J U N E 2 0 0 6

BAR-ILAN UNIVERSITY

Digging up

"David and Goliath's story reflectsthe cultural reality of the time...I am absolutely convinced that,in Israel, the Bible is found all

over. To do good archaeology,you need the Bible."

Aren Maeir:

JEWISH STUDIESArchaeology

T h e M a g a z i n e o f B a r - I l a n U n i v e r s i t y

Published by the DIVISION FOR EXTERNAL RELATIONS

Executive Editor: Judith Haimoff, Associate Vice President

Editorial Board: Shmuel Elgrably, SpokesmanYerach Tal, Media AdvisorIan Tick, Brand Consultant

Editor-in-Chief: Deena Moher

Marketing Coordinator: Evelyn Drummer

Contributors: Avi Blizovsky, Sandy Cash, Sharon Weingarten

Translations: Sagir International Translations, Ltd.

Design and Production: MESH Branding

Photography: Faith Baginsky, Eli Gross, Yoni Hamenachem,Meshulam Levy, Yoni Reif, Yossi Zvecker

Goliath illustration: (c) 2006 Lakeview Church

Bar-Ilan UniversityRamat Gan 52900, Israelhttp://www.biu.ac.il

C O N T E N T S

This is the inaugural issue of BIU today,Bar-Ilan University’s full-length magazine, tobe produced bi-annually in English and Hebrew.

BIU Today replaces and expands uponNewsflash and this first issue will set aprecedent for future magazines. BIU Todayis chock-full of reader-friendly scientific andacademic articles, feature stories on academicfaculty, prominent honorary doctoraterecipients, exceptional students, flagshipprograms, and more.

A word about the name of the magazine:Bar-Ilan is a university steeped in traditionand striving toward future goals, yet alwaysacting today to find solutions to researchproblems, reach out to the community, andeducate future leaders. The name BIU Todayreflects these aspects of the University.The magazine’s pages are full of what is beingdone right now, today, to improve lives andexpand knowledge.

Judith HaimoffExecutive Editor BIU TodayVice PresidentDivision for External RelationsBar-Ilan University

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The Human Brain

Nanotechnology

NEW BUILDINGS

STUDENTS AND FACULTY TODAY

Improving Society

Women in Prayer

Student Ambassador

The Youngest Student

Digging up Goliath

Stopping Iran

CAMPUS CONSTRUCTION

Dialogue with a Philosopher

The Big Quake

BIU IN ACTION

Advancing Academic Freedom

Influencing People’s Lives

Translating Business Strategies

Training Rabbis

Diaspora Educational Outreach

Planetary Festival for Youth

ACADEMIC CONFERENCES AND EVENTS

AWARDS AND DISTINCTIONS

Breaking Down Walls

Secret of Longevity

FRIENDS IN ISRAEL AND ABROAD

3

αχ*∈P2

π1(P2\C)

Prof.Mina Teicher

4

π1(P2\C)

(κτ)2 = (τκ)2

[κ,λi] = 1, 1≤i≤n = 1, 1≤i≤n[τ−1κτ, λi]

Let βn: = Q ∪ T1∪ T2∪ L1∪...∪Ln

“The mathematician’s

laboratory is really the human

brain, along with cooperation

between scientists.

Mathematics is the language

of science, and as science

advances, the language

needed to understand it

becomes broader and

deeper.”

The HumanBrain: the LivingLaboratory of theMathematician

Leslie and Susan Gonda(Goldschmied)MultidisciplinaryBrain Research Center

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δ

3)

T1

L1

µ1

5

“In recent years my researchinterests have evolved from purealgebraic geometry to the uses ofalgebraic geometry in computervision, cryptography and brainresearch,” says Teicher. “Mathematicsis the language of science, and asscience advances, the languageneeded to understand it becomesbroader and deeper. The mathrequired for scientific breakthroughstoday now includes topology,geometry and other innovative fieldsof mathematics that have yet to bedeveloped.”

“My work in brain research can bedivided into theoretical research –how the brain works, one of the mostfascinating scientific challenges ofthe twenty-first century, and appliedresearch – an algorithm for medicaluse. The mathematical laws, if any,that lie behind cerebral activity andhow the various neurons (nerve cells)communicate with each other areunknown, and many researchers aretrying to propose neuronal networkmodels that are compatible withnature. This is among one of the keyareas of research that I am working

on together with Prof. Moshe Abeles,Director of the Gonda (Goldschmied)Multidisciplinary Brain ResearchCenter.” Teicher was one of thefounding members of this Center.“At the Ministry of Science I intendto work to define Israel’s researchand development goals, to supportapplied infrastructural research, tosecure for Israeli science the statusthat it deserves, to help bring Israeliscientists back to Israel and topromote international scientificcontact,” Prof. Teicher concludes.“This element is particularlyimportant in light of the attempts byvarious organizations in France andEngland to declare an academicboycott on Israel or on certain of thecountry’s universities. Strengtheningthe political aspect of Israel’s scientificinteractions on the international planeis most important.”

Prof. Teicher meets with Rona Ramon (left)and Discovery Commander EileenCollins (second to right)

Prof. Teicher met recently withthree US National Aeronautics andSpace Administration (NASA)astronauts, in Israel at theinvitation of the Ministry of Scienceand Technology. The visit wascoordinated with Rona Ramon,widow of Israel’s first astronautCol. Ilan Ramon, who died alongwith six astronauts in the ill-fatedColumbia space shuttle crash.The visiting astronauts,members of the Discoveryspace shuttle team, werehere to attend a conferencemarking the thirdanniversary of Ramon’sdeath and the grantingof four PhD fellowshipsin Space Research. “ForIsraelis the memory ofRamon symbolizesscientific excellence,courage, love of humannature and nature itselfand the struggle for thehighest achievements,”said Teicher at themeeting.

“E very researcher needs to attain ahigh degree of specialization in onepure scientific field before branchingout into other areas,” says Prof.Avi Ulman, Director of Bar-Ilan’sInstitute for Nanotechnology. “Butour Institute is first and foremost acenter of multidisciplinary excellence,encouraging collaborative thinkingon the part of students andresearchers from different fields,such as chemistry, physics, biologyand engineering, leading to cross-fertilization of ideas and innovativenew directions.”

Prof. Ulman “grew up” at Bar-Ilan,where he earned his undergraduateand Master’s degrees. In 1984 hereceived an offer from Kodak to doresearch on nonlinear opticalmaterials and it was there that hebecame acquainted with single-molecular layers (self-assembledmonolayers). This field, which nowbelongs to the nanotechnologyresearch sector, did not, of course,exist at that time. After ten years atKodak, followed by a decade atPolytechnic University (BrooklynPoly), he then came full circle withhis return to Israel and Bar-IlanUniversity.

Aside from his responsibilities asdirector of the Institute, Prof. Ulmansets aside time to focus on his areaof expertise in nanoscience – thestudy of self-assembled layers. Theselayers are formed by spontaneousorganization of molecules, driven bytheir interaction with the surface andwith each other.

“Until now, most of the work hasbeen done on single-molecular layers

Prof.Avi Ulman

Institute forNanotechnology

6

“Our Institute is first and

foremost a center of

multidisciplinary excellence,

encouraging collaborative

thinking on the part of

students and researchers

from different fields, such

as chemistry, physics,

biology and engineering,

leading to cross-fertilization

of ideas and innovative new

directions.”

Nanotechnology:Building New Materialsand Devices from theBottom Up

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on solid surfaces. When we buildmulti-layer systems we are able tocontrol their properties. Systems inwhich all the layers are identical ordifferent can be easily assembled.Thus, limited only by our imagination,we can develop materials that couldnot have been created by any othermethod,” explains Prof. Ulman.

Research in self-assembledmonolayers allows the engineeringof surface properties, which has manyapplications. Among them, is thepossibility to control water-resistanceand to produce materials that arewater-impermeable, such as fabricsor windshields. Another is theunderstanding of surface lubricationand friction properties, theinteractions of surfaces with varioustypes of glues and their interactionswith proteins (to prevent the foulingof ports and ships by Zebra mussels,for instance) and with living cells (inorder to understand how cellscommunicate, how they know whento stop growing).

Another area of Prof. Ulman’sresearch has medical applications.In this research, which Ulman isperforming in collaboration with Prof.

Binyamin Ehrenberg of theDepartment of Physics, newporphyrin-like molecules – an ironporphyrin complex is at the core ofhemoglobin, the protein that transfersoxygen in blood – are being made.Such molecules are used in thetreatment of malignant growths.

Finally, magnetic nanoparticles arebeing prepared in Prof. Ulman’slaboratory with two goals in mind.The first is the preparation ofmagnetic carriers for drugs that wouldenable targeting specific organs inthe body using external magneticforce. Such nanoparticles will carrydrug molecules and their use willprevent many of the side effectsassociated with the orally-takendrugs. The second is the attachmentof enzymes to nanoparticles andusing these “nanoenzymes” ascatalysts in large-scale chemicalsynthesis. This approach will saveenergy and reduce pollution, thuscontributing to sustaining our earthand its environment.

“The Bar-Ilan Institute forNanotechnology consists of a veryunique, high-caliber and creativegroup, whose productivity in terms

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of articles and research istremendous,” Prof. Ulman concludes.“I feel that it is a great privilege forme not only to have returned toBar-Ilan – the place where I receivedsuch a superb education, but also tobe able to contribute today to theInstitute for Nanotechnology.”

Designated by the EuropeanUnion as the Marie CurieTraining Site for Fabricationof Nanoscale Materials,Bar-Ilan University has over250 nanoscience researchersfrom the fields of Chemistry,Life Sciences, Physics,Engineering and InformationTechnology. Pioneeringinternationally-recognizedadvances in such areas asinnovative materials design,biomedicine and “green”chemistry, they produce some160 papers in peer-reviewedjournals each year.

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C A M P U S D E V E L O P M E N T

The Fred and Barbara Kort Language StudiesBuilding was officially opened last May 2005by Barbara Kort, who paid tribute to her latehusband, Fred Kort z”l, at the touching andmemorable dedication ceremony. Situated inthe Faculty of Humanities Complex on theUniversity’s north campus, the five-storybuilding houses Bar-Ilan’s Departments ofArabic, French Language and Culture, Englishas a Foreign Language, and Translation andInterpreting Studies. Cutting-edge languagelaboratories, libraries and a cafeteria servenot only the building’s occupants, but studentsand faculty from the entire Humanities hub.

The Wohl Centre, established by The Maurice and VivienneWohl Foundation, and dedicated to the memory of VivienneWohl z”l, provides a highly distinctive, state-of-the-art conventioncenter for prestigious university and community events.Designed by the renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, who isalso designing the new World Trade Center in New York, thissignature building on Bar-Ilan’s north campus was dedicatedin October 2005. Infused with symbolism and spiritualsignificance, the building’s unusual design links the dynamismof knowledge and the unifying role of faith. The 4,000 squaremeter complex includes a multi-purpose auditorium, 3 seminarhalls, a cafeteria and spacious lobby. The building has beennominated for the prestigious international award of the RoyalInstitute of British Architects.

