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Israel Aerospace Chairman Joins Shalem Board of Trustees
November/December 2007 | Kislev 5768
Welcome to the Chanukah edition of Shalem E-News, the Shalem Center's monthly electronic newsletter for friends, supporters, students and alumni. Shalem E-News provides an easy-to-scan digest of pertinent news, information and web-based resources. We hope you find it useful and informative and encourage you to send us the email addresses of friends who you think might like to receive it. Please email us at e-news@shalem.org.il. If at any time you would like to unsubscribe to the E-News list please follow the instructions at the end of this email.
Yair Shamir, Chairman of Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), Joins Shalem Board of Trustees
The Shalem Center has announced that Yair Shamir, Chairman of Israeli Aerospace Industries and Chairman and Managing Partner of Catalyst Investments, has joined the Shalem Foundation's Board of Trustees. Shamir was elected to the Shalem's Board at its November meeting. "Yair brings important experience to Shalem from his many years of service in the Israeli Air Force,from having led El-Al during their privatization, and as a pioneer in Israeli hi-tech and in financial investments. He is actively involved in higher education, and has served on the Board of Governors of the Technion and other leading universities,"said Daniel Polisar, Shalem's President. "We are honored that he has chosen to serve on Shalem's board."
Shamir told E-News:"The Shalem Center has done an outstanding job in making a case for new standards in Israeli society. Our chief problem is internal, not external. There is no consensus among us. The moment there is no consensus or conviction that you are fighting a just cause, then the building is very weak and any small crack can bring it down. I believe Shalem College will help change that." Click here to read more about Yair Shamir's achievements:
Princeton University to Co-Sponsor Political Hebraism Conference in 2008
The political Hebraism project at Shalem has reached a new milestone with the co-sponsorship by Princeton University of its third international conference. The derivation of political thought from the Hebrew Bible and later Hebrew sources coexisted and continues to coexist with better-known Greek, Roman, European and Anglo-American traditions. The September 2008 conference, cosponsored by Hebraic Political Studies and by Princeton University's Program in Judaic Studies, is entitled "Jewish Sources in the History of Political Thought." Conference organizers have invited proposals from scholars wishing to examine various aspects of the Hebraic influence on the Western political tradition, in areas such as monarchy and republicanism, the origin and ends of political society, and nationhood and theories on the individual and the collective. Click here to find out more:
Emergency Dig in City of David Uncovers Structure That Might Be Nechemia's Wall and Tower
Emergency attempts to shore up a stone structure at the City of David excavation site have led Shalem Senior Fellow Eilat Mazar to conclude that she may have discovered part of a wall mentioned in the biblical Book of Nechemiah. At the end of the second season of excavations, February 2007, Dr. Mazar and her team began an intermediate phase of the dig in Area G in order to repair the Northern Tower, which was in danger of collapse. The tower, which was previously dated to the Hasmonean dynasty (142- 37 B.C.E) can now be dated to the fifth century B.C.E. based on the rich pottery found under the tower. In addition, bullae, arrowheads and seals from that period were discovered, leading her to conclude that the tower itself may have been a feature of Nechemia's Wall dating back to that period. Click here to read more about the City of David dig:
Kissinger's Diplomacy Hits Israeli Bestseller List
The new Shalem Press Hebrew translation of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger's book Diplomacy hit the Haaretz bestseller list six weeks ago, and is currently sitting at number 10 on the non-fiction list. The book has been well reviewed in Israel, and editors at Shalem Press learned recently that the Foreign Ministry has just purchased more than two hundred copies to give to their overseas attaches. The book is available at a discounted price from the new Shalem Press Hebrew website and a glowing review of the book can be read here:
Shalem Responds to Ha'aretz article
An article critical of the Shalem Center was published at the end of November in the Hebrew and English editions of the influential Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz. In keeping with the desire of the Shalem Center to be as forthright and candid as possible, we wanted to alert you to the piece and share the response of Shalem's board and management. Click here to read our response:
On Campus: Lecturer Refuses to Teach Army Reservist in Uniform
Freedom of expression for Israeli college students would only seem to go so far. When First Lieutenant (Res.) Eyal Cohen, a cinematography student at Sapir College in the Western Negev desert, showed up to class still in uniform following a long army reserve service, his professor refused to teach him. Tensions at the College still remain high over the issue, and the professor is likely to face disciplinary charges, though a petition by some students supports him. Click here to read more:
Dissent: Anti-Israel Views on the Left Share Traits with Anti-Semitism
"No, anti-Zionism is not in principle anti-Semitism but it is time for thoughtful minds - especially on the left - to be disturbed by how much anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism share, how much the dominant species of anti-Zionism encourages anti-Semitism." Thus argues Mitchell Cohen, Dissent magazine co-editor in a fascinating online piece that analyses the evolution of the "left" and the author's own commitment to its once stated ethos of democratic humanism and social egalitarianism. Click here to read more:
The Nation: Campaign Against Anti-Zionist Columbia Prof is "New McCarthyism"
Larry Cohler-Esses, Editor-at-Large for the Jewish Week, and contributor to The Nation, argues that pro-Israel activists are choking debate about Israel and Zionism in the United States. His piece about a Barnard professor's bid to secure tenure examines the role of a 'network of right-wing critics' who, he says, have assailed Professor Nadia Abu El-Haj's controversial book Facts on the Ground. Click here to read more:
Sharansky Delivers Harvard Lecture on Democracy
The Olin Center for Strategic Studies at Harvard welcomed Natan Sharansky, Chair of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies, for a lecture at the end of November. He delivered his thoughts under the title "The Case for Democracy, Revisited." Earlier that month, Sharansky was interviewed for the Weekend Wall Street Journal by the paper's European editorial page editor. When questioned about the role of democracy in today's world he said "it's politically incorrect to be a racist, but it's so politically correct now to say that promoting democracy is a bad idea." With benefit of hindsight, he says, "Democracy is a rather problematic word, because democracy is about technique. I would prefer freedom. I would say people don't want to live under constant fear." Click here to read more about the Adelson Institute of Strategic Studies:
Essay by Shalem Scholar on Plato and the Market Economy to be Published by Classical Philology
A top peer-reviewed journal in the field of classical philosophy, Classical Philology, has accepted an essay from Shalem philosophy scholar Joshua Weinstein on the understanding of the market in ancient thought. His paper argues that Plato's view on markets was far more developed and positive that has been previously acknowledged.
Publication Event for R. Sacks' Radical Now, Radical Then in Hebrew Attracts Hundreds
It was standing room only at a lively panel discussion organized by Shalem Press during the annual Hakel B'Efal festival on the outskirts of Tel Aviv during the Sukkot holiday. Timed to coincide with the new Hebrew publication of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks' Radical Then, Radical Now, more than two hundred and fifty people gathered to hear Dr. Micha Goodman, a popular lecturer and author of the book's foreword, discuss Rabbi Sacks' ideas with fellow panelists, Shulamit Aloni, former minister of education and Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, head of the Petach Tikva Hesder Yeshiva. Click here to read more about Shalem Press:
Hazony, Gordis Speak at Special Manhattan Seminar to Mark Sixtieth Anniversary of U.N. Partition
The Shalem Manhattan Seminar met on November 28th to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly Vote to Partition Palestine. Shalem Provost Yoram Hazony and Senior Vice President Daniel Gordis spoke on, "A Free People in Our Land: The Power of the Idea Then, the Challenges to the Idea Now," which included a discussion of Shalem's efforts to build the Jewish State's first liberal arts college.
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
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
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