Nissim Lehyani

⚡️The U.S. team is in Armenia: the National Science Foundation (NSF)* Program Directors Alex and Vyacheslav, the U.S. Embassy economic officer Erik and me had an exploratory discussion about the current state and future of Science and Technology in Armenia 🇦🇲. Symbolically, the conversation has originated at the “starting point“, the iconic Ground Zero Specialty Café, the first venture cafe in the region. 💡*The U.S. NSF is an independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 “to promote the progress of science🧬; to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare; to secure the national defense; and for other purposes.” #science #education #technology #national #federal #government Strategic Value Ventures #NSF #entrepreneurship

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Meanwhile, US will be represented by John Podesta who's brother Tom Podesta was a lobbyist for Aliyev’s Azerbaijan! It is ironic that John Podesta whose brother Tom Podesta was a lobbyist for Aliyev’s Azerbaijan replaced John Kerry as US climate envoy! Perhaps we simply should send Tom Podesta as our climate envoy after all he has direct experience representing Aliev’s interests! #StopGreenwashGenocide #FreeArmenianHostages #FreePoliticalPrisoners #BoycottCop29 #COPout29 Say NO to Azerbaijan’s genocidal policies and NO to greenwashing at #COP29.

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Meanwhile, US will be represented by John Podesta whose brother Tom Podesta was a lobbyist for Aliyev’s Azerbaijan! It is ironic that John Podesta whose brother Tom Podesta was a lobbyist for Aliyev’s Azerbaijan replaced John Kerry as US climate envoy! Perhaps we simply should send Tom Podesta as our climate envoy after all he has direct experience representing Aliev’s interests! #StopGreenwashGenocide #FreeArmenianHostages #FreePoliticalPrisoners #BoycottCop29 #COPout29 Say NO to Azerbaijan’s genocidal policies and NO to greenwashing at #COP29.

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A few months ago, Gevorg Tamamyan and I sat down to discuss the challenges in Armenia’s healthcare sector. What’s the biggest issue, we wondered? It didn’t take long to pinpoint one of the biggest ones: the lack of reliable health information in Armenian and poor patient education. It's well known that in Armenia, many people still turn to outdated advice or unverified sources when making decisions about their health. The amount of often absurd decisions people make—decisions that, in many cases, harm their long-term health—is heartbreaking. We believe this is one of the reasons why in many cases progress keeps hitting a wall. It got us thinking: what if there was a space where patients could feel supported and a place where they could find clear, accurate information from trusted professionals? We’ve already seen just how much this is needed. At Doctor Yan, our weekly health guides are already reaching over 20,000 readers every month. These are people who are looking for guidance. So, dear network, meet Patient Hub 🍀 Together with our teams, we’ve started building a patient education platform. To begin, we’re focusing on pregnancy and child care—because we believe that’s where it all starts. Courses created by the top doctors in Armenia, are designed to empower families with the knowledge they need to make better decisions. But we’re not stopping there. With Gevorg’s incredible expertise and our shared vision, we’re creating a platform that will cover everything: from supporting teenagers struggling with mental health to helping families care for elderly loved ones with Alzheimer’s. Our website is live, and this is just the beginning! Are you passionate about better healthcare? Do you want to help us shape this vision? DM me—I’d love to tell you more and explore how you can get involved. www.patienthub.am

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301arm Armenian News, “Exclusive interview with Journalist Lindsey Snell,” 11/4/2024, https://lnkd.in/dnvWNiAR "301’s Katya Derhovagimian recently interviewed journalist Lindsey Snell to discuss her recent work, alongside her investigations into Azerbaijani and Turkish falsifications. "The conversation highlighted how Azerbaijan employs “greenwashing”—promoting environmental initiatives—to distract from its actions in Artsakh and accusations of genocide. Azerbaijan’s recent environmental messaging, including proposals for hosting COP29, aims to bolster its international image while obscuring its military actions and policies toward Armenians. Snell’s work critically examines these tactics and underscores the need for greater awareness of the environmental and human rights implications in the region.” Lindsey Snell: “I think everyone knows that Azerbaijan is not going to launch any new aggression ahead of COP29. But they’ve been maintaining that the groundwork for an invasion for attacks probably after COP29 when it no longer matters and part of that is the constant claims of so-called Armenian ceasefire violations, the constant reports and you know Azerbaijani officials complaining that Armenia is arming itself to the teeth _ I think one Azerbaijani official was claiming that… And it’s ludicrous because Azerbaijan is buying exponentially more weapons, mostly from Israel. But I think that definitely the groundwork is being laid once the international spotlight is off of Azerbaijan and no one cares any more. There’s no reason Azerbaijan wouldn’t launch a new attack.” “Certainly Azerbaijan is Israel’s closest Ally in the region and that’s very important for America and for the West because they see Azerbaijan as a counter to Iran, whether or not that actually pans out in any real way. And of course, … Israel is arming Azerbaijan. More than 70% of Azerbaijan's weapons are coming from Israel; almost half of Israel's oil is coming from Azerbaijan. So I think that there's a very deep strategic partnership and alliance there. But I think that this is part of why the West doesn't really step in and intervene against Azerbaijan in any real way because keeping Azerbaijan this intelligence sharing, military technology sharing partner of Israel happy is much more important to them.” “[Azerbaijan is] trying to normalize this narrative of all of Armenia is our territory and it’s going to lay more groundwork for future attacks and invasions.” “[The "western Azerbaijan Azerbaijan community" is] definitely going to be the basis of whatever comes next.” “We know that Azerbaijan doesn’t want peace, Turkey doesn’t want peace. They want every capitulation that they can get and if they don’t get them, they’re going to attack. So it’s just very scary.”

