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3 Shalem Scholars Appointed to Senior Posts In Israeli Government
May 2009 | Iyar 5769
Greetings from Jerusalem. In this issue of the Shalem Center’s E-News, there is news of senior appointments for Shalem scholars at the highest levels of the Israeli government, in areas crucial to the future of the Jewish state. These scholars have been nurtured at Shalem, where they have developed ideas that they now take into public service. We are proud of our fellows and their commitment to serve, and wish them the very best in their new roles.
This issue also contains news on a number of the Center's major academic initiatives in areas including philosophy, Bible, political theory, and Jewish thought, as well as updates on an exciting new educational initiative aimed at Israeli high school students. All these are part of Shalem's overarching efforts to establish Israel's first liberal arts college, and to prepare generations of students for a lifetime of learning, service, and leadership.
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 fresh from the server, 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.
Shalem Distinguished Fellow Michael Oren Selected as Ambassador to U.S.
Michael Oren, who joined the Shalem Center in 1998 as part of its initial group of senior fellows, has been chosen as Israel's next ambassador to Washington. During his 11 years at the Center, Oren wrote Six Days of War (Oxford, 2002) and Power, Faith and Fantasy (Norton, 2007), both of which were highly acclaimed in scholarly and media reviews alike, and became New York Times bestsellers. At Shalem, he also served a term as head of student education programs, co-directed the summer intern programs, and helped to shape the curriculum for the planned Shalem College, on whose faculty he intends to serve. “Since Michael Oren joined the Shalem Center he has shown himself to be a consistently original and compelling scholar,” said Daniel Polisar, President of the Shalem Center. "His work has transformed debate within academia on crucial subjects of Middle Eastern and Israeli history. Through lectures, books and media appearances he’s succeeded in reaching broad constituencies and we expect his success to continue in his new and challenging role. Commenting on his appointment, Oren said, “I am deeply honored to assume the post of Ambassador to the United States. I am grateful to all my colleagues at the Shalem Center, a place justly known for its excellence in research, scholarly and creative activity; for the breadth and depth of quality among its institutes, for its commitment to education, to Zionism; and for its belief in the value of leadership and public service.” Click here to read a just published profile of Michael Oren in Haaretz:
Shalem Center Senior Fellow Omer Moav to Chair Israeli Council of Economic Advisers
Omer Moav, a senior fellow at the Shalem Center’s Institute for Economic and Social Policy, has been chosen as Chairman of the newly formed Israeli Council of Economic Advisers. Moav, who was appointed by Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, will play a central role in setting economic policy and also serve in a senior advisory capacity to the Finance Minister. When Moav joined the Shalem Center in 2004, he was known principally in academic circles for his research in growth economics, carried out at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he is currently an Associate Professor. Under Shalem auspices he conducted a number of important studies on policy issues, including a series of papers on the brain drain, co-authored with colleague Eric Gould (also a senior fellow at the Shalem Center,) and an analysis of the failure of Israeli government subsidies to spur higher employment in development areas. As a Shalem fellow, Moav has testified before the Knesset, and been appointed to two government commissions within the last eighteen months, and has also made over 100 appearances in the opinion pages of Israeli newspapers and on national radio and television. Click here to read a Q&A with Moav in Haaretz:
Distinguished Fellow Moshe Ya’alon Appointed Vice Prime Minister, Minister for Strategic Affairs
Moshe Ya’alon’s appointment to the new Israeli government comes after his two and a half year term as a distinguished fellow at the Shalem Center’s Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies. During that period, he wrote a book, The Longer Shorter Way, which was on three Israeli bestseller lists over the course of 11 weeks and attracted widespread critical acclaim. Lt. Gen. (Res.) Ya’alon joined the Shalem Center following an illustrious career in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which culminated in his appointment as the 17th IDF Chief of Staff from 2002 to 2005. Ya’alon’s role will involve coordination of security, intelligence and diplomatic initiatives regarding Iran and other strategic threats. Click here to read a recent essay by Moshe Ya’alon in Azure:
Shalem “Rimon” Program Attracts Top High School Students to First Seminars
