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Israel Prize Winner Asa Kasher Joins Faculty of Shalem College
May 26, 2011 | 22 Iyyar 5771
Spring greetings from Jerusalem! We at the Shalem Center continue to make significant progress as we prepare to open Israel's first liberal arts college. We hope you find E-News useful and informative, and encourage you to share with your friends, family, and colleagues. If you'd like us to send them a copy directly, simply email us their name and email address at e-news@shalem.org.il. If for any reason you'd like to unsubscribe, please follow the instructions at the bottom of this email.
Israel Prize Winner Asa Kasher Joins Faculty of Shalem College
The Shalem Center is delighted to announce that Tel Aviv University Professor Asa Kasher is joining the faculty of Shalem College in the Department of Philosophy, Political Theory, and Religion (PPR). Professor Kasher won the Israel Prize for Philosophy in 2000. He has written extensively on the philosophy of religion, political philosophy, Jewish philosophy, Jewish history, psychology, and computer science. Kasher is also one of Israel's foremost experts on professional ethics in the military, medicine, communications, and academia. During the 2011-2012 academic year, Kasher will be a Templeton Fellow at the Shalem Center, working on an updated and expanded English-language version of his book Judaism and Idolatry. Read the press release announcing his joining Shalem; or Kasher's 2009 Azure essay.
Tikvah Fund Challenge Grant to Shalem College Covered Widely
The $12.5 million challenge grant from the Tikvah Fund has been widely reported in the media and online since being announced earlier this month. The Tikvah Fund has been Shalem's most consistent and generous supporter, and this extraordinary new commitment marks an especially meaningful vote of confidence. The grant provides a one-to-one match for gifts received for use during the college's first four years. The International Herald Tribune, The Jerusalem Post, JTA, The Jewish Journal, eJewish Philanthropy, The Foundation Center, and others all published articles about the grant. Visit www.shalemcenter.com to read coverage of the gift.
Professor Ruth Gavison Wins Israel Prize for Legal Research
Shalem College Public Council Member Ruth Gavison has won the 2011 Israel Prize for legal research. The Israel Prize, which is awarded in a number of fields each year on Israel Independence Day, is the most prestigious award given by the government of Israel. Gavison is a Hebrew University Law professor and was the founder and long-time head of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel. Gavison's research examines issues at the core of Israel's constitutional law, including Israel's identity as both a Jewish and democratic state, and, as noted by the prize jury, "paves the way for coexistence between secular and religious Jews, as well as between Jews and non Jews in Israel." Read Ha'aretz' coverage of the prize announcement; or read Gavison's 2003 Azure article: "The Jews' Right To Statehood: A Defense."
Shalem Foundation UK Established
The Shalem Center is pleased to announce the establishment of the Shalem Foundation, UK. The trustee committee is chaired by Samuel Rubin, and also includes Robert Kellar, Jonathan Ross, and Jonathan Kalman. "On behalf of the Shalem Foundation, UK, we are excited to help advance the work and vision of the Shalem Center," says Rubin. "We strongly support Shalem's venture to build Israel's first liberal arts college, and we look forward to the opportunity to help strengthen the connection between the United Kingdom and Shalem College." Read about additional ways to support Shalem.
Liberal Arts Colleges Spreading Across Europe
The liberal arts college is becoming popular across Europe. In the Netherlands, there are six liberal arts colleges that have been founded in the past decade and a half. University College London, one of Britain's leading universities, will open a liberal-arts bachelor's degree program next year. There are plans to establish a liberal-arts college in Germany, and education officials in Belgium, Sweden, and Slovakia have also expressed interest. In contrast to the American model, most European students entering university enroll directly in the specific university department in which they wish to study, and take almost all of their courses exclusively in that department. Read the full Chronicle of Higher Education article.
Bar-Ilan University to Offer BA in English
Bar-Ilan University has announced it will open an undergraduate degree program in the social sciences, to be taught in English. The interdisciplinary program will combine studies in economics, political science, and sociology. "Our goal is to open the gates of our university to young people from English-speaking countries around the world and to expose them to the land of Israel and its culture," said Dean of Students, Shlomo Margel. Read the full article at Ha'aretz online.
Israeli Colleges Approved for Government Research Funding
Earlier this spring, Israel's Finance Ministry announced an agreement that will, for the first time, enable faculty and staff from Israel's colleges to receive government funding for research. Such funding was previously reserved for universities, and colleges could only pursue funding from philanthropists and private organizations to promote their research activities. When asked about the issue, Minister of Education Gideon Sa'ar called it "an important agreement for Israel's academia." Read the full article at YNet.
