Daniel Lewin: The Israeli-American 9/11 Hero

Daniel was born on May 14, 1970 (Israel’s 22nd Independence Day) in Denver, Colorado. He enjoyed a happy childhood with his parents and two brothers. At the age of 14, Daniel arrived in Israel when his parents decided to make aliyah, the act of Jewish immigration to Israel. In the beginning, adapting to the new culture was difficult. But little by little, Daniel fell in love with the country. In 1986, Marco Greenberg met Daniel in Jerusalem. According to Marco, Daniel had a profound connection to Israel and was built like a biblical figure.

Ambitious and very talented, Daniel dedicated much of his time to his greatest passions: mathematics and computer science. At the age of just 16, Daniel was already training hard for his draft into the IDF and had a good reputation at “Samson’s Gym” in Jerusalem. Daniel was able to lift heavy weights, and his physique was above average. He decided to try out for one of the most prestigious units in the IDF: Sayeret Matkal. In order to be recruited to Sayeret Matkal, one must go through a unique selection process. But Daniel was determined—he succeeded in the selection process, was accepted, and served in the unit for four years. He even became an officer. 

“I remembered how broken his Hebrew was at first—it always made me smile. Then I realized that he was simply a genius. He was not only a strong guy, he was brilliant.” —Gadi Haviv, a soldier in Daniel’s unit

    Daniel in his IDF uniform

After his military service, Daniel worked as a researcher at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. His work there was highly appreciated. Despite his busy schedule, he found the time to dedicate himself to a full-time research position at IBM. However, Daniel was not just a skilled researcher. He was also a devoted husband to Anne and his two sons, Itamar and Eitan.

Marco, his best friend, shared an anecdote about Daniel:
 “Danny wore many different hats. If you can believe it, he was both a father changing diapers with his wife and a stellar student at the Technion, majoring in mathematics, computer science and electrical engineering. He did reserve duty in Sayeret Matkal, the most elite Commando unit, and he would be correcting papers. When we had dinners at his apartment in Haifa, he would look at mistakes from other very bright students, and he would argue about politics—all of this at the same time.”

Marco Greenberg, Daniel Lewin’s best friend 
​Basic training, 1996 / ex IDF Spokesperson’s Unit

Sergeant First Class  Gadi Haviv, ex Sayeret Matkal 

In 1996, Daniel received a scholarship to do his PhD at MIT, the most prestigious university for computer science in the world. There, he continued his research and wrote an algorithm that would forever change the internet. Daniel found a practical use for the concept of “consistent hashing” and used it to enable websites to handle higher user traffic. In 1998, together with his professor, Tom Leighton, and other partners, he co-founded Akamai Technologies. Daniel became a millionaire before his thirties. 

Today, Akamai Technologies exists and keeps growing year after year. It provides its services to some of the biggest companies in the world: Amazon, Airbnb, PayPal and more. Akamai Technologies is always developing and excels in new sectors such as cybersecurity. It is likely that Akamai is responsible for delivering a third of the internet traffic based on the CDN (Content Delivery Network) that Daniel Lewin envisioned.

On September 11, 2001, Daniel was on his way to a business trip in Los Angeles. He was sitting in business class, dressed modestly in Gap jeans and a simple T-shirt. It is impossible to know exactly what occurred on that flight, but according to an FBI report and flight attendant records, Daniel tried to stop the two Al-Qaeda terrorists in front of him. He was seated in row 9, but the passenger behind him, the third terrorist, stabbed him. That makes Daniel the first victim of 9/11. He was only 31 years old. 

When the disaster struck, people turned to the internet to see if their relatives survived. The website of federal institutions, newspapers, and others were crashing due to heavy user traffic. Many companies reached out to Akamai Technologies in order to help them find their loved ones.

Today, the legacy of Daniel Lewin, former IDF soldier and internet pioneer, is still alive. May his memory be a blessing. 

Portrait of Daniel Lewin in Akamai Technologies Offices in Tel Aviv (2021)