Into the Next 50 Years
Bar-Ilan University Jubilee
1955-2005
Jubilee Campaign Executive Summary
Campaign Chairman’s Message
President's Message
Flagship Programs
Physical Plant
Nanotechnology Institute
Faculty Development
PhD Fellowships
Academic Infrastructure
Libraries
The Jewish Experience
Student Welfare
Community Outreach
Gift Opportunities
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IntroductionAs Bar-Ilan University celebrates its 50th year, we have already begun laying the foundation forthe next 50 years. Innovative new programs are being undertaken, targeting growth and excellence,with the aim to catapult the University into the 21st century. These plans can only succeed withyour help. The University raised $250 million in contributions over the past decade. Our newchallenge is to raise the same amount in half the time.
Our storyBar-Ilan University is the world’s leading institute of higher learning which provides an environmentfor academic excellence to Jews of every level of observance as well as to the community atlarge. Firmly committed to the Jewish people, studies and culture, and to deepening Jewishliteracy among its diverse student population, the University has also achieved an internationalreputation in the sciences and the humanities. Although home to the largest student body in thecountry, the University has succeeded in generating a sense of personal attention and a family-like atmosphere for the more than 32,000 students, faculty and scientists on its main 135-acrecampus just outside Tel-Aviv and in five regional colleges across Israel. Since Bar-Ilan’s inceptionin 1955, this nurturing community has proven to be the right formula for building bridges betweenIsrael’s diverse entities and molding leaders in every field of human endeavor.
Our plansBar-Ilan intends to raise $250 million between 2005 and 2010 in order to finance exciting newprograms within the following campaign categories:
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Jubilee CampaignExecutive Summary
Our caseBar-Ilan donors represent a cross-section of modern Jewish life spanning the globe, from theAmericas to Europe to Australia. Thanks to their generous contributions over the years, Bar-Ilan hasbecome one of the fastest growing universities in Israel, with a strong financial base and a continuouslyimproving academic infrastructure. We turn to our old friends, as well as to the new generation ofJewish philanthropists, to help raise the $250 million required by the University to sustain its stellargrowth well into the 21st century. Together, we will turn the Bar-Ilan dream of a world-class institutioncentered on the values of Judaism, pluralism and democracy in Israel into a reality.
Category US$ (m)
Flagship Programs 65
Physical Plant 65
Nanotechnology Institute 50
Faculty Development 20
PhD Fellowships 20
Academic Infrastructure 15
Libraries 5
The Jewish Experience 4
Student Welfare 3
Community Outreach 3
Total 250
Campaign Chairman’s Message
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It is an honor to serve as Chairman of Bar-Ilan University’s $250 million Jubilee Campaign.The benefits emanating from Bar-Ilan are felt not only within Israel’s economy but throughoutthe Jewish world, in a wide range of scientific and academic disciplines that bring value tohumanity as a whole.
Bar-Ilan University is not only one of Israel's largest academic communities – it also fulfillsa unique mission.
Bar-Ilan plays a critical role in maintaining and revitalizing the Jewish nature of the Stateof Israel, while integrating successive waves of new immigrants and ensuring that Israel cansuccessfully compete in the global economy. It does so by recruiting faculty and producinggraduates who embody the highest standards of excellence in scientific and academicresearch, and who bear a deep commitment to the Jewish community.
With the Jubilee Campaign, we launch a comprehensive development plan aimed atcatapulting Bar-Ilan into the 21st century, firmly establishing the University as a strategicasset of world Jewry for decades to come.
There are academic and capital projects to suit every interest and budget. While Bar-IlanUniversity is proud to offer you this unique opportunity to invest in our collective futures, yourchildren and grandchildren will be the true beneficiaries.
I invite you to join me, and other forward-thinking individuals, to help make Bar-Ilan’s next 50years an outstanding success.
Prof. Yaacov NeemanJubilee Campaign Chairman
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President's MessageThese are promising and challenging times for the Jewish People.
Some of us are blessed with the capability to influence the future and to lead the way towarda tomorrow filled with promise. As Bar-Ilan University celebrates its Jubilee, we call uponyou to help us forge a better world.