The Wohl Centre

The Fred and Barbara KortLanguage Studies Building

Bar-Ilan University, proud recipient of last year’sBeautiful Israel Award for its impressive campus,completed and activated four new facilities on its northand south campuses in the past year. The pictures onthese pages depicting these magnificent buildings speakfor themselves.

CAMPUSN E W B U I L D I N G S

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Located on Bar-Ilan’s north campus, the five-storyBeit HaRav Jakobovits – The Shamoon Centre forthe Study of Philosophy, Ethics and Jewish Thoughtis the new home to the University’s Departments ofGeneral and Jewish Philosophy. This significantundertaking, which will be dedicated in June 2006,links the proud legacy of the highly respected Jewishleader of Britain and the Commonwealth, the lateLord Rabbi Dr. Immanuel Jakobovits z”l, with theconcepts of ethics and morality aspired to byDr. Sami Shamoon. The building also is graced bythe Gradel Wing sponsored by Dr. David and SusanGradel, the Shlomo Moussaieff Centre for KabbalahResearch, an impressive entrance hall, auditorium,classrooms, faculty offices, library and the publicationoffices of the noted philosophy journals Philosophiaand Da’at.

Located on Bar-Ilan’s historic south campus, the strikingfour-story Jeanne and Maurice Benin Real Estate LawAnnex is attached by an enclosed bridge linking it to itsmother facility, the Emanuel Rackman Law Center. TheBenin Annex, donated by Ronnie Benin-Barr and herfamily in memory of her parents, has been in continualuse by students and faculty of the Faculty of Law eversince it opened in September 2005. Its cafeteriaoverlooking the campus is a new gathering place forstudents and staff, while its ambience for study andlearning is greatly enhanced by its state-of-the-art studyhalls and conference rooms.

9

The Jeanne and Maurice Benin Real Estate Law Annex

Beit HaRav Jakobovits – The ShamoonCentre for the Study of Philosophy,Ethics and Jewish Thought

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What does it mean to be an effectivesocial worker? According to Prof. HayaItzhaky, an experienced clinicianwhose research has contributed tomodels for meeting the needs ofspecialized populations, social workersneed more than just education. Theyneed “empowerment.”

“Social workers serve the vulnerablemembers of society,” says Itzhaky, aveteran member of the Bar-Ilanfaculty who received her BA, MA, andPhD degrees at the University, andhas served as Chair of the Gabi andLouis Weisfeld School of Social Workfor the past three years. “But just aswe help our patients achieve greatercontrol of their lives, we – asprofessionals – also need to beempowered, so that we can supportindividuals, work effectively withincommunity structures and create newstructures if needed.”

Itzhaky specializes in communitywork, and has spent many yearsstudying the complex interrelationshipbetween individuals, groups andorganizations. The curriculum of the

School – which offers bachelors,masters and doctoral degrees – alsoemphasizes community, anorientation that Itzhaky says makesBar-Ilan University “the best in Israelfor training professionals equippednot just to treat individual patients,but to affect social change.”

But social workers must also be willingto change themselves – leavingpreconceived notions behind. “GivenIsrael’s ethnic mix, multi-culturalsensitivity is vitally important,”Itzhaky says. “Our students are highlymotivated, and intuitively understandthe profession’s ethical standards.But along with professional training,we see it as our job to impart anattitude – one that will form the basisof continued learning throughout ourgraduates’ professional lives.”

“Just as we help our patients

achieve greater control of

their lives, we – as

professionals – also need to

be empowered, so that we

can support individuals, work

effectively within community

structures and create new

structures if needed.”

S T U D E N T S A N D F A C U L T Y T O D A Y

ImprovingSociety

In the following pages we

focus on a selection of the

outstanding individuals who

make Bar-Ilan University a

vibrant and dynamic place

of higher learning.

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S T U D E N T S A N D F A C U L T Y T O D A Y

Women and Prayer

Dr. Aliza Lavie, the resident expert onGender, Multi-culture and the Mediain the Department of Political Studiesis a path blazer. In the mid 1990s shebecame the first observant Jewishfemale editor and anchor on Israelitelevision, as well as the very firstcontent advisor for the Second Radioand Television Authority.

Recently Dr. Lavie, who has receivedall her degrees from Bar-Ilan (most

recently a PhD in 2002 when she alsobecame a faculty member), hascaptured the spotlight once again –this time for her pioneering work, TfilatNashim (Yediot Ahronoth, 2005). ThisIsraeli bestseller is the first book toincorporate prayers written by womenand/or for women from diverse periodsand locations in the Jewish world. Theexpanded English version – JewishWomen’s Prayers Throughout the Ages(Jewish Publication Society) is due tomake its debut in 2007.

The book includes daily, holiday andritual liturgies and prayers for almostevery occasion in a woman’s life:finding a spouse, marriage, fertility,childbirth, illness and bereavement.Interspersed with psalms of Marranowomen and prayers for peace andredemption are a midwife’s entreaty,thanksgiving following childbirth, awomen’s prayer for the Bar-Mitzvahboy, and the plea of a mother whoseson serves in the army.

Dr. Lavie says that the inspiration forthis unique work came from herilliterate but pious Buchariangrandmother, who recited prayers she

had learned by heart. That, coupledwith a deeply moving article she readabout the anguish of a woman wholost both her mother and daughter ina terrorist act. “I felt that it was mymission to help expose Jewish womento the medium of prayer,” she explains.“There is a sense of urgency becauseour grandmothers’ generation is dyingout, and with it, this oral legacy.”

With the response to her new bookoverwhelming, she is a highly soughtafter speaker both at secular Kibbutzimas well as in the Ultra-Orthodoxneighborhood of Mea Shearim (whereshe donned a wig and a modest longdress). “The book touches everyone,”she says, stressing that the unknownand forgotten prayers that shediscovered in rare manuscripts, privatecollections and personal encountersconstitute “a rich Jewish asset thatneeds to be preserved for futuregenerations." Indeed, such is the motifat Bar-Ilan University which stressesthe importance of Jewish heritage aswell as academic excellence.

“I felt that it was

my mission to

help expose Jewish

women to the medium

of prayer.”

Bar-Ilan University President Prof. Moshe Kavehand Dr. Aliza Lavie

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“Leaving Iran and immigrating toIsrael at 17 was a difficult anddangerous decision,” says Omid DavidTabibi. “As the plane approached BenGurion Airport, I was overwhelmedwith mixed emotions – apprehensionas to what tomorrow would bring, butalso a strong drive to succeed infulfilling my professional and Zionistdreams.”

At 23 years of age, Omid is clearlyon the road to fulfilling his dreams.After only six years in Israel, he hasalready published three scientificarticles, developed algorithms forcomputer-chess and, together withhis faculty advisor, Prof. NathanNetanyahu, launched the world's firstComputer Chess Championship whichwas held at Bar-Ilan University duringthe summer of 2004.

Presently, Omid is serving as asoftware development officer in IsraeliNaval Intelligence, while at the sametime working on his doctorate inComputer Science. Ultimately, hehopes to develop a successfulacademic career and join Bar-IlanUniversity's faculty.

"Bar-Ilan has been my second home,and, at times, my first home for thepast six years. I hope to have theopportunity to one day give back tothe University as much as I havereceived,” says Tabibi. In fact, as anInternational Board of Governors(IBG) Student Ambassador, Tabibi hasalready started his "pay back."

Not long ago he traveled to Londonwhere he spoke with British Friendsof Bar-Ilan University at the residenceof the Israeli Ambassador to England.He also addressed the AmericanFriends of Bar-Ilan University at theJubilee Anniversary National Dinnerand Academic Convocation that tookplace recently in New York City. Beinga first-time visitor to both thesewonderful cities, Omid was thoroughlyimpressed. However, according toOmid, it was the experience ofmeeting Bar-Ilan University Friendsand the warm reception they extendedto him that he considers as the realhighlight of these visits. Spoken likea true Ambassador!

S T U D E N T S A N D F A C U L T Y T O D A Y

A TrueAmbassador!

International Board of Governors (IBG) Student Ambassadors on theBar-Ilan University campus

"Bar-Ilan has been my second

home, and at times my first

home... for the past six years.

I hope to have the opportunity

to one day give back to the

University as much as I have

received.”

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16As a third-year math student, HilaPaz has a good understanding of howtheoretical principals can be put towork to solve problems. But there’sone problem she can’t yet solve: howto shorten her daily journey to theUniversity when, at the age of sixteen,she’s still too young for a driver’slicense.

“I travel two hours each way, by busand train,” says Paz, who lives withher parents in Kadima. “Still, I’mhappy to be studying at Bar-Ilan. It’sdefinitely worth the long commute.”

Paz is accustomed to going out of herway to find academic challenge. Inhigh school, she studied at the Centerfor the Advancement of Mathematics,founded twenty years ago by Profs.Zvi Arad and Bernard Pinchuk, of theBar-Ilan Department of Mathematicsand Computer Science. Later, Paz wasselected to proceed directly to theUniversity after completing hermatriculation examinations inmathematics after the tenth grade.This program, initiated by Bar-Ilan

Prof. Eliezer Rowan in 2002, nowaccepts about forty students per year.

According to Paz, her studies startedout within a special framework forstudents as young as fourteen who,like her, were “fast-tracked” intouniversity life. “But now I’m workingwith older students, and it doesn’tseem strange at all,” she says.When she finishes her degree, Pazplans to study applied mathematicson the graduate level. Asked which“application” appeals to her, shedeclares her options open. “All scienceis based on a mathematicalfoundation,” she says. “I may be ableto do cryptology in the army. But Idon’t know – I haven’t gotten my firstdraft notice yet.”

We have no doubt that, as a uniquemember of the Bar-Ilan Universityfamily, Hila Paz will do us proud.

TheYoungestStudent

“All science is based on a

mathematical foundation.

I may be able to do

cryptology in the army. But

I don’t know – I haven’t

gotten my first draft notice

yet.”

S T U D E N T S A N D F A C U L T Y T O D A Y

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16TheYoungestStudent

“All science is based on a

mathematical foundation.

I may be able to do

cryptology in the army. But

I don’t know – I haven’t

gotten my first draft notice

yet.”

S T U D E N T S A N D F A C U L T Y T O D A Y

Prof.Aren Maeir

“David and Goliath’s story

reflects the cultural reality

of the time... I am

absolutely convinced that,

in Israel, the Bible is found

all over. To do good

archaeology, you need the

Bible.”

Digging upGoliath

FACULTY of JEWISH STUDIES

Martin (Szusz) Department ofLand of Israel Studies andArchaeology

A s anarchaeologist,Prof. Aren Maeirdoes not thinkthat it is his job to“prove” the veracityof the Bible. But thispast November, hemade a discovery thatliterally put Biblicalculture into the palm ofhis hand. The find inquestion was aninscribed pottery sharddating to within ahundred years of thetime when, according toBiblical chronology, thefuture King Daviddefeated a notoriousPhilistine warrior. Theinscription – the earliestexample of Philistinewriting ever found –features names uncannily similar tothat of the famous warrior, Goliath.