"Want Innovative Thinking? Hire from the Humanities"
An article in the Harvard Business Review urges organizations searching for innovative thinkers to hire employees with degrees in the humanities. Current science and business education systems focus on teaching students to work with data, but don't teach them how to navigate unknown futures. Complexity, ambiguity, innovation, communication, and presentation are all areas in which humanities majors will add intellectual wattage to companies' human resources. Amos Shapira, the CEO of Cellcom the Israeli cell phone provider, is quoted in the article: "The knowledge I use as CEO can be acquired in two weeks...The main thing a student needs to be taught is how to study and analyze things (including) history and philosophy." Read the full article at BusinessWeek online.
Shalem's Rimon Program Featured on Israeli National Television Program
Shalem's Rimon program for outstanding high school students was recently featured on the television program Ha'am Hanivhar (The Chosen People), which is produced by nationally prominent journalist Yaron London. London sought to explore if the myths surrounding the heroes relevant to the Israeli society of his childhood were still valid for Israel today. In one segment, he interviewed the Rimon participants during a seminar at Masada, and together they discussed Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, the founding myths of Israel, and cultural heroes. Watch the video, which includes sub-titles in English.
Martin Kramer and Gilles Kepel at Policy Forum at Washington Institute
Shalem College President-Designate Martin Kramer and Gilles Kepel addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy in early May. Dr. Kepel is the chair of Middle East and Mediterranean studies at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) and author of Beyond Terror and Martyrdom: The Future of the Middle East. The two scholars discussed the outcomes and implications of the successful revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia, as well as of the rebellions in progress in Bahrain, Libya, and Syria. Kramer maintains that "as the revolutions spread from homogeneous countries to more segmented ones, they have rekindled a spirit of sectarianism, regionalism, and separatism." Read the special forum report from The Washington Institute's website.
Assaf Sagiv Presented at Conference Addressing Challenges of New Anti-Semitism
Earlier this month, Azure editor-in-chief Assaf Sagiv spoke at a conference on "The New Anti-Semitism - Educational Challenges," held at the University of Haifa under the auspices of the Faculty of Education. Sagiv participated in the panel "Addressing the Challenges of New-Anti-Semitism," where he gave a speech entitled "From Christian Theology to Pagan Ontology and Back Again: The Transformation of Anti-Semitism in a Postmodern Era." Read the conference program or read Sagiv's editorial from Azure 40.
Azure: "Love's Human Bondage: A Biblical Warning"
James Diamond's essay, which appears in the Spring 2011 issue of Azure, argues that to make sense of the variegated portrayal of love in the Bible, we must attempt a holistic reading of the text, in which the narrative examples of love inform the legal edicts on the subject, and vice versa. What emerges from such a reading is a stark warning: Passionate, unrestrained love, when directed toward other human beings, is fraught with danger, and is thus more appropriate to the religious or spiritual domain. For only by making God the supreme object of our desire, Diamond interprets the Bible to be saying, can we ensure that love will serve as the positive, life-affirming force it was meant to be. Read the full essay at Azure online.
Registration Open for Conference on Philosophy of the Bible, Talmud, and Midrash
Online registration is now open for the upcoming Shalem Center international conference on Jewish philosophical theology, "Philosophical Investigation of the Hebrew Scriptures, Talmud and Midrash." The conference will be held in Jerusalem's Mishkanot Sha'ananim center from June 26 – 30, 2011. The lineup includes 26 speakers hailing from seven countries that span five continents. The conference is made possible by the generous support of the John Templeton Foundation. Read the conference announcement.
The Secret of Shabbat Launch Event Held in Petach Tikvah
Earlier this spring, Shalem Press held a book launch for The Secret of Shabbat by Joseph Isaac Lifshitz. Lifshitz is a Senior Fellow in the Department of Philosophy, Political Theory, and Religion at Shalem. The event was held in Petach Tikvah at Congregation "Netzach Shlomo." Participants included Dr. Moshe Helinger and Dr. Tzachi Hershkowitz of Bar Ilan University. Lifshitz' book is an exploration of man's relationship with creativity and work on Shabbat. Read about other titles available from Shalem Press.
The following web addresses provide an easy to access directory of all Shalem Center sites:
The Shalem Center: www.shalemcenter.com
Azure: www.azure.org.il
Techelet: www.techelet.org.il
Bible and Philosophy: www.bibleandphilosophy.org
Yoram Hazony: www.yoramhazony.org
Martin Kramer: www.martinkramer.org
Daniel Gordis: www.danielgordis.org
We want to hear from you. Please send comments and questions to e-news@shalem.org.il. To receive the Shalem E-Newsletter in Hebrew, send an e-mail to heb-news@shalem.org.il. Technical note: Because various e-mail programs handle links differently, broken links sometimes occur. If this happens, you may need to copy and paste both parts of the URL (address) into your Web browser.
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