In the 50 years since the University’s establishment, Bar-Ilan has assumed the uniqueresponsibility of building bridges between modernity and tradition, for the benefit of thedeveloping State of Israel and for the Jewish people. Our profound commitment to advancingscientific excellence through groundbreaking research, while providing a unique Jewishlearning experience, has made Bar-Ilan University a singular and distinctive academic leader.
With the help of visionary contributors over the past half century, Bar-Ilan has developed its135-acre campus into a world-class institution that annually educates over 30,000 of Israel'sfuture leaders. To accommodate this expansion, we have recently completed the
The Wohl Centre by architect Daniel Libeskind, designer of New York's new World Trade Center
first phase of construction on our new north campus, effectively doubling the physical plantof the University. The architectural splendor of the north campus was awarded the Councilfor a Beautiful Israel’s most prestigious prize, at a ceremony at the residence of the Presidentof the State of Israel.
Our faculties – including Jewish Studies, Social Sciences, Exact Sciences, Life Sciences,Humanities and Law – are second to none, our scientists are at the forefront of their fields,and our graduates are highly valued in the public, industrial, business and academic sectors.Our core curriculum of Jewish Heritage Studies, required of all undergraduates, is a uniquemodel for closing the secular-religious divide.
But our task is far from complete, as we strive to build an advanced, technological societyon the foundation of an enlightened and pluralistic Jewish democracy.
Our Jubilee year represents an historic opportunity not only to reflect with pride on ouraccomplishments to date – but also to plan our objectives for the next 50 years.
Bar-Ilan University’s $250 million Jubilee Campaign will provide the financial resourcesrequired to elevate our already world-class institution to new lofty levels of excellence,attracting top scientists with new state-of-the art facilities and fulfilling our unique role asthought-leaders for the Jewish world.
Your active participation in the Jubilee Campaign will enable our scientists and scholars toremain focused on cutting-edge research and original thinking. Flagship programs like theinstitutes for Nanotechnology, Biblical Archaeology, and Judaism and Israel – and thementoring of a new generation of doctoral fellows – are among the ambitious goals we aredetermined to achieve.
Throughout the illustrious history of our people, when we collectively confront the challenges,we are ultimately successful in shaping our future.
We turn to you who share the vision, to share in the responsibility and the rewards.
Prof. Moshe KavehPresident of Bar-Ilan University
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“As Israelis, we draw from two civilizations – one based on liberal Western
values and the other on Jewish traditional culture. Forming a coherent identity
out of these two influences is not just important – it is the job of Israeli society.”
Prof. Yedidia SternThe Insititute for Judaism and Israel
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The merit of a great university is not measured in the here and now. Rather,
it is calculated according to its ability to create a coherent vision for the
future, and by anticipating the intellectual challenges that will shape public
discourse for years to come.
Bar-Ilan University has identified a number of Flagship Programs that will
bring its brightest minds together, and is lending unstinting support to their
efforts as they examine the great themes of human culture. Bridging the
gap between artifact and innovation, unique colloquia relating to Biblical
Archaeology, the fate of contemporary Jewry in the Diaspora, and the place
of democracy in modern Israel are giving historical perspective to our evolving
society. In the Exact Sciences, cutting-edge centers for Neurobiology, Stem
Cell Research and Gene Therapy are putting the University on the frontlines
of the biotechnological revolution.
Flagship Programs
The Jeanne and Maurice Benin Real Estate Law Annex
While continuing to teach at the Law School, Stern has
spearheaded a range of legal and social initiatives in
cooperation with the Israel Democracy Institute and
YACHAD – a Hebrew acronym for Secular-Religious Relations,
an organization in which he serves as President. He is also
a member of the five-person Shamgar Commission, which
is charged with drafting a constitution for the State of Israel.
And since the fall of 2005, Stern has headed a new academic
enterprise affiliated with Bar-Ilan University: The Institute for
Judaism and Israel.
“As Israelis, we draw from two civilizations – one based on
liberal Western values and the other on Jewish traditional
culture,” says Stern. “Forming a coherent identity out of
these two influences is not just important – it is the job of
Israeli society.”
