| Seated
around the table, Succoth, 1998, from the left: Yisrael, Avrum, Asher, Yetty, Ayalah,
Ruthi and Larry. The religious journey and
a science success story
Larry and his older brother, Barry, were both bar mitzvah
in the Reform tradition, and then they went their separate paths.
"Philosophically, we're diametrically opposed,"
said Barry, as he unfolded the story of Larry's religious path, which began with his
college years.
University Hillel societies led to friendships with Orthodox families, from Washington
College in Maryland, to the University of Delaware, to the University of California in
Davis. Afterwards, with two masters degrees -- one in education with specialization
in chemistry and the other in microbiology -- Larry chose to settle in Boston. There
he found a position "in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging," said
Barry. |
|
Unbeatable
offer
"He was doing MRIs and not happy with the work," Barry said in a telephone
interview in December 2000. Meanwhile, Larry had become involved with a Zionist
group, where he felt himself amongst kindred spirits. A businessman member of the
Zionist group offered to "sponsor" him for a year in Israel so he could study
Torah at a yeshiva, an advanced academy of religious education. The timing was
perfect, and he went. Quick success
As a microbiologist, Larry naturally gravitated toward the Weizmann Institute of
Science, and he found a spot there, which Barry described as "an assistant to a
doctor in cancer research." In short order, Larry proved his mettle. He
was assigned to work as a lab technician on an experiment "which they were about to
dump," Barry said, "but Larry insisted it was about to happen."
'Lo and behold'
"Lo and behold, he was right," said Barry. "They got the results
they hoped for, and the research was well received in the scientific world."
When an article appeared in an English microbiology journal, Larry found he had been
"signed on" [added to the list of those receiving credit for the
research]. This was unusual because he had come on board at the end, and also,
because he was technically just a lowly lab assistant. "But if my brother
hadn't come along," said Barry, "those petri dishes would have been thrown in
the garbage." |
