“How to Make the Right Mistake”- an Interview with Mel Rosenberg

Mel Rosenberg was born  in Winnipeg, Canada in 1951 and immigrated to Israel in 1969.

Mel is a microbiologist best known for his research on the diagnosis and treatment of bad breath.

How did you become an inventor?

“I am a very curious person, I always dreamed of being an inventorand every moment I think of a new invention”

Mel says that every invention is created by mistakes, and explains : ” In order to invent, people need to think about their mistakes and make inventions out of them”

“Most of my life I failed, I even thought of writing a book with the title ‘How to Make the Right Mistake'”

Why you left Canada?

“When I was 5 I started to suffer from life in Canada

I was a Jewish boy in a gentile school and I was forced to pray to Jesus.

And if that was not enough I was also a fat, left handed kid,

the teachers forced me to switch my dominant hand to right.”

“I learned from this that the world is fixed and there is no place for different people”

Are you satisfied with the decision to immigrate to Israel?

“It’s the best decision I’ve made, I have no regrets,

Israel is a crazy country but I like it”.

“Look back but don’t stair”  

Why did you leave the field of science?

“I did not choose this profession, the profession chose me”

“After a few years I started to suffer, I felt I was not fullfilled my abilities and decided to start doing things I love.

At the age of 40, I started writing children’s books and playing the saxophone.”

How did you become an educator?

“It was always a part of me, without educating I feel dead”

What can we do in order to be amazing?

“I live my life on my terms”

“There’s no reason we’re here, so we have 2 choices:

to be average or do more and be amazing”

Thank you Mel for sharing with us your life story, insights, successes and failures.

Your story is inspiring and we learned a lot from it.