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More details about the Israeli attack on Iran via Doron Kadosh. If you don’t want to read it, here’s the summary. We kicked serious butt and the Iranian regime is in real trouble. It was a VERY significant and strategic attack. Very! Now for the details. 1. The strike destroyed all of Iran’s strategic air defense capabilities. This includes all long-range surface-to-air missile batteries. Iran had two such models: the Russian S-300 and an advanced Iranian-made model. All batteries were destroyed, along with long-range detection radars. Essentially, Iran is now left only with short-range air defense batteries of local Iranian models. 2. The main damage to air defense batteries was in Tehran and western Iran. In Tehran, this means exposing and making the Iranian capital vulnerable, while in western Iran, this area is where Iran launched ballistic missile attacks on Israeli territory, providing operational efficiency for the future. 3. IDF assessment: Iran has lost its strategic air defense capabilities for the next two to three years. Russia cannot supply it with systems due to the war in Ukraine, and it will take Iran a long time to produce new systems of the Iranian model. 4. According to reports, Iran holds over 2,000 long-range ballistic missiles. The existing arsenal was not damaged—only the capability to produce new missiles (as reported, planetary mixers, etc.). This means that Iran will now operate on a limited munitions economy, as its current missile stockpile will not be able to grow in the near future (in the coming months or years). 5. Contrary to various reports, there was no damage to Iran’s drone array. (We need find out what was hit at the Shams Abad site) 6. More than 140 aircraft participated in the strike. Over 50% of the pilots and navigators involved were reservists. 7. The IDF anticipated that the Iranians might respond with an attack of 200 ballistic missiles during the strike, while the aircraft were still airborne. The Air Force was prepared with a continuity plan that would allow both defense against such an attack and the completion of all three strike waves without forfeiting any targets. Ultimately, the Iranians chose not to respond immediately. A senior security official commented: “Every moment that passes without a response indicates they are conducting damage control, thinking with their heads and not their hearts, and weighing their steps.” 8. Preparations for a potential Iranian attack: This time, the Americans are expected to play a more significant role in defense and interception, thanks to the THAAD battery stationed in Israel and three ships equipped with AEGIS defense systems capable of intercepting ballistic missiles, which were also involved in intercepting the attack in early October. I have no idea what he was looking at or thinking when this picture was taken, but in my imagination, he was thinking “Awww crap, those Zionists sure know how to fight. Well, it was fun while it lasted!”