For Prof. Yedidia Stern, a graduate of Bar-Ilan and Harvard
Law Schools who has worked in top law firms in both Israel
and New York, academia isn’t about forsaking the “real world”
for an Ivory Tower. Instead, for this expert on issues of religion
and state, academic life is all about climbing to the top of that
tower – in order to gain the broad, unprejudiced perspective
that can strengthen the academy through collective
consideration of a real-world, activist agenda.
“Unlike lawyers hired to protect individual clients, in the university,
your ‘client’ is the public interest,” says Stern. “As jurists, we
are expected to provide answers for major dilemmas that
affect society as a whole.”
As a 20-year BIU faculty veteran and former Dean of the Bar-
Ilan Faculty of Law, Stern now devotes half of his time to
issues of religion and state in hope of softening the friction
between traditional and secular Jews in Israel.
The Institute will sponsor a bi-annual international conference
on the future of the Jewish People, promote legislation
conducive to religious/secular coexistence, and encourage
cross-talk between leaders from the academic and yeshiva
worlds. Furthermore, Stern hopes to “reshape the public
consciousness” by supporting the creation of “cultural
masterpieces” that will give voice to the uniqueness of the
Jewish People.
“We are paying the price of globalization,” says Stern, stressing
that without indigenous developments in art, theater and
music, Israel may “assimilate” itself out of existence. “The
question of who is a Jew is not just a religious issue,” he says.
“If we are to live together, we must forge an Israeli identity out
of a shared cultural life.”
Stern sees Bar-Ilan’s endorsement of the new Institute as
evidence of the University’s commitment to social and cultural
involvement, as well as to the support of innovative research
that blurs traditional academic boundaries. “Bar-Ilan is also
launching other interdisciplinary institutes, including one for
Biblical Archaeology, as well as integrated programs in
Medicine and the experimental sciences,” he says, pointing
out that such flagship initiatives enrich campus life by attracting
leading thinkers to the University. “Beyond regular degree
programs, specialized research groups like these set the
agenda for the future.”
And as a man who has spent much of his career in the
“trenches” of the “real-world” conflicts between modern and
traditional cultures, the presence of Yedidia Stern at the helm
of the new Institute for Judaism and Israel seems to ensure
that its agenda will be anything but “academic”.
Through its Flagship Programs, Bar-Ilanis emerging as an outstanding model offorward-thinking academic governance,and has established itself as a lightningrod for the electrifying ideas hidden justbeyond the horizon.
Flagship ProgramsGoal: $65 Million
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Between Jewish Law
The Arnold & Leora Finkel Hall of Human Rights
Prof. Yedidia SternThe Insititute for Judaism and Israel
and Democracy
The Institute for Judaism and Israel
The Institute for Biblical Archaeology
The Nanotechnology Institute
The Institute for Advanced Studies
Doctoral Fellowships of Excellence
New Programs in Emerging Fields:BioengineeringBiotechnologyEnvironmental StudiesBrain ResearchMedical ResearchInterdisciplinary Programs in Law,Humanities, Social Sciences andJewish Studies
“The improvements in BIU’s physical plant over the past few years make a
world of difference for today’s students. We can focus on our studies and
optimize our time on campus far better than ever before.”
Ezra YevarkanEngineering Student
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Physical PlantIt only takes a minute – but a stroll between the The Jack and Gitta
Nagel Family Jewish Heritage Center, the Mordecai and Monique Katz
Interdisciplinary Studies Building and the Jerome L. Stern Family
Graduate Studies Center feels like a giant leap into the future. Leaving
behind the structures that hearken back to the University’s humble
beginnings, this is the shining gateway to the North Campus – the focus
of an expansion that has doubled the University’s size over the past five
years. Providing much-needed physical space for Bar-Ilan’s growing
student body – particularly in graduate-level programs – the North
Campus reflects the administration’s firm commitment to both
educational and aesthetic excellence, by offering students and faculty
the unparalleled opportunity to work in state-of-the-art, specialized
facilities. In keeping with Bar-Ilan’s reputation as a world-class research
institution, the North Campus is dotted with dramatic structures designed
by some of the world’s top architects.
