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Gordis Book on ‘Saving Israel’ Published
April 2009 | Nissan 5769
Shalom from Jerusalem. This edition of the Shalem Center’s E-News is packed with updates on all areas of life at the Center. Visiting scholars, a new issue of Azure, a new way to connect with Natan Sharansky, and an expansion of the Hebraic Political Studies project are just some of the items we cover this month.
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Shalem Historian Arie Morgenstern Wins Jerusalem Conference Prize
Shalem Senior Fellow Arie Morgenstern, author of 7 books on modern Jewish history, has received the Jerusalem Conference Prize for Jewish History in recognition of his latest research. His most recent book, The Return to Jerusalem (Shalem Press, 2007 [Hebrew]) demonstrates that the students of the Vilna Gaon were instrumental in rebuilding the Old City and the first Jewish neighborhoods outside its walls in the early 19th century. The Jerusalem Conference is an annual forum for the discussion of Israel's national priorities, social values, and aspirations. Click here to read more about Arie Morgenstern:
Mideast Historian Bernard Lewis at the Adelson Institute
Prominent Middle East scholar Bernard Lewis spoke recently at the Adelson Institute on the geopolitical currents of the Arab and Muslim worlds. He noted the "faint stirrings" of democracy in the Arab world and increasing respect there for the achievements of Israeli democracy. Observing that a feeling of humiliation was at the root of much of the Muslim world's rage against Israel, Lewis cautioned against stoking Iranian patriotism through ill-conceived policy, but concluded that an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear facilities would be met with "carefully concealed relief" from the Arab world. Click here to watch video footage of the event:
Nine Profs in Philosophy, History, Law Appointed to HPS Board of Senior Editors
Shalem Press’ peer-reviewed journal Hebraic Political Studies has announced the expansion of its senior editorial board. Steven Grosby of Clemson University has been appointed to the position of Reviews Editor. Eight additional scholars from North America and Israel have been appointed Senior Editors, with responsibilities in fields from political theory of the Bible to Hebraic influence on American thought. The eight are: Suzanne Last Stone (Cardozo Law School) Jonathan Jacobs (Philosophy, Colgate University) Abraham Melamed (Jewish history and philosophy, University of Haifa) Yoram Hazony (Philosophy, Political Theory, and Religion, Shalem) Steven Nadler (Philosophy, University of Wisconsin, Madison), David Novak (Jewish Studies, Religion, Philosophy, University of Toronto) Fania Oz-Salzberger (Law, University of Haifa and Monash University) Jason Rosenblatt (English Literature, Georgetown). Click here to visit the HPS site:
Insider Higher Ed: Wave of Liberal Arts Colleges Being Founded Outside US
An article appearing last month in Inside Higher Ed discusses the burgeoning movement to adopt the American model liberal arts college in countries throughout the world. The article shows a surge in the past decade of smaller, multidisciplinary schools, often in partnership with American institutions of higher learning. Higher education, suggests the article, will in the future be found less in large public universities and technical training programs than in a variety of models of smaller, locally-adapted liberal arts colleges. Click here to read the article:
Exclusive Preview of Shalem VP Daniel Gordis’ New Book Saving Israel
Published March 16 in the United States, Shalem Senior Vice President Daniel Gordis’ Saving Israel (Wiley)offers a fresh explication of “How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End”. In an advance review, noted author Cynthia Ozick says “ Daniel Gordis's morally powerful Saving Israel, from a writer whose reflections are consistently as intellectually impressive as they are moving, engages in an acutely necessary argument: that sovereignty has significantly changed the Jewish condition by influencing how we think. Gordis addresses the exigencies of our time with the urgency they overridingly demand, and with the depth of feeling they inspire.” Click here to read an exclusive advance preview:
Johns Hopkins University Raises Near-Record $3.7 Billion
According to reports in the Washington Post and elsewhere, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland has succeeded in raising more than $3.7 billion for its capital campaign. More than 250,000 donors, most from out of state, helped the University raise the second largest sum in the history of American universities. Over 8 years, Hopkins received more than 700,000 gifts from its donors, averaging more than $5,000 each. The funds have generated 92 professorships and 550 new scholarships and fellowships. Click here to read the Washington Post report:
New American Liberal Arts Honors College for Palestinian Students
The NY Times reports on the establishment of the first liberal arts program for Palestinian Arab students. The new program will be conducted jointly by Al-Quds University, considered the pre-eminent Palestinian institute of higher learning, and Bard College, a prominent liberal arts college in New York State. Financier George Soros plans to offer significant funding towards the college. Bard President Leon Botstein notes that “The liberal arts tradition does have a real connection to democratic politics. Adams and Jefferson believed that education is crucial to the development of a functioning democracy… That’s why we’re very proud of what we’re doing.” Click here to read the story:
Ha’aretz: Universities Failing to Train Leadership, Liberal Arts Colleges Needed