More than 70 outstanding 10th grade students selected from a dozen high schools throughout Israel participated in the first two Shalem Center “Rimon” seminars, held in Caesarea in March and April. The intensive two-day programs, under the leadership of educational directors Tzahi Weiss and Ido Hevroni, exposed the students to serious textual study and discussion of political philosophy, as preparation for lives of learning and civic involvement. The Caesarea seminars focused on classical Greek thought, while the next set of seminars for these students, to be held in Jerusalem, will examine the Jewish political tradition. The opportunity to interact with talented and highly motivated students from around the country was greatly appreciated and participants are already building their own network at the newly created Rimon website. Click here to read more:
First International Conference on Philosophy of the Bible Set for October in Jerusalem
The Bible as Philosophy? The PPR Institute at the Shalem Center has announced a pilot conference aimed at launching a new field of academic research entitled “The Bible and Philosophy: Rethinking the Fundamentals”. This effort will combine international conferences and study days, visiting lectureships at Shalem, research fellowships and ultimately publications in an attempt to systematically explore the texts of the Hebrew Bible as legitimate sources for philosophical inquiry. The first conference will be held at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem from October 25-28. Speakers will include philosophers Lenn Goodman (Vanderbilt), Alan Mittleman (JTS), David-Hillel Ruben (Birkbeck College, London), and Howard Wettstein (UC Riverside). Click here to read the Call for Papers:
Attacking the Academic Left “Endangers Israeli Democracy and Society”
Ben-Gurion University Politics and Government professor David Newman represented Israeli universities in the UK in the face of a proposed academic boycott of Israel during 2006-2008. In an opinion piece published in The Jerusalem Post in April, he argues that ongoing criticism of the academic left has become a form of “McCarthyism” that “threatens the very basis of freedom of speech. The self-styled patriots,” he argues, “are causing enormous damage to the country and should be prevented from assuming the cloak of self-appointed defenders of the common good, which they are clearly not.” Click here to read his piece in full:
“Regulate and Restructure Higher Learning,” Advises Columbia University Dept. Chair in New York Times
Columbia University Dept. Chair and professor of religion, Mark C.Taylor offers six steps by which academics can more usefully contribute to the “most important issues we face.” In an opinion piece published in the New York Times in April, he argues that when “disciplines are cloistered from one another” no adequate understanding can be reached on zones of inquiry such as “Mind, Body, Law, Information, Networks, Language, Space, Time, Media. Money, Life and Water.” Accusing academics of “complacency” he proposes a vast interdisciplinary approach which would bring new “theoretical insights” along with “unexpected practical solutions.” Click here to read his proposals:
Israel Prize Laureate Anita Shapira Takes on Bestselling Book that Casts Doubt on Jewish Peoplehood
Anita Shapira, head of the Weizmann Institute for the Study of Zionism at Tel Aviv University, has sharply criticized fellow TAU historian Shlomo Sand’s (History) bestselling book, When and How Was the Jewish People Invented? “Sand bases his arguments on the most esoteric and controversial interpretations” she writes, “while seeking to undermine the credibility of important scholars by dismissing their conclusions without bringing any evidence to bear…Sand would like to promote a new Israeli agenda, striving for harmony between Jews and Arabs, to be based on the remodeling of Jewish identity…but reconciliation between peoples makes necessary a mutual recognition of truth, not an artificial analysis that presents a fabricated front…What Sand is offering is this kind of artificial analysis.” The book was on best-seller lists in Israel for 19 weeks and quickly went to 3 editions when published in French. In France it received the "Aujourd'hui Award", a journalists' prize for a top non-fiction political or historical work. Click here to read Shapira’s essay “The Jewish-people deniers” in the March 2009 issue of the Journal of Israeli History:
NY Review of Books, “Rising Hope and Declining Opportunity” for Higher Education in America
In a review of four different books covering contemporary issues in higher learning, author and Columbia professor Andrew Delbanco offers a dire prediction regarding the nurturing of an educated citizenry in the future. Named in 2003 as New York State Scholar of the Year by the New York Council for the Humanities, Delbanco asserts that while big endowments at Ivy League schools may have been hard hit, minor schools are suffering most in the wake of the financial collapse in America. He discusses differing financial models and proposed solutions but argues that the situation now “is an affront to America’s claim to be a nation of equal opportunity.” Instead, he writes, “a great many gifted and motivated young people are excluded from college for no other reason than their inability to pay, and we have seriously failed to confront the problem.” Click here to read the article:
Shalem Associate Fellow Joshua Weinstein Awarded Starr Fellowship to Harvard University
