16 February 2006 An ORT technology centre has been opened at Beit Yehudit-Moriah, a traditional Jewish school in Moscow. The project, which brings cutting edge facilities and teaching methods to the school, has been funded by the Edmond J. Safra Philanthropic Foundation and an anonymous donor. ORT Russia President Professor Alexander Asmolov told the opening ceremony: I am very glad that Beit Yehudit-Moriah, which is famous for its commitment to Jewish tradition, now has an opportunity to provide its students with the technological education that will make them competitive in the labour market. ORT Russia President Professor Alexander Asmolov and Beit Yehudit principal Rivka Weiss formally open the ORT Technology Centre.. School principal Rivka Weiss thanked Avi Ganon, World ORTs Representative in Russia, Belarus and Central Asia, for ORTs help in establishing the technology centre. Some people think that religion is incompatible with technology, said Mrs Weiss. But this is not true about Judaism. Jewish people are committed to new knowledge and are in the vanguard of progress. Mrs Weiss and her son Shmuel unveil the donors plaque with World ORT Representative in Russia, Belarus and Central Asia, Avi Ganon (right).. Mr Ganon said that ORT was proud to be able to help Beit Yehudit-Moriah acquire modern technology and looked forward to providing on-going support. As part of the official opening ceremony, two of the schools 120 students told attendees what the new technology centre meant to them. Debby Gontaruk, an 11th grade student, said the centre promised to widen her perspectives and boosted her chances to reach her goals. The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) lessons that I can now attend will help me to widen my knowledge and achieve new and higher goals, Debby said. I want to have a large family that will live according to the Torah and what I learn here will help me to get an interesting profession that will allow me to support such a family. Moshe Elashvili, a 10th grade student, said that before the technology centre opened he thought he had learned all he needed in ICT. Now I understand the unlimited possibilities of information technologies, he said. I am happy that our school, which provides us with the best teaching in Judaism and other subjects and which teaches us to be good, honest and proud of our tradition, can now give us the opportunity to study new technologies. World ORT, founded in St Petersburg in 1880, is the worlds largest Jewish education and vocational training non-government organisation with some 270,000 students both Jewish and non-Jewish in 58 countries.