Writing in Ha’aretz, director of the PresenTense Group Ariel Beery ponders the lack of fresh leadership on the Israeli political horizon, a void which he argues “has weakened Israel in the past decades and will worsen as time passes and faith in the political establishment diminishes.” A key reason for this, according to Beery, is Israel’s university system, based on the German model which encourages early specialization. Future Israeli leadership depends on “the blossoming of many small colleges that would offer multidisciplinary curricula.” Click here to read the article:
Azure: Russian Intellectual Foments Apocalyptic Confrontation with America
“The Prophet of the New Russian Empire,” by Yigal Liverant is one of a number of provocative Articles in the latest issue of Azure. Liverant offers an exposé on Russian intellectual Aleksandr Dugin’s “Eurasian” ideas, which have gained significant currency under Putin. Blending authoritarian and esoteric elements, “Eurasian Russia” seeks anti-democratic alliances, embraces its communist past, and readies for apocalyptic confrontation with the US. Also in this issue acclaimed English public intellectual Roger Scruton’s “Islam and the West: Lines of Demarcation”. Click here to read free highlights from the new issue of Azure:
Associate Fellow Ofir Haivry Addresses Leiden Conference on John Selden
Fifteen academics from institutions including Yale, Cambridge and Cornell attended the Second Annual North Sea Early Modern Philosophy conference convened by the Philosophy Institute at Leiden University in Holland. At the conference, which took place from February 13-14, Ofir Haivry (Shalem) presented his paper on "John Selden’s defense of tradition in Law and Politics." Prof. Eric Schliesser of Leiden, and Prof. James Harris from St. Andrews University in Scotland chaired the event. An additional number of graduate students also attended, and other papers included presentations on Spinoza, Kant and Grotius. Click here to read more about Ofir Haivry:
Yoram Hazony Article on Faith and Reason in the Hebrew Bible
In the last issue of the E-News, we erroneously failed to include the link to Shalem Provost Yoram Hazony’s new article "Jerusalem and Carthage" appearing in the latest issue of HPS:
Michael Oren Testifies Before Congress, Speaks on Gaza History at Georgetown
Shalem Senior Fellow Michael Oren, author of the best selling Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East 1976 to the Present (W.W.Norton and Company, 2007), earlier this month briefed members of the US Congressional House Committee on Foreign Affairs about Gaza, Iran, and the Israeli elections. Oren also spoke to a standing-room only audience of more than 500 at Georgetown University’s Program in Jewish Civilization on the history of Gaza. Click here to watch Oren’s electrifying talk now posted at the New Republic online:
Former Dep. Nat. Sec. Advisor Elliot Abrams at the Adelson Institute
As part of the Adelson Institute’s continuing efforts to further discussions on democracy and the Middle East, Elliot Abrams, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC, delivered a talk on February 8, on "Democracy Policy from Bush to Obama". Speaking in an intimate setting to a select audience, Abrams, who served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor for Global Democracy Strategy, in charge of promoting President Bush's policy abroad, outlined his view of the transition in democracy promotion from Bush to Obama. Click here for details on the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies:
New Comprehensive Online Presence for Natan Sharansky
Adelson Institute Chairman Natan Sharansky has a brand new website, blog, and social media presence. The goal of these efforts is to further disseminate Sharansky’s ideas regarding human rights, dissidents, democracy and Zionism, as well as to make his own fascinating history more accessible. The site also offers a photo gallery, video gallery, audio gallery, timeline, and information about his books. You can also subscribe to a monthly newsletter with updates regarding Sharansky’s writings, activities, and news appearances, while an RSS feed provides readers with live updates. Click here to browse the new site:
Shalem Post-Doctoral Fellow Feature: Michael Widlanski
Shalem Research Fellow Michael Widlanski is a specialist in Arab politics and communications and a lecturer at Hebrew University. Since coming to Shalem in 2008, Widlanski has been working on a book on counter terrorism that seeks to explore the role of academia, the intelligence community and the media in political crises. Previously, Dr. Widlanski spent a year as Schusterman Visiting Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, where he also taught members of the intelligence and law enforcement communities. Click here to read more about Michael Widlanski:
New Shalem Student Courses Begin in March
Beginning in March, new courses at Shalem are being offered to select undergraduate students from around Israel as part of the spring 2009 semester. Courses include Shalem Adjunct Fellow Avi Faust on “Archaeology and the Bible.” Adelson Institute Chairman Natan Sharansky is offering a course on “Democracy and Identity: Competitors, Friend or Foes?” Click here to read more about the course on Democracy and Identity:
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.tchelet.org.il
The undergraduate program: www.shalemstudents.org
Hebraic Political Studies: www.hpstudies.org
Daniel Gordis: www.danielgordis.org
Michael Oren: www.michaeloren.com
IDF Lt. Gen.(Res.) Moshe Yaalon: www.mosheyaalon.com
We want to hear from you. Please send comments and questions to e-news@shalem.org.il.
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