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🤔Who Said You Can’t Have a Meaningful Life Virtually? The Inspiring Legacy of Ibelin in the World of Warcraft. A Wake-Up Call to Gratitude. In the virtual world of Azeroth, “Ibelin” was more than just a character in World of Warcraft—he was a friend, a leader, and an inspiration to a close-knit online community. When this young gamer passed away, his fellow players felt a profound loss and reached out to his family, illuminating how real and meaningful these virtual bonds had become. This story serves as a powerful reminder of the legacy we create in both our physical and digital lives, urging us to be kind, to appreciate those around us, and to be grateful for each moment. As our lives become increasingly intertwined with digital realms, stories like Ibelin’s underscore the potential of the metaverse, where virtual interactions can be just as impactful as those in real life. World of Warcraft, with its rich storytelling, immersive worlds, and deeply social gameplay, is paving the way for what the metaverse could become: a space where human connection, creativity, and community transcend the boundaries of our physical world. While WoW itself isn’t a metaverse in the modern sense, it has laid the groundwork by fostering connections and identities that go beyond just “playing a game.” RELEASED 20 years ago, Blizzard’s World of Warcraft has made over US$9.3 billion in revenue through its lifetime on PCs and Macs worldwide. In comparison to its fellow MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online games)World of Warcraft still proves to be the most popular all-time MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) by a landslide with an estimated total player count of 149.74 million as of November 2024. This figure is significantly higher than any competitor. The next closest games are Baldur’s Gate 3 with 138 million players and ROBLOX with 115.35 million players. Check chart below 👇 Microsoft announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion on January 18, 2022. The acquisition was completed on October 13, 2023.Activision Blizzard is a subsidiary of Microsoft Gaming along with Xbox Game Studios and ZeniMax Media. Microsoft Q3 2024 Earnings Report: Microsoft’s Q3 2024 earnings report noted a 43% increase in gaming revenue attributed to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. As we reflect on Ibelin’s story, we are reminded of the importance of kindness and of cherishing the connections we build—whether in person or online. These digital legacies, too, are part of our lives, showing us that the impact we make in any world can last beyond our time here. #technology #innovation #future #metaverse #gaming #entertainement #linkedin #leadership

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An extraordinary story. "They say you enter a tunnel. Suddenly, I felt this incredible suction, chills, silence, and peace. My family flashed before my eyes like a movie. I saw my wife, and then my children—Omer, Amit, Eilon, and Yonatan, one after the other. Then I woke up, still in the field, and decided I wouldn’t fall asleep again. "I told myself, 'I won’t fall asleep!' I thought about it like a startup: the first thing you have to do as an entrepreneur is survive. That’s what a startup is—survival, survival, survival, exit. I told myself, 'I’m like my startup now. I need to survive, no matter what.' So I stayed awake." Books like Chutzpah (by Inbal Arieli) and The Genius of Israel (by Dan Senor and Saul Singer) have documented the critical impact of service in the Israel Defense Forces on startups and the entrepreneurial culture in #startupnation. Itamar Ben Hemo is just one shining example of how heroic national service can be instrumental in the development of leadership and management skills. Israeli tech cannot be summed up by any stereotype. Founders and tech stars come from the left and the right. Religious and secular. Men and women. But as a general rule, they share one major (and incredibly valuable) trait: grit. For most of the world, "leadership under fire" is a cliche. For Israeli founders, it is far too often a stunningly accurate assessment. "When a company buys an Israeli startup—this was their first non-American acquisition—they need to understand what it means to be Israeli. They saw that we’re building something great here, that Israeli high-tech is resilient even in the toughest situations." #antisemitism #standwithisrael #neveragain #noceasefire #hamasisisis #destroyhamas #bringthemhome #releasethemnow #goodvsevil #terror #israel #campusantisemitism #Metoo_unless_UR_A_Jew #defundtheun #defundunrwa #israelitech #vc #startups

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Excellent and accurate analysis - I encourage everyone to read and share this, as it intelligently resonates with truth, facts, and an impetus and relevant moral perspective. "The Western left’s blaming of Israel for everything, and its implicit absolution of Iran, is grimly revealing. These people seem to view Israel as the only true actor in the Middle East, and everyone else as mere respondents to Israel’s actions. Israel is the author of the Middle East’s fate, while the rest of them – Hamas, the Houthis, even Iran – are mere bit-part players with the misfortune to be caught up in Israel’s vast and terrifying web. This is identitarianism, not anti-imperialism. A new generation of radicals educated into the regressive ideology that says ‘white’ people are powerful and ‘brown’ people are oppressed can only understand the Middle East in these terms, too. The end result is that they demonise Israel and infantilise Iran. The Jewish State comes to be seen as uniquely malevolent while Iran is treated as a kind of wide-eyed child who cannot help but lash out at its ‘Zionist’ oppressor. Israel is damned as a criminal state, while Iran’s crimes against humanity are downplayed, even memory-holed. This is where wokeness leads, then: to sympathy for one of the most backward and repressive states on Earth on the deranged basis that its criminal strikes against Israel represent a blow against the arrogant West itself. In encouraging our young to hate their own societies, we’ve made them moral fodder for a far worse society." #antisemitism #standwithisrael #neveragain #noceasefire #hamasisisis #destroyhamas #bringthemhome #bringthemhomenow #goodvsevil #terror #israel #campusantisemitism #sjpiskkk #israelnowandforever #metoounlessurajew #Metoo_unless_UR_A_Jew

