bono *** • TSI staff writer Consistently adapting itself to ever-changing times is one of the hallmarks of the World ORT Union. Begun in 1880 in Czarist Russia, ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation through Training) rescued Soviet Jewry from pov erty and deprivation by provid ing needed vocational training. More than a century later, ORTs mission has not changed, but its methods and scope cer tainly have. “We have 165,000 students in 31 countries around the world and none of our schools is the same,” said Joseph Harmatz, director general of the World ORT Union. “We are flexible to such an extent that we adjust ourselves to many different situ ations and conditions. We’ve been around for 106 years. We would not have survived if we didn’t change. We’d still be dealing with shoemaking instead of with las ers and electronics.” Harmatz was in Atlanta for the recent conference of the na tional board of Women’s Ameri can ORT. Harmatz said ORT’s vast edu cational network, which includes technical as well as academic curriculum, is designed to be “open-ended” for further study. “The think tank of ORT is our international academic board,” he said, explaining that the board is composed of educators from some of the world’s most notable learning institutions, including Oxford University in England, Israel’s Weizmann Institute and Columbia University in New York, among others. “This is a very interesting group of scientific personalities,” said Harmatz. “We meet once a year. They project years ahead what we should teach.” Some of the international aca demic board’s more recent long- range decisions were to intro duce bio-technology into its cur riculum and to further stress the role of Jewish education. Born and educated in Lithua nia, Harmatz joined ORT as comptroller of ORT Israel in 1960, and was appointed director general seven years later. In 1980, Harmatz was elected director general of the World ORT Union at their Centenary Congress. He and his wife make their home in London, operational headquar ters of the World ORT Union. The World ORT looks for a “different breed” of teachers, according to Harmatz. “Since we are private we feel we can afford to build new systems and new programs,” he said. “To do this we try to find teachers who think a little bit differently, people who are innovative and do not accept existing situations. We look for people who look for something which is better.” Harmatz said that many of ORT’s 6,500 teachers are “people who are sometimes difficult to work with, who are a little bit meshuga.” The World ORT Union has an operating budget for 1986 of $ 120 million. Does the organization ever worry about being too big? “It is one of our problems,” Harmatz admits. “We try not to run into deficits. We try. But, we sometimes run into situations where it’s very risky. “You know the story of the intelligent man and the wise man,” Harmatz mused. “An intelligent man when he enters into a crisis situation knows he will get out of it. A wise man doesn't enter into such a situation. So we try to be wise. We know our limits.” Approximately 15 percent of ORT’s operating budget is actu ally generated by the organiza tion’s own effort. The larger part of ORT’s financial burden is borne by “clients.” “Our clients are governments, municipalities and industries, News & Reviews The Southern Israelite those people who benefit from the people we graduate,” said Harmatz. Women’s American ORT, ac cording to the director general, contributes about five percent of the total operating budget. “Their contribution is extremely signifi cant,” he said. “The United States leads the Western world. It is a very advanced society even though it has problems competing with the Japanese. But this is a tem porary problem.” In addition to its monetary contribution, Harmatz said Woman’s American ORT brings to the organization “the knowl edge and expertise of its individ ual members, who, collectively, have a distinct personality and ideology as Americans. This greatly influences the rest of ORT throughout the globe.” Perfect for Gift Giving! 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