Maeir, who serves as the Chairmanof Bar-Ilan’s Martin (Szusz)Department of Land of Israel Studies

and Archaeology,stresses that the shard– uncovered at Tell es-Safi, a dig southwestof Jerusalem thatMaeir has beendirecting since 1996– does not “confirm”the Biblicalnarrative. “Whatthis means is thatat the time therewere people therewith names verysimilar to thename Goliath,” hesays. “It showsus that Davidand Goliath’s

story reflectsthe cultural

reality ofthe time.”

The archaeological and historicalevidence tell us that Tell es-Safi wassettled almost continuously since thefifth millennium BCE. Under Maeir’sdirection, it has revealed a richsequence of history, some of which

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– like the “Goliath” inscription – canbe linked to the Bible. For example,according to II Kings (12:18), Gathwas conquered by King Hazael ofAram. Maeir’s team at Tell es-Safidiscovered a massive, 2.5 kilometersiege moat dug around the ancientcity – a moat that kept Gath’sresidents from escaping. And whilethe structure – four meters wide andfive meters deep, chiseled out ofsolid stone – matches a descriptionin an Aramean text from this period,it also supports the Biblical versionof Gath’s demise.

“People are suspicious of Biblicalarchaeology, because they fear thatideology might cloud one’s ability tointerpret the facts on the ground,”says Maeir, adding that modern Israeliarchaeologists are sometimeshindered by a post-modern – andpost-Zionist – hesitation to “find” theBible in the physical evidence of theland. “But I am absolutely convincedthat, in Israel, the Bible is found allover. To do good archaeology, youneed the Bible – not because it’s anhistorical text in the modern sense

of the term ‘history’, but because itbreathes a cultural familiarity withthe ancient Near East.”

So, too, believes Bar-Ilan UniversityPresident Prof. Moshe Kaveh, whohas asked Prof. Maeir to draw up aprogram that would make Biblicalarchaeology part and parcel of theUniversity’s renowned Basic JewishHeritage Program. “It is essential,”says the President, “that every oneof Bar-Ilan’s students has anopportunity to understand the Biblethrough discovering and uncoveringthe Land of Israel.” Prof. Maeir isplanning a program that will includecourses, field trips and digs for theUniversity’s student population.

Alongside this nod to tradition, in hisrole as department chair, Maeir isactively pursuing an agenda ofscientific excellence. In cooperationwith the Weizmann Institute, he islaunching a new program forundergraduate and graduatestudents, designed to train peoplewho will be experts in both

15

archaeology and science. “We can’tdo modern archaeology based on thephysics of the 1950s or vice versa.We must combine cutting-edgeaspects of both the archaeologicalsciences and the ‘hard’ sciences,” hestates.

Maeir teaches several undergraduateand graduate courses in archaeology,and says that working with studentshas given him important ideas forresearch. However, as passionate ashe is about education, Maeir – a self-described “outdoorsman” – ishappiest when managing a group ofpeople who are all getting their handsdirty. “When I’m directing a dig, mytwo highest priorities are goodscience and menschlichkeit –promoting a good atmosphere amongthe professionals and volunteers,”he says. “After all, archaeology issupposed to be fun.”

Prof. Maeir (center) explains hisarchaeological findings toBar-Ilan University PresidentProf. Moshe Kaveh (left) and IsraelPresident Moshe Katsav (right) duringa visit to the Tell es-Safi site

Prof.Efraim Inbar

“Military action against

Iranian nuclear

installations has many

risks and is complicated,

but the difficulty is

exaggerated, and inaction

is bound to bring about far

worse consequences.”

FACULTY of SOCIALSCIENCESBegin-Sadat (BESA) Centerfor Strategic Studies

16

“T here is no doubtthat Iran is anexistential threat toIsrael,” emphaticallystates Prof. EfraimInbar, long-timeDirector ofBar-Ilan University’sBegin-Sadat (BESA)Center for StrategicStudies. “The onlyway we can stop theclearly definedIranian nuclear threatto our existence is bydemonstrating acredible threat toIran, showing that weare prepared to useforce,” he adds.

“A nuclear Iranconstitutes a seriousthreat, not only to theMiddle East, but also tothe entire world,” claims Prof.Inbar in an article recently publishedin BESA Center Perspectives (”TheImperative to Use Force AgainstIranian Nuclearization”, BESA Center

Perspectives No. 12,December 15, 2005).

“Diplomatic efforts havefailed to halt Iran’snuclear program,” Inbarcontinues. “As theIranian acquisition of amilitary nuclear abilitynears, the threat of usingforce and even the actualuse of force seem to bethe only viable preventivemeasures. Israel cannotlive in a nuclear 'balanceof terror' with Iran. Militaryaction against Iraniannuclear installations hasmany risks and iscomplicated, but thedifficulty is exaggerated,

and inaction is bound tobring about far worseconsequences.”

In warning of Iran’sclear and present danger to Israel,Prof. Inbar cites both Tehran’sintensified efforts to acquire nuclearweapons, along with Iranian President

Stopping Iran:Israel’s Response toNuclear Threat

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Mahmoud Ahmdinejad’s recentproclamation that Israel must be“wiped off the map.” The Iranianregime has made it clear that it “iswilling to sacrifice millions of Muslimsin order to destroy the Jewish state– and I believe them,” says Inbar.

Professor of Political Studies atBar-Ilan, Prof. Inbar is a member ofthe Board of Directors of The YitzhakRabin Center for Israel Studies, iswidely quoted in the Israeli andinternational press and is a columnistfor The Jerusalem Post.

Prof. Inbar heads one of the country’smost dynamic research institutes.Non-partisan and independent, theBESA Center is dedicated to the studyof Middle East peace and security, inparticular the national security andforeign policy of Israel. Founded in1991 by Canadian Jewish communityleader Dr. Thomas O. Hecht, the BESACenter is named in memory ofMenachem Begin and Anwar Sadat,whose efforts in pursuing peace laythe cornerstone for future conflictresolution in the Middle East.

The BESA Center's research teamconsists of some of Israel's best andbrightest academic and militaryminds, widely acknowledged expertsin Israel and abroad. BESA isassociated with some of the leadingexperts in international affairs whocomprise its academic advisory board.Since its founding, BESA haspublished countless publications inEnglish and Hebrew.

Every year the BESA Center hosts ortakes parts in any number ofconferences, symposia and lectures.“Among our many areas of research,we commissioned a study of Israeliactivities in space,” says Inbar. “Wespecialize in strategic dialoguesbeyond the ring of Arab countriessurrounding us and have justpublished an article on the resilienceof Turkish-Israeli relations.”

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ISRAEL

A m o n g B E S A ’ s m a j o r

e v e n t s i n M a y 2 0 0 6 :

an international conference on

Radical Islam: Challenge and

Response and a conference on

Indian-Israeli Strategic Dialogue

with representatives from the

Institute for Defense Studies and

Analyses (IDSA), New Delhi

BESA

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C A M P U S D E V E L O P M E N T

N a n o t e c h n o l o g y T r i p l e x

Bar-Ilan University is proud to introduce the following

facilities now under construction on the north and south

campuses.

CAMPUSU N D E R C O N S T R U C T I O N

The ground-clearing is alreadyunderway on the south campus forthe new Nanotechnology Triplex,which will serve as the state-of-the-art home for the Bar-Ilan Institutefor Nanotechnology, centralizing manyof the 26 nano-based research groupscurrently active on campus. TheTriplex will serve as a magnet foroutstanding scientific talent fromaround the world. Its uniquelyconducive environment for novelinterdisciplinary research and fortraining future generations of Israelinanoscientists will be crucial innurturing the University’s leadershiprole in this dynamic frontier.

Covering 172,000 square feet(16,000 square meters), the Triplex

will be prominently situated in theheart of the University’s southcampus. Surrounded by the Physics,Chemistry, Life Sciences, CancerResearch and Advanced Technologybuildings, the Complex will serve asthe hub of Bar-Ilan’s ScienceQuadrangle.

The Triplex will enable chemists,physicists, biologists and engineersto collaborate in an environment thatwill be interdisciplinary in both contentand physical space. At a height of 7-8 stories, each Tower has a distinctfeature in addition to the researchlaboratories which predominatethroughout the facilities.The Nano-fabrication Building willinclude a special two-story unit

housing the vibration-free Nano-laboratory Annex (covering an areaof some 11,000 square feet) – thisis a ‘floating’ impact- and vibration-resistant basement lab area with adetached foundation (the ‘InvariantZone’). The Nano-science Buildingwill house a large, central cafeteria.The Nano-health Building will behome to a spacious auditorium thatwill hold 200 people. The three Towerswill be linked via glass-enclosedpassageways and joint open areasthat overlook the campus and enablea flow of natural light throughout theentire Triplex. From every floor therewill be direct access to the othertowers. The central atrium, whichwill rise up two or more stories, willstrengthen the sense of connection

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E n g i n e e r i n g C o m p l e x

Situated on Bar-Ilan’s north campus, the Bar-Ilan University EngineeringComplex, consisting of four distinctive buildings providing a modern,well-equipped interactive environment for training and research, isslated for completion by 2008. The four cutting-edge structures arethe Aharon and Rachel Dahan Computer Engineering Building;the Dr. Mordecai and Dr. Monique Katz Information Technology Building;the Jesselson Family-Schottenstein Family Electronic TechnologyBuilding; and the Marc Rich Bio-Engineering Building. Situated northof the Dahan Park and close to the University’s northern gate, aperimeter road will allow easy access from the south, andthere will be parking facilities, as well.

between the floors, both through eyecontact and immediate accessibilityvia an open staircase.

Each tower will include teaching andresearch laboratories, seminar andconference rooms, and offices. Tomaximize cooperation with theneighboring science faculties, theTriplex will connect with the PhysicsBuilding and the Lechter ChemistryBuilding via glass bridges.

The Nanotechnology Triplex will beequipped with the latest physicalstructure and systems technology.The building design enables optimizeduse of the equipment necessary fornanoscience: atomic forcemicroscopes, scanning tunnelingmicroscopes, electron- and photon-based spectroscopies and more.

A spacious central square, the‘Nanotechnology Plaza’, will besituated next to the Complex,affording students and researcherswith an urban environment andspacious area through which tonavigate the Science Quadrangle.

F or Prof. Ephraim Meir, of theDepartment of Philosophy, everynew encounter represents anopportunity to connect with theworld around him. An expert incontemporary “dialogical” philosophy– a school of thought that focuseson man’s relation to the Other –Meir declares that dialogue is centralto both his intellectual and personallife. “I respond,” he says. “ThereforeI am.”

As a Belgian-born convert to Judaismnow teaching Jewish philosophy inIsrael, Meir has had a lot to whichto respond. Born into a Catholicfamily, Meir studied theology andBiblical philology, and served as arepresentative of the EcclesiasticalProvince of Holland – the Dutchdivision of the Catholic Church.However, it was his “dialogical” workwith the International Council ofChristians and Jews that inspiredMeir to change the conversation –and begin to view Judaism not onlyas a theological antecedent to hisown Christian faith, but as a guidingforce in his life.