Over the next five years, an ambitious building drive will enhance these
already impressive facilities with dedicated buildings for Nanotechnology,
Engineering, Humanities, Education, Social Sciences and Jewish Values –
as well as classrooms, libraries, dormitories, and a new sports complex
that will serve Bar-Ilan’s student population and the wider community.
Landscaped gardens of the Leslie and Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Brain Research Center
Attending a religious boarding school, Yevarkan completed
a rigorous program in Physics and Gemara, and also attained
an excellent command of English. By eleventh grade, his
hard work paid off – in the form of an invitation to tour schools
in the United States as a representative of the State of Israel.
But despite the offer’s prestige, Yevarkan felt he had something
more important to do.
“I joined my class on the March of the Living in Poland,”
he says, “After all, it was the children and grandchildren of
European Jewry that took care of me in Ethiopia.” Visiting
the camps fueled Yevarkan’s motivation to contribute to
the physical defense of Israel. However, after a four-year
stint in the IDF, he turned down a military career in favor of
Bar-Ilan University.
Yevarkan chose electrical engineering – “maybe because I
almost electrocuted myself a couple of times when I was a
With one hand cradling an electric-blue cellular phone and
the other resting on a late-model laptop, Ezra Yevarkan looks
the very model of a modern engineering major. But when he
begins to tell his story, it becomes clear that this honors
student’s world-view is based, at least in part, on the jarring
contrast between his native Ethiopia and the high-tech society
that is modern day Israel.
“I came during Operation Moses,” Yevarkan recalls, referring
to the clandestine program that airlifted 8,000 Ethiopian
Jews to Israel between November 1984 and January 1985.
Together with his family, Yevarkan risked his life to reach the
refugee camp from which he would realize his dream of flying
to Jerusalem. But, as he would soon discover, Yevarkan and
his family were actually going to Afula – to an absorption
center where they would take their first, difficult steps in a
modern, technological society.
Ezra YevarkanEngineering Student
kid,” he jokes. Moving into the dorms on campus, Yevarkan
soon found himself putting in long hours in the Physics
building and the Yad Uziel Computer Center. “Engineering
is still relatively new at Bar-Ilan,” says Yevarkan, a member
of the program’s second class and its first-ever Ethiopian
participant. “When the new Engineering building on the North
Campus is finished in 2008, the department will have more
labs and classrooms, and will be able to attract more students
and faculty.” Still, he says, getting in on the ground floor has
advantages. “I’ve gotten excellent instruction, and a lot of
personal attention.”
Yevarkan has gotten lots of attention from outside the
University as well. In addition to his studies, he works at
Hewlett Packard in Rehovot, and he hopes to continue there
full-time after graduation. The job was facilitated through
Atidim – a joint IDF-Jewish Agency project that provides
mentoring and scholarship funding for outstanding students
from underprivileged backgrounds. The program was
spearheaded by former Defense Minister and IDF Chief of
Staff Shaul Mofaz – himself a Bar-Ilan alumnus. According
to Yevarkan, the participation of such well-known figures
sends an important message – about inclusion, access and
hope for the future.
Like a seed that needs fertile soil, successfuleducation begins with the right environment.With bold new building projects sproutingup all over campus, Bar-Ilan is dedicatedto giving every member of the Universitycommunity the best conditions in which tolearn and grow.
Physical PlantGoal: $65 MillionFive-Year Building Plan
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From Ethiopia
Anna & Max Webb Family Psychology Building
to Engineering
Social Science ComplexEducation and Jewish Values BuildingCommunity Service BuildingLibrary and Faculty Building
Humanities Faculty Building
Humanities Library Building
Archaeology Building
Hall of Learning
Student Advancement Center
Advanced Teaching and Student Center
Administration Building
Computer Sciences Building
“Israel is a tiny country with limited natural resources. Bar-Ilan is at the forefront
of scientific research that may lead to new, environmentally-friendly technologies.”
Prof. Arie ZabanBar-Ilan Nanotechnology Institute
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Situated at the microscopic meeting point between Chemistry, Biology,
Engineering and Physics, Nano-science – the study and manipulation of
matter at the atomic scale – is one of today’s most exciting fields of endeavor.