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***THIS IS A RECEIVED AND SHARED POST*** The Armenian people were more proselytised by Gregory and Tiridates than they were evangelized, even though that was not their intention, at least for St. Gregory. The latter did what was humanly possible to evangelize his people. However, according to Leo, the great Armenian historian, if it were not for the sword of Tiridates, state coercion, and punitive measures taken against the pagan institutions in Armenia, and added with natural allegiance to the throne, Christianity would hardly have had a chance of succeeding in our homeland. It is interesting to note that both Gregory and Tiridates belonged to pagan priestly families. In order to win the pagan priestly dynasties over to the Christian religion, they were obliged to accommodate pagan rites and traditions in their new religion. Overnight, many pagan high priests changed hats and became priests and bishops in the newly established church. One significant consequence of the Christianization of Armenia, and nationalization of Christianity later, is that Christianity became, and remains to this day, subservient to Armenian nationalism. Another consequence of nationalization of the Christian religion is that the majority of the Armenian people display today the characteristics of a proselyte rather than the characteristics of a truly evangelized Christian. Among our people today, we have more "alien residents" than truly evangelized and committed Christian citizens of the Kingdom of God. -- the Rev. Barkev N. Darakjian Image: 16th-century Armenian miniature depicting St. Gregory and King Trdat, transformed into a boar

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⁉ Why work? ⁉ How are we supposed to learn Torah while being so busy with work? ⁉ How do we manage stress in the workplace? The finale of our Shtark Tank series on Work Ethics dropped today. And we talked about these burning questions, and more. Pirkei Avos is bursting with juicy ideas and topics, and I had a blast learning some of them with Tzvi Goldstein. The idea was to gain a deep and nuanced hashkafa of work, based on some key mishnayos from Avos. Which topics would you want to hear more about in future episodes? Are there relevant Torah texts that deserve more attention? Let us know in the comments below.

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Allow me to introduce you to the man who held Noa Argamani hostage for eight months. An AlJazeera journalist. Now tell me more about how horrible Israel is for closing AJ’s office in Israel. And tell me more about how AJ is a legitimate news source. And tell me more about how Israel killed “innocent journalists.” And tell me more about how Israel targets innocent civilians. Every innocent death is a tragedy for Israel and a strategy for Hamas. This operation was miraculous beyond words and the fact that this man held Noa captive and it’s not the main news piece on every single publication is beyond disgusting. Every time people quote Gaza casualty numbers, they are quoting the Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, a terror organization full of murderers and rapists. When they speak of innocent women and children, let me remind you that one of those “innocent” Palestinian kids murdered my brother. Enough with the lies already. Thousands of them participated in 10/7 and that’s a well documented fact. And these four hostages who Israel heroically rescued were being held in civilian homes belonging to a doctor and a journalist. Right in the middle of a Gaza market. As the IDF rescued them, they came under massive amounts of fire from Hamas terrorists all hiding within a civilian neighborhood. And that is all you need to know. The rest is propaganda. This is a war of good vs evil. Choose wisely. 🇮🇱

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I am building communities for #Armenians to catch up #IRL only. 🌎 For those who know the poem of William Saroyan: "For when two of them meet anywhere in the world, see if they will not create a New Armenia." 🇦🇲 Armenians of #MENA Community link here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dma-fxMk Armenians in #Startups community link here 👉 https://lnkd.in/dH8hi9KP 📍 Where: On JoinUBQT – Social app to catch up with your tribe IRL. 💡 Why: Let’s keep the Armenian #diaspora connected in real life, anywhere, anytime. 📆 How: Plan ahead or leave it to serendipity. Get notified about who is in town, visiting soon or travelling in the same city as you. Schedule in app, sync calendars, catch-up. 🤝 What: Catch-up in real life with Armenians around MENA, #entrepreneurs and #Corporate professionals or Armenians in Startups #founders, #angels and #VCs around the world. 🌎 Privacy: no maps, not using your data, GDPR compliant. You are welcome to invite qualified members, admin approval allows to filter. Permissions: sync calendar one way to add UBQT catchups in your calendar, sync contacts to see who is already on UBQT, most importantly keep your notifications ON or else you miss opportunities to catchup etc. We built UBQT with the vision of less screen time, more life time. No chats, no feeds, no scrolling, no ads… just IRL catchups! We are not replacing LinkedIn, Facebook, or Whatsapp, we are just making it easier to make the in-person happen and nurture your connections. 🚀 When you download, we donate 1AED to the Child Fund of Al Jalila Foundation helping children in need via YallaGive. 💫 Like, repost, share the link, spread the word… and join the community. 📣 Dr. Martin Russell here is your first diaspora on UBQT. 🚀 Happy for you to create more. 😊 Apparently, LinkedIn algorithm works better when you put a photo. So here it is! 🤷‍♀️ 😂 Raffi Tchakerian Raffy Karamanian Shant Tengerian Shant Oknayan Aram Mughalyan Alexis Ohanian Sr. Aksel Piran Aram Mughalyan Hraztan Kalinian Hovsep S. Mihran Papazian Ara Manuelian Ara Fermanian Alexandra Topalian Jean-Charles Samuelian-Werve Henri Arslanian Carl Tachdjian Vahagn Voskanyan Alexander Seropian Vram Oknayan Levon Hovhannisyan and more! #diaspora #humanconnections #UBQT #catchups