“Although I had studied Jewishhistory, my first encounter with Jewswas when my wife, Shoshi, and Ivisited Israel,” Meir recalls, addingthat he was immediately fascinatedby the Jews’ return to their ancientland, as well as the historical roleof Christian Europe in the Holocaust.Later, this fascination would findexpression in the couple’s adoptionof a Jewish lifestyle, and, eventually,in conversion to Judaism in theiradopted home of Jerusalem.

Meir recently celebrated thepublication of two new volumes.In Letters of Love, Meir provides thefirst in-depth study of the recently-published letters written by FranzRosenzweig – a twentieth-centuryphilosopher who is one of the mostwidely-read Jewish thinkers amongChristians. A self-described historianof Rosenzweig’s oeuvre, Meir saysthat the so-called “Gritli”correspondence – laced withtheological and philosophicaldiscussions – provides insight aboutRosenzweig’s most famous work,The Star of Redemption.

Prof.Ephraim Meir

“When different cultures

find a passage through me,

I am able to create

dialogue, and a real

connection between people.

It is an act of great peace.”

FACULTY of HUMANITIESDepartment of Philosophy

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Dialogue Witha Philosopher

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Another recent publication is theHebrew-language Ma’aseh HaZikaron(Toward an Active Memory), whichexamines approaches to theHolocaust taken by a variety of Jewishthinkers – including himself. “AlthoughI am very much an historian ofphilosophy – particularly as it relatesto Rosenzweig and Levinas,” saysMeir, referring to the influentialtwentieth-century French philosopherand Talmudic commentator, “I alsohope I have something original tocontribute. Here, I’ve put forwardmy ideas about the Shoah, which Isee as a total destruction. In such acase, it is not enough to simplyremember – we need activeremembering, which will form thebasis of building and maintainingcivilization.”

A lifelong linguist who studied Latinfrom the age of seven and conductedresearch in Israel’s Academy ofHebrew Language, Meir shows somereluctance to answer questions abouthow many languages he speaks –“Not enough!” is his good-naturedreply. No such hesitation, however,

applies when he is asked about thework of translation, which Meirdescribes as “his great love.”

“To translate, you have to listencarefully and speak clearly,” hesays. “When different culturesfind a passage through me, Iam able to create dialogue, anda real connection betweenpeople. It is an act of greatpeace.”

“Now,” says Meir. “Tell me aboutyourself.”

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Prof.Shlomo Havlin

FACULTY of EXACT SCIENCES

Department of Physics

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“Earthquake recurrence is

similar to predicting when

a bus will arrive...

A predictive model must

include the ‘memory’ of

the most recent events,

because they do influence

the future.”

ISRAELand the“Big Quake”

H undreds ofearthquakes occurannually in Israel,most of themminor. But amedium-sizedtremor shook thecountry out of itscomplacencyrecently, crackingthe Knesset ceilingand raising fearsthat a “big one” –like the quake thatkilled 400 in Jericho in 1927 – couldbe just around the corner. Althoughthere is no way to predict individualearthquakes with certainty, researchby Prof. Shlomo Havlin ofBar-Ilan University's Department ofPhysics, is improving scientists’ abilityto understand the pattern in whichearthquakes recur.

In Havlin's model, earthquakes have“memory”. Rather than being randomevents, they tend to recur accordingto a pattern of clustered seismicincidents. According to Havlin, former

Dean of the Faculty of ExactSciences and a pastPresident of the IsraelPhysical Society,earthquakes are bestunderstood throughprobability – but not thebasic probability most of

us learned in school.

“In random events,like a coin toss,

there’s an equal chanceof getting ‘heads’ or ‘tails’, and theoutcome of one toss does not affectthe one after it,” Havlin says.“Earthquake recurrence, on the otherhand, is similar to predicting whena bus will arrive. A bus is scheduledto arrive every fifteen minutes duringthe day but only once in forty-fiveminutes at night. So it not adequateto predict that the next bus will comeafter half an hour, which is theaverage, since this never occurs. Apredictive model must include the‘memory’ of the most recent events,because they do influence the future.If the last two buses arrived fifteen

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minutes apart, you’re more likely tohave to wait only fifteen minutes forthe next one.”

The same goes for earthquakes. Twoearthquakes separated by a shorttime period are likely to be followedby a third which recurs close in time,whereas two earthquakes separatedby a longer time period are likely tobe followed by a third recurringfurther apart in time. Havlin’s model,based on the "scaling" approach fromstatistical physics, was recentlypublished in the prestigious journalPhysical Review Letters.

This is not the first time Havlin’sresearch has been informed by theidea of statistical memory. In 1998,he discovered that the recurrence ofextreme climate events – like floodsor drastic changes in temperature –depends on the pattern of suchevents that occurred in the recentpast.

Havlin has alsoapplied this approach to

biological phenomena. “My first workon memory focused on DNA,” Havlinrecalls. “We wanted to understandwhether patterns in DNA –specifically, the long strings ofnucleotides that do not spell out anyparticular gene – are random orpatterned in nature. We found thatthese sections of the DNA moleculedid display a memory pattern.”

Havlin is also working with cardiacspecialists, developing a statisticalmethod for characterizing changingintervals between heartbeats – amethod that may eventually formthe basis of a tool for monitoringheart health.

“Rather than studying specific events,I look for laws to understand patternsoccurring in nature,” says Havlin,stressing that his work will notmagically transform seismicprediction into an exact, predictivescience. And for Israelis, whose

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homes sit atop the ever-shifting platesof the Syrian-African rift, this issomething worth committing tomemory.

“Earthquakes in Israel occur every80 years on the average, but the lasttwo major events were more than90 years apart,” Havlin says. “So –while I wouldn’t suggest anyonecanceling their earthquake insurance– we may have more time to wait.”

Sharing the dais with Prof. Dershowitz (right)are Prof. Gerald Steinberg, conferenceorganizer (left), and Prof. Yosef Yeshurun,University Rector

“The best weapon is excellence.

Israel – and by extension

Bar-Ilan University – needs to

continue in its leadership role

in science and hi-tech.”

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“Ich bin ein Bar-Ilaner.” (I am a Bar-Ilaner.) So declares world-renownedlawyer and human rights advocateProf. Alan Dershowitz, paraphrasingJFK in order to express his sentimentstoward the University that conferredupon him an honorary doctorate inJune 2005.

While on campus recently to deliverthe keynote address at a conferenceon Academic Freedom & the Politics ofBoycotts, the Harvard Law Schoolprofessor noted that he would feelhimself to be subject to any boycottdirected against Bar-Ilan and wouldask the same of his Harvard colleagues.

“What I love about Bar-Ilan is that itprovides a model of Torah U’Madda —faith and rationality. While manyAmerican religious universities rejectthe relevance of such an approach,Bar-Ilan shows that the two arecompatible,” says Prof. Dershowitz,adding that Bar-Ilan PresidentProf. Moshe Kaveh is himself a“personification of Torah U’Madda.”

As a non-political institution, he believesthat Bar-Ilan University conveys an

important message that Judaism is notright, left or centrist. “It is a microcosmof the Jewish community.”

Demonstrating steadfast support ofthe State of Israel in its war againstterrorism and the new anti-Semitism,Prof. Dershowitz advocates theimportance of making peace from aposition of strength. Defensible bordersare a prerequisite for a safe Israel, hemaintains. “Any Israeli gesture shouldbe accompanied by an equivalent actionby the other side.”

Dershowitz, who has represented aroster of famous defendants (amongthem Mike Tyson, OJ Simpson andNatan Sharansky), is convinced thatall academic boycotts will be defeated.“The best weapon is excellence,” hesays. “Israel – and by extension Bar-Ilan University – needs to continue inits leadership role in science and hi-tech.” He is emphatic that the entireworld would be victims of a boycottagainst Israel because of the scienceand medical technology developed inIsrael. “If Israel should develop a curefor cancer, people in other countrieswouldn’t use it?”

AdvancingAcademicFreedom:

HARVARD LAW SCHOOL

B A R - I L A N I N A C T I O N

An Interview withProf. Alan Dershowitz(PhD, H.C.) 2005

This section highlights a

number of the exceptional

people and proactive

programs that comprise the

Bar-Ilan University "family."

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“Running a company has its ownrewards, but imparting knowledge andhaving some small influence onpeople's lives is very special.” He mustbe doing something right judging fromthe reaction of his students, who praisehis ability to explain difficult subjectssimply, thereby justifying hisreputation as a brilliant communicator.

Emblaze develops technologies thatcombine the familiar person-to-personlink of cellular phones with “nextgeneration” content-delivery services.Through his teaching, Reifman seeksto bridge the gap between academictheory and real-world challenges.

“Each class is conducted as role playby one of the management positionsin a company. This gives students achance to think through the real issuesof business day-to-day, not justacademic models.” According to hisbelief, people mostly learn frommistakes, “and I made plenty of thoseon my path to where I am today. Ishare these with the next generationso that they can avoid making myold mistakes, only making their ownnew ones from which they will learn.”

Reifman believes doing well in theharsh world of business does notcomplete a person – and that may bebehind his newest venture: a publiclecture course in Jewish mysticism atBar-Ilan. “I’ve been studying Kabbalahfor years,” says Reifman, “and havecreated a course that will connectmysticism with aspects of modernscience including Quantum Mechanicsand Relativity.” Proceeds of the coursewill – of course – go to charity.

Reifman continues to contribute toeducation by volunteering to teachbusiness management courses inseveral Israeli universities, donatingscholarships for students in need anddonating to Mishmar Ha'chinuch, anon-governmental movementwhose main interest is to promoteeducation in Israel.

B A R - I L A N I N A C T I O N

InfluencingPeople’s Lives:

“Running a company has its

own rewards, but imparting

knowledge and having some

small influence on people's

lives is very special.”

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There is a spring in Eli Reifman’s stepas he makes his way across theBar-Ilan campus to the economicsclass he teaches. “This is one of themost satisfying things in my life,” saysReifman, Bar-Ilan University honorarydoctor and CEO of Israeli-based multi-national conglomerate Emblaze Ltd.

An Interview withEli Reifman(PhD, H.C.) 2005

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Sofrin is Corporate Vice Presidentof Human Resources for Teva – oneof the top twenty pharmaceuticalcompanies in the world. During hercareer, Sofrin has managed asteadily growing number ofemployees – after Teva’s recentacquisition of IVAX, a Florida-basedcompany, she now oversees aworkforce of 26,000 people. Still,Sofrin says, it is psychology – hermajor at Bar-Ilan – that gives herthe ability to translate the needs ofa large business into decisions aboutindividual employees.

“Human resources is all aboutlistening,” says Sofrin, a thirdgeneration Israeli who lives in TelAviv. “My academic training fromBar-Ilan University helps metranslate business strategies intohiring priorities that add value tothe business.”

Sofrin began her career as HumanResources Director for NationalSemiconductor Israel, Ltd., a jobshe landed immediately after

completing her Masters degree insocial and industrial psychology atBar-Ilan. “I was lucky,” she recalls.“I entered the work force at thebeginning of the high-tech boom.The design center was created totake advantage of Israel’s scientificand technological expertise, and itwas my job to gather and maintainthe staff.”