At Bar-Ilan University’s Nanotechnology Institute – a $100 million enterprise
partnering the Israeli government, BIU and donors – over 200 faculty members
and graduate students devote themselves full-time to the secrets of the
“small”, in an environment that nurtures basic science while encouraging
the smooth transfer of promising ideas to industry.
The Bar-Ilan faculty has already pioneered internationally recognized advances
in the fields of Nano-Energy, Nano-Environment, Nano-Medicine, Nano-
Security and Nano-Materials. As part of the Jubilee Campaign, our
multidisciplinary Nanotechnology research, which is currently spread over
the campus, will move into a new 172,000 square foot dedicated triplex on
the South Campus, where cutting edge facilities will speed the pace of
discovery. The Nanotechnology Triplex is scheduled for completion in 2008.
By committing itself to cracking the tiniest of mysteries, Bar-Ilan research
is opening up new, wider vistas of the possible – for the good of humankind.
Lechter Chemistry Building
NanotechnologyInstitute
of solar technologies for small-scale applications – in Israel,
every home relies on rooftop photo thermal panels for heating
water – the use of solar energy for general electricity production
is a problem. A very big problem.
“Generating enough renewable energy for the next century
using conventional methods would require laying out a field
of solar cells covering an area the size of Utah and Nevada
combined,” Zaban states. “The only way to make solar
energy practical is to make solar cells more efficient.”
And as an expert in nanotechnology, Prof. Zaban has done
just that. He built an electrode in which nano-sized particles
are arranged in a stable, sponge-like array on top of flexible
plastic sheets. The porous structure of the “sponge”
dramatically increases the sunlight-collecting surface area
of the semiconductor, making it a super-efficient generator
of energy.
Prof. Arie Zaban, one of the leading members of Bar-Ilan’s
Nanotech team, is a “colorful” character. A combat pilot in
the Israeli Air Force, Zaban has had an equally high-flying
career in academic research, completing his PhD with honors
at Bar-Ilan, then winning a plum post-graduate position at
the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It was during
this post-doc stint that the issue of color became inextricably
linked to his professional goals.
"I studied photo-electrochemistry, a field that uses 'smart'
electrochemical processes to get useful energy out of light,"
recalls Zaban. "It turns out that one way to increase the
amount of useful energy we can get from the sun is to use
organic dyes to turn environmentally-friendly semiconductor
materials into efficient solar cells."
Efficiency – especially cost efficiency – is the name of the
game, stresses Zaban. That’s because, despite the success
Prof. Arie ZabanBar-Ilan Nanotechnology Institute
Key to Zaban’s system is an organic dye that colors
nanoparticles of a transparent – and relatively inexpensive –
semiconductor, giving it the ability to absorb light. “Cost is
an important factor in any solar technology,” says Zaban,
pointing out that the sun-drenched countries most likely to
benefit from solar energy often have little money to invest in
it. “We have put in a huge, high-tech effort to create a simple,
low-tech system.”
The importance Zaban sees in renewable energy research
is perhaps best expressed by the painting that dominates
his office wall. A striking Rothko print called “White and
Greens in Blue,” this work places a stripe of green – the
color that symbolizes all that is environmentally conscious –
into an abstract embrace of blue and white – the colors of
the State of Israel.
“Israel is a tiny country with limited natural resources. Bar-
Ilan is at the forefront of scientific research that may lead to
new, environmentally-friendly technologies,” says Zaban,
adding that the University’s Jubilee commitment to creating
a new Nanotechnology Institute is an important step toward
that goal.
In the meantime, in a new twist on an age-old mission, Prof.
Zaban is helping Israel bring more “light unto the nations” –
in the form of a renewable energy technology small enough
to meet the very big needs of the future.
By investing heavily in Nanotechnology,Bar-Ilan University – an academic communitythat treasures the past – is underscoring itsbelief in the future. It is also expressing itsfaith in a universal truth: that when you wantto create something truly big, sometimes,you have to start small. Very small.