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Los Angeles Times, "Opinion: How lies on paper enabled Azerbaijan’s destruction of an Armenian community," by Taleen Mardirossian, 8/18/2024 "For the last century, Turkey has employed the power of paper to deny the Armenian genocide. Turkish history textbooks teach young students that there was no genocide; rather, the Turks were victims of Armenian aggression, leaving them with no choice but to target the traitors conspiring against them. One Turkish textbook estimates a death toll of 57,000 Armenians. Although the real number will never be known, historians put it at around 1.5 million. "This history of violence is being repeated today. .. "In 2020, with Turkey’s support, Azerbaijan began the latest genocidal campaign against the Armenians, this time in the territory of Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh. Although this autonomous region was inhabited and controlled by Armenians, who the land belonged to was contested on paper. "Claiming this land as theirs, Azerbaijan beheaded civilians. It blasted residential areas with cluster munitions. Even after a cease-fire was called in November 2020, attacks continued and tensions escalated. Then, starting in December 2022, Azerbaijan trapped and starved the men, women and children of Artsakh in an illegal blockade, cutting off access to food, medicine and humanitarian aid. In September, after nine months of psychological and physical torment, Azerbaijan launched a final attack that would force the region to surrender and its Armenian population to flee, in effect ethnically cleansing Artsakh of its people. "[T]he international community failed to see beyond what they were told on paper. "Much of the little concurrent reporting done on this conflict — reporting that has largely vanished in the past year — would include some version of the misleading statement that Artsakh is internationally recognized as Azerbaijan. In other words, among the first facts often established by the media on Artsakh is that the land belongs to Azerbaijan on paper, establishing a sense of justification for their violence. .. "In the 1920s, although the population of Artsakh was 90% Armenian, the USSR debated which Soviet republic the region would be officially aligned with. Armenia was poor and faced a refugee crisis following the Armenian genocide, while Azerbaijan sat on vast reserves of oil. So the Soviets prioritized economy rather than autonomy. .. "Armenians have lived, and died, on this land for millennia. The rocks and stones of thousand-year-old Armenian churches and monasteries are engraved with Armenian inscriptions. .. Why are these carved facts not presented alongside what we are told by a source as thin, transparent and fragile as paper? "Armenians’ cultural heritage — is being actively destroyed by Azerbaijan, just like our presence is being erased from its books. "And we are all to blame. We are not taught to question paper."

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Someone asked me why we center Torah in our work. Well, because: (1) Our modern lives and to-do lists don't leave us with much time to think through the big questions. Mystics, artists, rabbis, philosophers, poets, leaders (all just regular human beings like us) have been asking these questions over thousands of years. Now it's our time and our turn, as the ones who are here right now. (2) In my 15 years of experience building groups who study Torah together, nothing brings people together in close relationships faster. Yes, even people who think they don't like or can't access "Torah study." Torah allows us to go deep quickly, seeing ourselves, each other, and the world with more creativity and clarity. (3) Torah trains us in the skills we need to build a better world. We learn how to build pluralistic democracy by learning how to understand and even argue for positions we may not hold, or to engage in disagreement with civility. We use the word Torah to indicate a way of interacting with rabbinic literature that is sacred, inspiring, and unsettling at times. Reading Torah means opening myself up to the text laying a claim to my life and my behavior. It is an encounter at a deeply personal level as well, as I am studying my people’s covenantal tradition and not that of another. I can still disagree, argue, and protest what I read in rabbinic literature. And, I can creatively turn it on its head with a better reading. All these are options in Torah. It is this kind of experience which adults around the country are signing up for with IYUN (http://iyun.us). So, yes, we’re REALLY into Torah.

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