Sofrin subsequently spent 20 yearsat Hewlett Packard, where she heldkey management positions in Israeland Europe before joining Teva. “Tobe a team leader, you have tounderstand – and motivate –individual people,” she says. “Rightnow, my biggest challenge isintegrating over 14,000 newemployees into the company as aresult of the Ivax acquisition. It’sexciting to be involved in thistransformation, and I am gratefulto my alma mater, Bar-IlanUniversity, for preparing me for thechallenges ahead.”

Translatinga Bar-IlanEducation intoSuccessfulBusinessStrategies

“My academic training from

Bar-Ilan University helps me

translate business strategies

into hiring priorities that add

value to the business.”

To be successful, a company needs tofill a recognized market need. But toguarantee continued success, it needsto choose the right employees, andmaintain them. That is what Bar-IlanUniversity alumna Bruria Sofrin doesevery day.

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The first group of 15 ordained rabbis(mostly qualified lawyers and PhDcandidates) and their wives arecompleting this June a unique two-year practical rabbinics program thataims to create a pioneering group ofproactive community rabbis/professionals in the State of Israel.The program is offered under theauspices of the Rakowitz Center forthe Community Rabbinate in Israel,at the Ludwig and Erica JesselsonInstitute for Advanced Torah Studies.

“Bar-Ilan University is the onlyinstitution in Israel to qualify Rabbiswith academic credentials,” saysInstitute President, Rabbi Prof. DanielSperber, incumbent of the MilanRoven Chair in Talmud, respectedauthor, and Israel Prize recipient inJewish art, Talmudic history andphilology. “What I see as mostimportant is how to use halachicsources in a more user-friendlyfashion, to be sensitive to people’sproblems and to use the richness ofJewish law to find creative solutions.”

The program prepares dynamicspiritual leaders to approach today’sproblems with a combined Torah andmodern perspective. What makesthese rabbis unique is that they arealso active in other professions (suchas law) and therefore are not totallydependent for their livelihood on theircongregations. The aspiring youngrabbis and their wives gain expertisein family guidance, conflict resolution,mediation, informal education andcommunity initiatives. The men alsoimprove their oratory and publicspeaking skills and acquire practicalexperience in halachic decision-making.

Two graduating rabbis have alreadybeen placed in prominent Jerusalemsynagogues and another heads anidealistic group of 90 families whoare active in the socio-economicallychallenged town of Lod, where theynow reside.

Training Rabbisin CommunityOutreach

“Bar-Ilan University is the

only institution in Israel

to qualify Rabbis with

academic credentials.”

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For more than two decades, the RabbiDr. Joseph H. Lookstein Center forJewish Education in the Diaspora ofBar-Ilan’s Churgin School of Educationhas reached out, connected andenriched thousands of Diaspora Jewisheducators from all religious streams,catalyzing the quality and efficacy ofJewish learning from the Americas toEurope, Australia, South Africa, Russiaand even Asia.

The Center’s unique broad spectrumof creative training and programminginitiatives and services encompassesits model Principals Program thatprovides professional development forday school administrators, includingan Israeli summer seminar and crucialfollow-up, school consultations,curriculum development, professionaljournals, and the Gradel Distance

Learning Forum in which Bar-Ilanprofessors “lecture” in Diasporaschools. The Principals Program issponsored through a grant from theAVI CHAI Foundation.

Through its one-of-a-kind onlineplatforms, the Lookstein Centerenables Jewish educators of all levelsand in all milieux to network and shareinformation with colleagues. Indeed,the Center’s e-communities havecreated the world’s largest and mostactive network of Jewisheducators!

The Interactive Educators’ Forums,including Lookjed and Mifgashim,regularly convene thousands ofprofessionals for online discussion ofvital topics. Since the year 2000,thousands of educators from morethan one hundred schools worldwidehave participated in Lookstein webconferences or have “attended” onlineprofessional development workshopsand lectures.

“Our aim is to create a sense ofcommunity, to connect Jewish

educators from all around the worldso that they may enrich each other,”explains Lookstein Director StuartZweiter, noting that the Looksteinwebsite and online discussion helpaddress the problems of isolatedJewish educators.

“The Lookstein Center is staffed withformer Diaspora Jewish educators,”says Zweiter, who served as a Jewishday school principal in the UnitedStates before immigrating to Israel.“Each project is directed by a personwho came from the same location andis attuned to its particular needs.”

DiasporaEducationalOutreach:The LooksteinCenter

Lookstein Center’s Director of Curriculum Development Programs Rabbi EliKohn (left) conversing with Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi of the UnitedHebrew Congregations of the British Commonwealth at the first NationalJewish Teachers Conference at JFS School in London, held last fall

Through its one-of-a-kind online

platforms, the Lookstein Center

enables Jewish educators of all

levels and in all milieux to

network and share information

with colleagues.

Lookstein Center staff prepare fora Video Conference

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The Bar-Ilan University campus isgrowing, and it can take a long timeto walk from one end of the campusto the other. But this past September,over 2,000 visitors experienced whatit would be like to walk even further,as they enjoyed a nighttime strollthrough a true-scale model of theSolar System presented as part ofthe Bar-Ilan University Youth Science

Division’s Planetary Festival. The463-meter-long model – designed byProf. Michael Baziljevich of theUniversity of Oslo, Norway – allowedvisitors to experience the comparativesizes and distances of planets in thesolar system.

The Planetary Festival – just one ofthe activities offered by the Bar-IlanUniversity Youth Science Division,which has been sponsoring after-school programs and science campsfor talented Israeli youth for over 30years – also featured popular lectures,planetarium presentations, work-shops, and a talk by Rona Ramon,who described the work of her latehusband, Israeli astronaut Col. IlanRamon z”l.

The morning after the Festival, almosta thousand high-school studentsdescended on the campus forBar-Ilan’s first annual Science Fair,sponsored by Bar-Ilan UniversityPresident Prof. Moshe Kaveh. “At theFair, our young visitors were able toexperience the intellectual excitementof cutting-edge science, while gaininga better perspective about what wecan achieve when we all worktogether,” commented Kaveh.

Festival attendants were greeted byMatan Vilnai, Acting Minister ofScience and Technology, as well asProf. Kaveh and University RectorProf. Yosef Yeshurun. Then, after anexciting presentation about the“Future of Robotics” by Dr. GalKaminka, of the Department ofMathematics and Computer Scienceand the Gonda (Goldschmied)Multidisciplinary Brain ResearchCenter, they were ushered intouniversity labs where they spenthours learning about everything fromthe life of birds to superconductivity.

Bar-Ilan University is dedicated tosharing the excitement of learningwith the wider community. Eventslike these will spread the word thata Bar-Ilan educational experience istruly “out of this world.”

An “Out ofthis World“Experiencefor Youth

“At the Fair, our young visitorswere able to experience theintellectual excitement ofcutting-edge science, whilegaining a better perspectiveabout what we can achievewhen we all work together.”

Bar-Ilan University PresidentProf. Moshe Kaveh

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September 2005Seminar: Three-day seminar for studentsfrom the Otto-von-Guericke Universityin Magdeburg, Germany (The JosephCarlebach Institute for Research inContemporary Jewish Teachings andEducation)

Exhibition: Dr. Zohar Amar, of the Martin(Szusz) Department of Land of IsraelStudies and Archaeology and Director ofthe Institute of Medical History, co-organized a unique permanent exhibitionon “Medicines and Medical EquipmentThroughout the Ages: For Good, ForBlessing, For Healing and For Life” atShaare Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem.

Conference: "Creating in God's Image:Ethical Challenges in Stem Cell Researchand In Vitro Fertilization" (Ludwig andErica Jesselson Institute for AdvancedTorah Studies, the Yavne Founders, andthe Rabbi Nachum and Yaakov MeirShapiro Jewish Ethics Program, incooperation with Columbia University,Yeshiva University, the Orthodox Union,and others)

Planetary Festival (Youth Science Division)with Mrs. Rona Ramon, wife ofIsrael’s first astronaut in space,Col. Ilan Ramon z”l

Scientific Fair (Youth Science Division)Acting Minister of Science and Technology

October 2005Israel Business Forum meeting withMinister of Justice and ImmigrantAbsorption Minister Mrs. Tzipi Livni (IsraelFriends of Bar-Ilan University)

November 2005Conference: “New Voices in PoliticalStudies,” featuring the presentation ofcurrent events projects prepared byoutstanding new scientists (Departmentof Political Studies)

Rector’s Forum: “The Academic IvoryTower: Are There Politics in Academia?Is Science Pure?” (first in a series ofmeetings between faculty and researchstudents, under the auspices of theUniversity Rector)

December 2005International Conference: “One HundredYears to the French Separation of Churchand State: A Comparative PerspectiveBetween France and Israel” (Departmentof Political Studies)

February 2006Jubilee Flagship Conference: "Sociology,Ethics, Politics" – the 37th Annual Meetingof the Israel Sociological Association(Department of Sociology andAnthropology)

Israel Business Forum meeting with Bankof Israel Governor Prof. Stanley Fischer(Israel Friends of Bar-Ilan University)

Lecture series: Currently on sabbaticalat the University of Pennsylvania, Prof.Moshe Rosman (Department of JewishHistory) has been invited to deliver aseries of lectures at prestigious IvyLeague universities throughout the year.

March 2006Rector’s Forum: “Judaism and Culturesin the Far East”

First International Conference in Israel:“Serious Violence and Restorative Justice”(Conflict Management and NegotiationProgram, Yaacov Herzog Faculty of Law,and Department of Criminology)

May 200630th Annual Conference of Middle EasternSociety (Department of Middle EasternHistory)

Jubilee Flagship Conference: "Gender,Religion, and Society" (Graduate Programin Gender Studies)

International Conference: “RabbinicTextuality and Redaction: The Historicaland Literary Processes Which Generatedthe Rabbinic Corpus” (Naftal-YaffeDepartment of Talmud)

Jubilee Flagship International Conference:“Radical Islam: Challenge and Response”(Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies)

Conference: “Indian-Israeli StrategicDialogue” with representatives of theInstitute for Defense Studies andAnalyses (IDSA), New Delhi (Begin-SadatCenter for Strategic Studies)

Jubilee International NanotechnologySymposium (Institute forNanotechnology)

Guardian of Zion Award to Dr. DanielPipes (Ingeborg Rennert Center forJerusalem Studies)

Lecture: By Talmud Prof. Yosef Rivlin, inmemory of the founder of Bar-IlanUniversity, Prof. Pinkhos Churgin z”l(Faculty of Jewish Studies and the Naftal-Yaffe Department of Talmud)

International Conference: “Militarism andSocial Inequalities” (Graduate Programin Gender Studies)

Jubilee Flagship Conference: "TheRelationship Between Higher Educationand Society in Israel" in memory of Prof.Charles Liebman z"l (Department ofPolitical Studies)

January 2006Jubilee Flagship Conference: "Bridgingthe Worlds of Judaism and Islam"(Department of Middle Eastern History)

Ceremony awarding Bachelor of Artsdegrees to the first graduating class ofHaredi women social workers studyingat the Haredi College, under the auspicesof Bar-Ilan University (in the presenceof Bar-Ilan University President Prof.Moshe Kaveh and Rabbi Ovadia Yosef)

Jubi lee Flagship Conference:"Academic Freedom and the Politicsof Boycotts" (Office of the UniversityRector and the Graduate Program inConflict Management and Negotiation).This first-time conference, featuringguest speakers Prof. Alan Dershowitzand other noted academics fromaround the world, was under theauspices of the International AdvisoryBoard for Academic Freedom (IAB),founded by Bar-Ilan Rector Prof. YosefYeshurun. The IAB successfullyrescinded the British Association ofTeachers (AUT) proposed academicboycott of Bar-Ilan and HaifaUniversities last year.