The Center for Jewish Studies, together with the Department of Government at Harvard University, has awarded Shalem associate fellow Joshua Weinstein a Harry Starr Fellowship in Judaica for the 2009-2010 academic year. Weinstein will be one of four scholars invited to work on this year’s theme, The Jewish Political Tradition, which includes but is not limited to rabbinic political thought, the impact of Jewish sources on western political thought, and ideas of covenant and constitutionalism in contemporary Israeli and Jewish politics. While at Harvard, Weinstein will focus on ideas of the commonwealth as they are understood in classical Jewish sources. Click here to read more about Joshua Weinstein:
Shalem Alumnus Amichai Magen Published in Stanford Law Journal, Returns to Serve as Shalem Faculty
Amichai Magen, who was a graduate fellow at the Shalem Center over a decade ago, is returning to the Shalem Center starting next month as an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Philosophy, Political Theory and Religion, and as Managing Director of the Center's research programs. Magen, who has a doctorate in law, is currently the W. Glenn Campbell National Fellow at the Hoover Institution, and Lecturer in Law at Stanford Law School. He recently published an article on “The Rule of Law and its Promotion Abroad: Three Problems of Scope” in the Winter 2009 issue of the Stanford Journal of International Law. His article discusses efforts to promote democracy, and the values and institutions of liberty around the world. “Lawyers concerned with promoting the rule of law abroad,” he writes, “need to delve into an evolving set of literatures outside their discipline – in comparative politics, democratization and international relations theory – to consider a broader empirical scope of potential international influence mechanisms.” Click here to read more about the PPR Institute at Shalem:
Four Shalem scholars Participate in ‘Hebraic Aspects of the Renaissance’ Conference at Haifa University
In conjunction with the Haifa University Faculty of the Humanities and the French Consul, the Shalem Center is co-sponsoring a three-day international colloquium in Haifa later this month on Hebraic Aspects of the Renaissance. Among the presenters will be four scholars from the Shalem Center and its quarterly, peer-reviewed publication, Hebraic Political Studies. HPS co-editor Arthur Eyffinger (Huygens Institute), Senior Fellow R. Isaac Joseph Lifshitz, and Associate Fellows Meirav Jones and Ofir Haivry will make presentations exploring diverse aspects of Hebraism and political theory. Jones will speak on “Philo Judaeus and Jewish Harmony in Grotius’ Laws of War and Peace,” Lifshitz will present on “The Revival of the Ideas of Medieval Ashkenaz in the 15th-Century Political Thought of R. Yisrael Iserlin,” Haivry will address “Jewish Sources of John Selden’s Idea of Church-State Relations,” while Eyffinger will discuss how the Bible has been approached by scholars and students in Holland. Click here to read more about the conference:
Visiting Scholar Lecture Series: Professor Alfred I. Tauber to Speak on Freud
Later this month, the PPR Institute at the Shalem Center will host Professor Alfred Tauber, who will present a seminar to the members of Shalem's academic community and deliver a public lecture. Professor Tauber is Professor of Philosophy at Boston University, Professor of Medicine at the BU School of Medicine, Director of BU's Center for Philosophy and History of Science, and Affiliate Faculty in its Law, Medicine and Ethics Program. His closed seminar at Shalem will address Freud, Brentano, and The Quandary of Psychic Cause, and his public lecture at the Shalem Center, on May 19, will focus on "Freud, the Reluctant Philosopher." Click here to read more about the Visiting Scholar Lecture Series:
Pardes Institute Holds Standing-Room Only Book Launch for Gordis's Saving Israel
Students from the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, together with interested members of the public, attended the Jerusalem book launch of Shalem Senior Vice President Daniel Gordis’s new book Saving Israel: How the Jewish People Can Win a War That May Never End. The April event was part of the 2009 Lecture Series at the Institute, and Adelson Institute Senior Fellow Yossi Klein Halevi was on hand to interview Gordis and offer his response to the book. Click here to read the Jewish Week’s Gary Rosenblatt critique of Saving Israel:
Shalem Senior Fellow Ze’ev Maghen Earns Professorship at Bar-Ilan University
Ze'ev Maghen, a Shalem senior fellow and scholar of Islam and the Middle East, has been promoted to Associate Professor at Bar-Ilan University. Maghen currently chairs the Department of Middle Eastern History at Bar-Ilan and is a research associate at its Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies. At Shalem, he has taught courses on "Judaism and Christianity in the Eyes of Islam" and "Shi'ite Religion and Iranian Revolution." His fields of research include the principal religious texts of Shi’ite Islam, the corpus of Iranian nationalist texts, modern Iranian literature as well as contemporary works by theoreticians of the Iranian revolution and their successors. Maghen, who grew up in Philadelphia and earned his Ph.D. from Columbia University, is fluent in English, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Russian. His January 2009 cover story for Commentary, “Eradicating the ‘Little Satan’” delineates why the West should take Mahmoud Ahmadinajad’s threats to Israel seriously. Click here to read his Commentary essay:
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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