Shalem College Overview

Shalem College is a historic opportunity to create visionary leaders for the Jewish state and people.

From the moment of its birth, Israel has faced grave, even existential threats on a daily basis. Today, the specter of a nuclear Iran and an increasing campaign of international delegitimization are perhaps the most worrisome—although far from the only ones.

But we at the Shalem Center believe there is another, even greater challenge than these: the internal one. Simply put, a growing number of Israeli and Jewish youth do not believe in the justness or feasibility of a Jewish and democratic state. They lack a sense of national identity and cohesion, and do not see themselves as belonging to a collective enterprise. One result is a “brain drain” of the country’s best and brightest that ranks among the highest in the developed world. Another is a growing avoidance of army service, and a widespread disdain for government and the political system at large.

If this trend continues, Israel may well lose the fight—not to its enemies, but on account of negligence and sheer indifference.

To ensure its survival and success, Israel needs not only a skilled military, a strong economic base, and highly trained technocrats. It also needs a cadre of visionaries. And such individuals, history shows, are produced by a well-rounded, holistic intellectual experience of the sort that only a classical liberal-arts education provides.

The liberal arts, unlike vocational or professional studies, stress the kind of broad education that prepares young people to lead lives of meaning, continued learning, and active contribution to their societies. They compel students to engage with the texts and ideas critical to the formation of inspiring, effective leaders—leaders whose deep knowledge of the past enables them to sense and to seize the opportunities that lie in their country’s future.

Unfortunately, humanities departments in Israeli universities are in a perilous state. Over-specialization at the undergraduate level, shrinking higher-education budgets, and the outsized allocation of resources to the hard sciences—all these have eroded their status in the country that arguably needs them the most. As a result, graduates of even Israel’s best public universities are often prepared for careers, but lack a deep knowledge of the human predicament. They may be extraordinarily competent in their fields, but are unable to speak effectively about Jewish sovereignty, Jewish peoplehood, and Jewish continuity.

We believe that Israel needs one institution dedicated to the study of the liberal arts. Moreover, Israel needs a college—an intimate, supportive setting dedicated to intellectual and personal growth—that stresses not only the formatives texts of the Western tradition, but also the intensive study of classical Jewish texts, with the goal of showing the contribution of these texts to our civilization. 

As a small, privately funded body, Shalem College is uniquely positioned to fill this need. Modeled after the classic Anglo-American liberal-arts tradition, Shalem College will aim to make the humanities speak to young people in a way that excites and challenges them, regardless of their chosen field of specialization. We will aim to grant Israel’s most thoughtful and motivated students the skills and wisdom necessary to become active, engaged citizens of their state, and committed members of the Jewish people at large.