Conferences and Academic EventsBar-Ilan University's 50th Anniversary was celebrated throughout the past year

in a variety of flagship conferences and events showcasing the University's

outstanding achievements in the sciences, humanities and Jewish life.

Prof. Alan Dershowitz (left) and BritishAmbassador to Israel Simon McDonald

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Bar-Ilan University is proud of its exceptional faculty members who,

in the past year, were recipients of prestigious honors and awards.

Prof. Moshe Kaveh, Bar-Ilan UniversityPresident, received an honorary doctoratefrom Yeshiva University at YU’s first IsraelColloquium. The Colloquium was acelebration of Torah U’Madda and itsrelevance to life in Israel. Prof. Kaveh wasrecognized as an internationally- renownedphysicist and a key individual who hasmade a difference in Israel.

Prof. Jacob Klein, of the Departmentsof Hebrew and Semitic Languages and ofthe Zalman Shamir Bible Department wasone of four senior scientists admittedrecently to the Israel Academy of Sciencesand the Humanities at a ceremony at theresidence of Israel President Moshe Katsav.Prof. Klein is one of the world’s leadingexperts in ancient Sumerian culture andMesopotamian literature.

Prof. Amos Kloner, of the Martin (Szusz)Department of Land of Israel Studies andArchaeology, has been awarded the 2005EMET Prize (for Arts, Science and Culture)for archaeology. The EMET is the onlyprize to operate under the auspices ofthe prime minister and is consideredIsrael’s “Nobel Prize.”

Dr. Avi Kober, Deputy Director of theDepartment of Political Studies, wasawarded the Tel Aviv University JaffeeCenter for Strategic Studies TshetshikPrize for Strategic Studies on Israel'sSecurity.

Dr. Bracha Kramarski, of the ChurginSchool of Education, has won severalprestigious grants from the Chief Scientistin the Ministry of Education. She iscurrently the Chief Researcher of theProgram for International StudentsAssessment of Reading, Mathematics andScience Literacy (PISA). The research isconducted by the Organization forEconomic Cooperation and Development(OECD) with the participation of 40countries. Dr. Kramarski also receivednumerous grants from the Center forLearning Science (Malam) for researchand development of projects inmathematics education.

Dr. Yoram Louzoun, of the Departmentof Mathematics, was awarded the KrillPrize for Excellence in Scientific Researchfor 2005.

A first-of-its-kind study published in thecurrent issue of Neuropsychologia revealsthat different brain areas are activated inorder to understand poetry and everydaylanguage. The study was conducted byBar-Ilan University doctoral student NiraMashal, as part of an intensive researchproject led by Prof. Miriam Faust,Chairman of Bar-Ilan University’sDepartment of Psychology and Director ofthe brain and language laboratories at theUniversity’s Gonda (Goldschmied)Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center.

Prof. Zemira Mevarech, Bar-IlanUniversity Vice Rector, was awarded theLandau Prize for Education and a grant toconduct research in the Program forInternational Students Assessment ofReading, Mathematics and Science Literacy(PISA).

Dr. David Schwartz, Chairman of theInformation Systems Division and anassistant professor at the Graduate Schoolof Business Administration, is the editorof the recently published Encyclopedia ofKnowledge Management (Idea GroupPublishing), an all-inclusive source ofcoverage related to the past, present andemerging directions of knowledgemanagement.

Prof. Ora Schwartzwald, of theDepartment of Hebrew and SemiticLanguages, was appointed to the advisoryboard of the Hebrew Language Academy.

Prof. Shlomo Spitzer, of the Departmentof Jewish History, was awarded theHungarian Sandor Scheiber Prize for hisresearch on Hungarian Jewry.

Prof. Eli Vakil, of the Department ofPsychology, was appointed Deputy Editorof the Journal of the InternationalNeuropsychological Society (JINS).

Bar-Ilan University marked WorldAIDS Day by honoring Dr. RobertGallo, the eminent scientist whobecame world famous two decadesago when he co-discovered that theHIV virus was the cause of AIDS.Bar-Ilan’s Safdié Institute for AIDSand Immunology Research (C.A.I.R.Institute) bestowed the Dr. ToviComet-Walerstein Science Awardfor 2005 upon Dr. Gallo, inrecognition of his pioneeringresearch in the field of humanretrovirology and his outstandingachievements that opened up entirenew approaches in the treatment ofcancer and AIDS.

Awards and Distinctions

David Walerstein,Dr. Robert Gallo andBar-Ilan UniversityPresident Prof. MosheKaveh

Left to right:

Prof. Doron Aurbach, of the Departmentof Chemistry, is the recipient of twoprestigious honors in recognition of hispioneering research: the Award in BatteryTechnology from the U.S-basedElectrochemical Society for hisdevelopment of novel rechargeablebatteries and the science behind them;and recognition as one of the most citedIsraeli authors of scientific papers in theworld by the International Institute forScientific Information, which publishesreference databases and identifiesresearchers who have made anoutstanding impact in their field. Prof.Aurbach is the only Israeli materialscientist in this category to appear on theprestigious international list.

Dr. Eli Barkai, of Bar-Ilan University'sDepartment of Physics, was awarded theKrill Prize for Excellence in ScientificResearch for 2006.

Prof. Emeritus Hillel Barzel, of TheBerman Department of Literature of TheJewish People, was awarded theYizhar Prize for his book A History ofHebrew Poetry, Vol.6, PropheticExpressionism – Uri Zvi Greenberg, IsaacLamdan, Mattityahu Shoham (SifriatPoalim, with the assistance of Bar-IlanUniversity, 2005).

Bar-Ilan Professors Vice President forResearch Harold Basch and former VicePresident for Research Shmaryahu Hoz,along with the Technion’s Prof. Eli Altusand doctoral student Lior Itzhaki, havediscovered a material 40 times harderthan diamonds by using nanotechnology.They have published their findings in theInternet edition of the world’s mostinfluential chemistry journal, AngewdteChemie.

Prof. Judy Baumel, of the Departmentof Jewish History, was awarded the Reuven& Edith Hecht Prize for her book PerfectHeroes: The Yishuv Parachutist from WorldWar II and the Collective Zionist Memory(Sde Boker Publishing, 2005).

Prof. Elisheva Baumgarten, of theDepartment of Jewish History and theGraduate Program in Gender Studies, wasawarded the Koret Jewish Book Awardfor her book Mothers and Children.

Prof.Yedidia Stern

S cattered all over the world, modernJewry is a veritable patchwork ofcustoms, ethnicities and viewpoints.Attempts to define the Jewish peopleare often stymied by the staunchindividualism – and mutual suspicions– of these diverse Jewishcommunities. At the same time, lowbirth rates and intermarriage – aswell as decreased levels of Jewisheducation – are creating ademographic crisis. Under thecircumstances, is it realistic to hopethat the twenty-first century couldbe marked by the emergence of astronger, more vital Jewishcommunity?

According to eminent jurist andprogressive Jewish thinkerProf. Yedidia Stern, the answer is anemphatic “yes.” Stern, a former Deanof the Bar-Ilan Faculty of Law, servesas President of the Institute forJudaism and Israel, a special entityaffiliated with Bar-Ilan which aimsto conduct practical research andadvocacy in order to create practicalsocial activism. The Institute has

been declared one of the University’sJubilee Flagship Projects. Establishedas a “think tank” from which theantidote to today’s widespread Jewishalienation may emerge, the Institute’sactivities are designed to break downwalls between Jews of differentreligious and social groups. Centralto the accomplishment of this goal,according to Stern, is to recognizethe role played by the State of Israelin world Jewish consciousness.

“Israel’s encounter between secularnationalism on the one hand, andJewish culture on the other, issymbolic of the dilemma faced byevery Jew today,” says Stern. “Ourgreatest challenge – as individuals,as a people and as a State – is tofind a way to balance liberal, Westernvalues with respect for Jewishtradition.”

The Institute for Judaism and Israelis hammering out a working“contract” to govern the relationshipbetween Jewish law and democracyin the State of Israel. For example,

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“Israel’s encounter between

secular nationalism on the

one hand, and Jewish

culture on the other, is

symbolic of the dilemma

faced by every Jew today.

Our greatest challenge –

as individuals, as a people

and as a State – is to find

a way to balance liberal,

Western values with

respect for Jewish

tradition.”

FACULTY of LAWInstitute for Judaismand Israel

BreakingDownWallsBetweenJews

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Institute experts have proposedSabbath legislation designed todovetail with religious sensibilitieswhile providing practical solutions forthe secular public.

“Jewish law forbids work on theSabbath, but secular Israelis want toshop on Saturday – which creates ademand for Sabbath employment,”says Stern, adding that, instead ofseeing this merely as a religious issue,the Institute’s proposal describes theproblem in terms of both Jewishculture and social justice. “We believethat Sabbath should be culturallydistinct from the rest of the week.At the same time, we must protectsociety’s weaker elements, who maynot have the power to determinewhen they will work.”

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The Institute’s activities will not belimited to issues of religion and state.Israeli President Moshe Katsav(Bar-Ilan honorary doctor, class of2003) has called on the Bar-IlanUniversity-affiliated Institute toprovide the academic and intellectualleadership for an international bodywhich he is establishing, called theWorld Jewish Forum. With theInstitute for Judaism and Israelleading the way, the Forum will hosta conference later this year, whichwill bring together 200 global Jewishleaders. At the conference, Institutemembers will present the Forumwith a wide range of position paperson the major challenges facing theJewish people, together with

proposals for social change. TheSteering Committee of the Forum isheaded by Bar-Ilan UniversityPresident Prof. Moshe Kaveh.

Through the conference, as well asresearch, publications, educationalprograms and legal advocacy, Sternbelieves that the Institute forJudaism and Israel will promote theintegration of two world views –Judaism and tolerance – and therebypromote a much-needed Jewishrenaissance. The success of thisendeavor, he says, is vital to Jewishunity. “If we achieve this,” he says,“it would mark a hopeful turningpoint in the history of the Jewishpeople.”

Dr.Haim Cohen

“Five years ago, I would

have said that anti-aging

drugs were science fiction.

But now, it doesn’t seem

so far away.”

Mina and Everard GoodmanFACULTY of LIFE SCIENCES

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Searching forthe Secret ofLongevity

M ankind’s search forlongevity dates back– at the very least –to the invention ofthe mirror. But whileboth ancients andmoderns haveinvested mightily toprolong our healthyyears, it is onlyrecently that sciencehas begun to uncoverthe scientific basis ofaging. According toDr. Haim Cohen,who recently joinedBar-Ilan University’sMina and EverardGoodman Faculty ofLife Sciences aftercompleting post-doctoralresearch at HarvardMedical School, the secret of longevitymay soon be revealed – thanks toexciting advances in molecular cellbiology.

“The lifespan of organisms – fromyeast to fruit flies to humans – ismediated by a network of interacting

molecules called proteins,” saysCohen, whose own early researchfocused on the study of yeast. “Afew years ago, it was discovered thatyeast with two copies of the genecoding for a protein called SIR2 livesas much as forty percent longer.”According to Cohen, this anti-agingphenomenon has implications for

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understanding the factors that controlhuman lifespan, as well.

Cohen examines SIR2 homologs –proteins similar to the one found inyeast, but found in other organisms.There are seven mammalian SIR2homologs, and Cohen has identifiedthe way in which an overabundanceof one of these can disrupt theprocess of programmed cell death.“By tipping the intra-cellular messageaway from cell death, and towardbusiness as usual, the cell liveslonger,” says Cohen, whose findingswere published in the prestigiousjournal Molecular Cell in 2004.

Recently, Cohen identified a linkbetween the molecular “mechanics”of aging and another longevity factor.In the 1930s, researchersdemonstrated that a low-calorie dietdelayed the aging process inlaboratory rats and mice. Subsequentstudies showed that animals fed adrastically reduced diet extend theirlifetimes by up to fifty percent. Calorierestriction was also shown to preventage-related maladies – including the

accumulation of body fat, low heattolerance and poor insulin metabolism– and lower the incidence of diabetesand cancer.

In a paper published in Science,Cohen and his colleagues de-mystifiedcalorie restriction by demonstratingthat rats fed on a low-calorie regimenexhibit elevated levels of themammalian homolog of SIR2 – thevery protein that, in yeast, triggerssuch a remarkably extended lifespan.Cohen’s results provide strongevidence that this family of proteinsserves as the molecular “engine”behind calorie-restriction-basedlongevity.

Humans carry the mammalian versionof SIR2, and could potentially benefitfrom this protein’s life-extendingproperties. But should humansubjects cut their calorie intake tothe bone – especially if they’d haveto wait until an advanced age to seewhether the “experiment” worked?Luckily, says Cohen, such measureswon’t be necessary.

“We are examining ‘libraries’ of smallmolecules that might elevate SIR2production, thereby mimicking calorierestriction’s effects. If we aresuccessful, it could result in apharmaceutical intervention thatwould increase lifespan, and providethe health benefits of calorierestriction, without dieting.”

Cohen stresses that – despite itsname – the field of molecular agingis in its infancy. But while manyaspects of the aging process are stillunclear, he says, there is cause foroptimism.

“Five years ago, I would have saidthat anti-aging drugs were sciencefiction. But now, it doesn’t seem sofar away.”

To which we can only add: “L’Chaim!”

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SIR2

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American FriendsNational Dinner andAcademic ConvocationMarch 5, 2006

At the glamorous Bar-Ilan

University 2006 Jubilee

Anniversary National Dinner and

Academic Convocation held at

the Waldorf-Astoria in New York

City, University President Prof.

Moshe Kaveh bestowed Doctoral

Degrees, Honoris Causa upon

the Hon. Hillary Rodham

Clinton, Harvey M. Krueger,

Ephraim Propp and Mortimer B.

Zuckerman. The Jubilee

Anniversary Lifetime

Achievement Award was

presented to S. Daniel Abraham.

The Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers her address at theBar-Ilan University Jubilee Anniversary National Dinner andAcademic Convocation at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York Cityon Sunday, March 5, 2006

S. Daniel Abraham received the Bar-Ilan UniversityJubilee Lifetime Achievement Award. Left to right:BIU President Prof. Moshe Kaveh; Dr. Edward L.Steinberg; President, American Board of TrusteesPeter Rzepka and S. Daniel Abraham

Left to right: Immediate past-ChairmanAmerican Board of Trustees CharlesDimston; Mortimer B. Zuckerman andChairman, American Board of TrusteesMichael Jesselson

BIU FRIENDS IN ISRAEL AND ABROAD

“I am grateful for this honorary degree from a great university

because I do think education is absolutely key. Investing in young

people here at home, in Israel and elsewhere is one of the commitments

we must make… As we meet this evening to celebrate the 50th

anniversary, I know we all stand not only behind the mission of

Bar-Ilan, but behind the country which gave meaning to that mission,

behind a future for Israel against whatever dangers it may face as

it continues to light the lamp of learning for generations of young

Israelis to come. Thank you very much.”

The Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton

BIU Friends have been active on many fronts

during the past year.

This 12-page section highlights the main

events celebrating our 50th Anniversary.

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Left to right: Manfred Meyer, David Jeselsohn, ofSwitzerland and Erica Jesselson

Left to right: BIU Executive Vice President Yehuda Halevy;Harvey M. Krueger; The Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton;BIU President Prof. Moshe Kaveh; Chairman, American Boardof Trustees Michael Jesselson; Chairman, International Boardof Governors Jane Stern Lebell; President, American Board ofTrustees Peter Rzepka

Left to right: Honorary doctorate recipientEphraim Propp and Mortimer B.Zuckerman

President, American Board of Trustees Peter Rzepkaand wife Aliki

Left to right: BIU President Prof. Moshe Kaveh;The Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton; HonoraryChairman, Global Board of Trustees AharonDahan and Gitta Nagel

Left to right: BIU President Prof. Moshe Kaveh;The Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton andChairman, Global Board of TrusteesDr. Mordecai D. Katz

BIU FRIENDS IN ISRAEL AND ABROAD

“I want to congratulate the

university. It is so much more

than an academic institution.

It has made in the last 50 years

a tremendous impact on the lives

of countless students and faculty

in Israel and beyond the borders.

It is committed to not only the

academic pursuits that it is so well

known for – from nanotechnology

to philosophy – but it also furthers

the enrichment of Jewish life in

Israel and puts into real world

context ethics and values and the

importance of heritage. So

whether a student is exploring the

latest scientific breakthroughs or

the lasting teachings of the Bible,

there is a powerful connection

honoring ancient traditions, values

and beliefs, and the importance

of free inquiry and debate in a

modern democratic state.”

The Hon. Hillary Rodham Clinton

BIU FRIENDS IN ISRAEL AND ABROAD

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AmericanFriends

50th Anniversary Palm Beach Dinner,January 15, 2006

Pictured from left to right: Standing:President of the American Friends ofBIU Peter Rzepka and BIU PresidentProf. Moshe Kaveh. Seated: BIUChancellor Emeritus RabbiEmanuel Rackman

Recent Eventsin Israel and U.S

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50th Anniversary Palm Beach Dinner on January15, 2006 which took place at the Norton Museum,honoring Maria Finkle

Pictured from left to right: Honoree, Maria Finkle,BIU President Prof. Moshe Kaveh and Chairmanof the Dinner, Dr. Edward Steinberg

Left to right: BIU President Prof. Moshe Kaveh,Fanya Heller and Nissan Khakshouri at the SuccahEvent at Bar-Ilan University

Left to right: Eng. Shmuel Gan-El, BIU PresidentProf. Moshe Kaveh, Executive Director West CoastFriends Ron Solomon and Al Levitt, trustee ofthe Jim Joseph Foundation, during his visit tothe University campus

Left to right: Eng. Shmuel Gan-El, BIU student EfratGottlieb, Batya Gottlieb, Tom Spiegel of Los Angeles,BIU President Prof. Moshe Kaveh, Vice President forResearch Prof. Harold Basch and Associate VicePresident Judith Haimoff during Tom Spiegel’s visitto the Bar-Ilan Campus

Left to right: President of Florida Friends and NationalBoard Member Larry Schantz, Executive VicePresident of the American Friends of BIU Brig. Gen.(res.) Yehuda Halevy, Leora Halevy, Peggy Scharlin,Gloria Scharlin, Stephanie and Jules Trump andChairman of the Board of Florida Friends and NationalBoard Member Jack Burstein at the 50th AnniversaryGala honoring the Scharlin family

Left to right: Neil and Gary Fetter of Detroitvisit the Joseph and Frances Fetter BrainResearch Complex

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BIU FRIENDS IN ISRAEL AND ABROAD

Canadian Friends

Left to right: Prof. AlanDershowitz, ArielaCotler, Samuel Gewurz,Hon. Irwin Cotler andHon. Yoine Goldstein atan event hosted bySamuel and BrendaGewurz at their homelaunching the campaignfor the Sternthal Tributeheld on April 2, 2006 inMontreal

Left to right: NormanSternthal, Prof. AlanDershowitz andJohanne Sternthal atthe Sternthal TributeLaunch

Left to right: Co-Chair, the Norman and JohanneSternthal Gala Dinner Committee Ariella Cotler, NationalPresident Canadian Friends of BIU Mira Koschitzky,Executive Vice President Canadian Friends of BIU DovAltman, Dorit Kaveh, Executive Director Division ofGlobal Development Amos Gaver, BIU President Prof.Moshe Kaveh, BIU student Ezra Yervarken, GiladAbrahami, President, Ontario Chapter of the CanadianFriends Gabi Weisfeld, BIU Prof. Joseph Menis andMerilyn Hart at the 2005 General Assembly in Toronto

Recent Events in Canada

Left to right: Kurt Rothschild, BIU President Prof.Moshe Kaveh, Gabi Weisfeld and Patty and AllanFriedland at the 50th Anniversary Gala Evening

IBG Student Ambassador Ilanit Gordon, Allan and PattyFriedland, Johanne and Norman Sternthal, BIU PresidentProf. Moshe Kaveh and Dorit Kaveh at the Canadian Friendsof Bar-Ilan University's 50th Anniversary Gala Eveninghonoring Johanne and Norman Sternthal, which took placeSunday, April 2, 2006 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Montreal

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The British Friends ofBar-Ilan University50th AnniversaryInternational JubileeDinner - March 28, 2006

The British Friends of Bar-IlanUniversity 50th AnniversaryInternational Jubilee Dinner washeld at the elegant GuildhallHall in London. At the glitteringaffair, a tribute was paid toChairman of the British FriendsConrad Morris for Fifty Years ofCommunal Service, and anhonorary doctorate waspresented to Mrs. MinaGoodman in recognition of herwide-ranging efforts on behalfof the Jewish people and theState of Israel and for herdevoted friendship toBar-Ilan University.

Left to right:Mr. Everard Goodman, Mrs.Mina Goodman and LadyAmelie Jakobovits

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“I am honoured, privileged and humbled to be standing here tonight as the recipientof an Honorary Doctorate from Bar-Ilan University, with its distinguished professorsand lecturers, leading and training 32,000 students.

The establishment of the Mina and Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences atBar-Ilan University was an obvious choice for us after supporting earlier Bar-Ilanprojects. We have always supported organisations devoted to the betterment ofmankind and have gained much personal gratification from the knowledge that wehave helped make a difference by improving and helping to save lives of other people.

We are fully confident that our Faculty is at the cutting edge of modern technology andthat our researchers will be making major breakthroughs and advances in all aspectsof life sciences. The areas that are being studied and researched within our Faculty willhave far-reaching impact on the lives of human beings throughout the world.”

Mrs. Mina Goodman

BIU FRIENDS IN ISRAEL AND ABROAD

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Left to right:

Honorary Vice President and 50thAnniversary Jubilee Dinner Chairman ofthe British Friends of BIU Henry Knobil,presenting Communal Service Award toChairman of the British Friends of BlUConrad Morris

Mr. Everard Goodman, Director of SpecialGifts Vera Muravitz and Mrs. Mina Goodman

Mr. Michael Goodman, his fiancée GilaDwek, Mr. and Mrs. Everard Goodman andSuzanne Goodman

BIU President Prof. Moshe Kaveh, ChiefRabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, Dean of theMina and Everard Goodman Faculty of LifeSciences Prof. Haim Breitbart, Ambassadorof Israel to the United Nations Mr. DanGillerman, Mr. and Mrs. Everard Goodmanand Lady Amelie Jakobovits

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BIU FRIENDS IN ISRAEL AND ABROAD

Recent Events inIsrael and Britain

Bar-Ilan University is pleased to

announce the establishment of the

Dangoor Student Scholarship

Programme of 5 million Shekels that

will provide financial assistance for

some 500 students at the graduate

and undergraduate levels in diverse

fields of study. Mr. Naim Dangoor is the

Founder of The Exilarch’s Foundation

and Editor and Publisher of the UK

publication The Scribe – Journal of

Babylonian Jewry, which since 1971

has been devoted to the history and

community life of Iraqi Jews.

HOT OFF THE PRESS:

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Left to right: BIU President Prof.Moshe Kaveh, former Chief Rabbi ofIsrael and Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv-YaffoRabbi Israel Meir Lau, Dr. MauriceWohl, C.B.E., architect of the WohlCentre, Daniel and Nina Libeskind

Dedicatory Plaque of The Wohl Centrein memory of Vivienne Wohl z”l

From left to right: Mrs. ReneeDangoor, Naim Dangoor, BIUPresident Prof. Moshe Kaveh, Directorof Special Gifts Vera Muravitz andAssociate Vice President JudithHaimoff, at the ceremony in whichMr. Dangoor was awarded a Bar-IlanUniversity honorary doctorate

British Friends

Prof. Yaakov Neeman gave a briefingon the effects of the Israeli election onglobal growth at the Bank Leumiheadquarters in London for youngprofessionals and business leaders.

Pictured from left to right: Chairmanof the British Friends of BIU ConradMorris, Director of Special Gifts VeraMuravitz, CEO, Bank Leumi, London,England Baruch Lederman andChairman of the Executive Council Prof.Yaakov Neeman Director of Special Gifts Vera Muravitz received

the Fundraiser of the Year Award from BIU PresidentProf. Moshe Kaveh in September 2005

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, presentinga scroll to Naim Dangoor in recognition of hisvarious activities for the Jewish community

Mr. and Mrs. Naim Dangoor, sponsorsof the unprecedented DangoorStudent Scholarship Programme,among the single largest scholarshipdistributions in Bar-Ilan’s 50 years

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Naming Ceremony ofthe Mina and EverardGoodman Faculty ofLife SciencesApril 9, 2006

Bar-Ilan hosted a very special

and unique event on Sunday,

April 9, 2006 – the naming of

the Mina and Everard Goodman

Faculty of Life Sciences – the

very first naming of a faculty

at the University. Mina and

Everard Goodman and members

of the Goodman family were

guests of honor at the moving

ceremony, which included a

meeting with academic faculty

and a visit to one of the

laboratories.

BIU FRIENDS IN ISRAEL AND ABROAD

In a hands-on tour of the facilities of the Minaand Everard Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences,Dr. Yehudit Sonn demonstrates innovativetechniques to Mina and Everard Goodman withthe ‘assistance’ of grandson Elliot, while hisfather, Michael Goodman stands by

Presentation of the Bar-Ilan UniversityHumanitarian Award to Mina and EverardGoodman.Left to right: BIU Director GeneralDr. Shabtai Lubel, Everard Goodman,Associate Vice President Judith Haimoff,Mina Goodman and Director of SpecialGifts Vera Muravitz

Unveiling the dedicatory plaque at the naming ceremony.Left to right:BIU President Prof. Moshe Kaveh, Mina and EverardGoodman and Dean of the Mina and Everard Faculty ofLife Sciences Prof. Haim Breitbart

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Presenting a silver kiddush cup to the Goodman’s onthe occasion of their Golden Anniversary.Left to right: Chairman of the British FriendsConrad Morris, Ruth Morris, Mina and Everard Goodman

Mina and Everard Goodman, Beverly Goodman, DavidGoodman, Gila Dweck (front) and Michael Goodmancelebrating at the Golden Anniversary party at theTaverna

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On Saturday night, April 8,

Bar-Ilan University had the

honor to celebrate another

landmark occasion together

with Mina and Everard

Goodman and their family –

their Golden Anniversary

Party, at the beautiful Taverna

restaurant in Jerusalem.

Left to right: Dr. Dan Bahat of the Martin (Szusz)Department of Land of Israel Studies andArchaeology conducting a tour of the JerusalemWestern Wall Tunnel, Everard and Mina Goodman,Beverly, Suzanne and Elliot Goodman

Viewing the model of the Temple in the JerusalemWestern Wall Tunnel.Left to right: Joshua, Elliot and Michael Goodman,Gila Dweck, Suzanne, Mina and Everard Goodmanand Dr. Dan Bahat of the BIU Martin (Szusz)Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology

After the couple walked the red carpet to theTaverna, Everard addressed the guests At the Golden Anniversary party. Standing:

BIU President Prof. Moshe Kaveh andDirector of Special Gifts Vera Muravitz.Sitting: Mina and Everard Goodman

At the academic ceremony naming theMina and Everard Goodman Faculty ofLife Sciences, from left to right:Everard Goodman, BIU Rector Prof.Yosef Yeshurun and BIU President Prof.Moshe KavehThe “golden” couple, Mina and Everard

Goodman, dancing at their 50th anniversarycelebration at the Taverna, while son Davidapplauds

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BIU FRIENDS IN ISRAEL AND ABROAD

Eng. Israel and Mrs. Feldman surrounded by their loving childrenand grandchildren at the festive event hosted by the Kehila Askenaziin Mexico on October 29, 2005 in which Eng. Feldman receivedan honorary doctorate from Bar-Ilan University

Six of the fifteen Doctoral Fellows of Excellence of TheCaesarea Edmond Benjamin de Rothschild Foundationon the Bar-Ilan University campus

Director of Special Gifts Vera Muravitz and Vice Presidentfor Research Prof. Harold Basch greet South AfricanAmbassador to Israel Major General Fumi F. Gqiba andhis wife, during the Ambassador’s visit to Bar-Ilan Universityin January 2006

Left to right: Dr. Yonat Floersheim, Director of the EuropeanDepartment Doron Schlesinger, Israel Schachter and Dr. Floersheim’sson Alexander at the launch of the first issue of the prestigiousacademic journal Ars Judaica donated by Dr. Yonat Floersheim andAlexander Floersheim

SouthAfricanFriends

LatinAmericanFriends

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European Friends

N e w s a n d E v e n t s

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IBG

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BIU FRIENDS IN ISRAEL AND ABROAD

Jewish Desk

IBGThe IBG's monthly newsbriefings via conference callfeature analysis of newsevents and current affairsby leading faculty members.

For further informationregarding IBG missions,events, and monthly newsbriefings, please contact:ibg@mai l .b iu .ac . i l

IBG Mission participants at theHouses of Parliament, hostedby the Hon. Lee Scott (MP).

Pictured: IBG Missionparticipants with Lee Scott(second row – 5th from left)and student representativesfrom local Jewish day schools

New Board Room and Library at the Midrasha for Womendedicated by Rabbi Karpol and Rina Bender in memory ofRina’s parents, founders of Bar-Ilan University, Rabbi Zemachz”l and Belle z”l Zambrowsky.

Pictured (left to right): Head of the Midrasha for Women,Jesselson Institute for Advanced Torah Studies, Bar-IlanUniversity Rabbi Itzhak Kraus and Amiel Bender, Montreal,Canada (grandson of the Zambrowskys)

IBG Participants attended "2000 Years" at the NationalTheatre.

Left to right: Director of Special Gifts Vera Muravitz,Associate Vice President Judith Haimoff, Chairman ofthe British Friends Conrad Morris, BIU President Prof.Moshe Kaveh, Chairman, Global Board of Trusees Dr.Mordecai Katz and IBG Chairman Jane Stern Lebell

IBG Mission participants attended a MurderMystery Dinner hosted by Marian and DennisMosselson of London.

Left to right: Everard Goodman, the Maid,Chairman, Global Board of Trustees Dr. MordecaiKatz, the Butler

International conference on "Creating in God's Image: Ethical Challengesin Stem Cell Research and In Vitro Fertilization” September, 2005 inconjunction with Columbia University and the Yavne Founders.

Pictured (left to right):

Standing: Dr. Mark Hughes of Wayne State University, Dr. John D. Loike,Dr. Ruth Fischbach and Dr. Gerry Fischbach of Columbia University, Mr.Eliezer Jesselson and Adv. Nadav Kidron of BIU’s Jesselson Institute forAdvanced Torah Studies and Mr. Nathan Diament of the Orthodox Union

Seated: Rabbi Dr. Moshe Tendler of Yeshiva University, BIU President Prof.Moshe Kaveh, President, Jesselson Institute, Rabbi Prof. Daniel Sperber andBIU Rector Prof. Yosef Yeshurun

IBG Mission participants were

in London for the 50th

Anniversary International

Jubilee Dinner which took

place March 28, 2006 at the

historic Guildhall

LondonMarch 26-30, 2006

Bar-Ilan UniversityOffice of the Associate Vice PresidentDivision of External RelationsRamat Gan 52900 IsraelTel: +972-3-531-8595 +972-3-531-7602E-mail: external-relations.office@mail.biu.ac.il

Around the WorldB A R - I L A N U N I V E R S I T YF R I E N D S A S S O C I A T I O N SA R O U N D T H E W O R L D

American Friends

New York 1 212 673 3460

Midwest 1 248 540 8900

Florida 1 954 987 7887

West Coast 1 310 652 3601

Canadian Friends

Toronto 1 905 660 3563

Montreal 1 514 731 7893

British Friends

London 44 208 201 7666

European Friends

Frankfurt 49 69 237003

Zurich 41 41 710 2455

Paris 33 1 4766 0834

Latin American Friends

Mexico City 525 55 589 5923

Caracas 582 12 283 4025

Sao Paulo 551 13 088 5111

Australasian Friends

Melbourne 972 54 660 3343

Singapore 972 54 660 3343

South African Friends

Johannesburg 27 11 887 6766

Israel Friends

Ramat Gan 972 3 531 7848

© DiskArt™ 1988

© Di kA t™ 1988

© DiskArt™ 1988