NanotechnologyGoal: $50 Million
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Blue, White andGreen all Over
Painting in background titled "White and Greens in Blue",by Mark Rothko, 1957
Selected Priorities:
Nanotechnology TriplexNano-Fabrication BuildingNano-Science BuildingNano-Health Building
Nanotechnology Institute Centersof ExcellenceNano-EnergyNano-EnvironmentNano-MedicineNano-SecurityNano-Materials
Selected Research ChairsNano-BiologySolar EnergyNano-MagneticsWater TechnologyNano-Electronics
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Stained-glass window in the Abisz & Esther Nagel Synagogue
“Alongside the value Bar-Ilan places on Jewish tradition, the University
maintains a tradition of openness. That’s why I joined the ranks of BIU’s
distinguished faculty.”
Prof. James KugelDepartment of Bible Studies
Faculty DevelopmentFounded in 1955 with just two dozen faculty members, Bar-Ilan University’s
outstanding reputation as a teaching and research institution is reflected
in the internationally recognized achievements of its faculty, which now
numbers 1,300. Serving as a home for established “stars” as well as up-
and-coming academicians, the University is currently in a mode of dynamic
expansion, aggressively recruiting top thinkers from all areas of the arts
and sciences – who, in turn, attract top students and junior faculty to the
campus to join in their work.
Alongside its renowned Faculty of Jewish Studies – today the largest in the
world – Bar-Ilan is a leader in the Exact and Life Sciences, and is now
planning to expand that stake by recruiting some fifty additional experimental
researchers over the next several years. This process includes the repatriation
of Israeli scientists and the absorption of immigrant faculty members.
Faculty development, including scientific scholarships, forms the bedrock
of the campus learning experience. Through its Jubilee Campaign, the
University will continue to ensure its place in fields of the future, by creating
a growing community that is alive with intellectual curiosity, Jewish values
and professional promise.
has focused not on the Bible itself, but on the earliest stages
of Biblical interpretation as witnessed in the Dead Sea Scrolls
and other writings outside of the Biblical canon. His survey
of these ancient Jewish writings became the basis of The
Bible As It Was, which became an academic bestseller after
its publication in 1997.
Kugel attended Yale University, then moved on to study
Medieval Poetry and Biblical Commentaries as a graduate
student at Harvard. “At Harvard I became interested in the
workings of Biblical poetry,” he says. “This was a subject
that Jews and Christians had written about since late antiquity,
so I ended up surveying its history as well.” The result was
Kugel’s 1981 book, The Idea of Biblical Poetry.
Kugel’s relationship with Bar-Ilan University dates back to
1991. “When Bar-Ilan offered me a position, the Dean at
Harvard told me, ‘Just tell me what they’re offering and we’ll
After dividing his time between Harvard University and Bar-
Ilan for over a decade, James L. Kugel – a Yale and Harvard
alumnus who is one of the world’s foremost Bible scholars –
has finally come home. Now a full-time faculty member, Kugel
cites his presence in Israel, and specifically on the Bar-Ilan
campus, as a boon to his own scholarship.
“At Harvard, I was one of a handful of people teaching Jewish
studies,” says Kugel, adding that Bar-Ilan students – both
religious and secular – tend to be better informed about the
Bible than their American counterparts. “Back in Cambridge,
Massachussetts, people were impressed when I would quote
Biblical verses by heart. Here, nearly everyone can do it!
This allows the learning to progress at a different level.”
Something of an anomaly in the religious world, Kugel is a
kippah-wearing traditionalist with an interest in modern,
secular, Biblical scholarship. His academic specialty, however,
match it,’” Kugel recalls. “ I told him that Bar-Ilan wanted me
to do more teaching for less pay. He found it odd I would
consider leaving, even part-time, but that’s what I did.”
In retrospect, Kugel says he has benefited from being involved
in two very different academic cultures – the broad-based liberal
education that characterizes university life in America, and the
highly focused model of Israeli universities, which Kugel sees
as an outgrowth of the scholarly traditions of central Europe.
At the same time, he points out the special position that Bar-
Ilan University holds – its “core curriculum” of Basic Studies in
Judaism makes undergraduate education at Bar-Ilan a kind of
hybrid, combining aspects of both systems.
“Whenever a university welcomes a scholar into the ranks,
it is expressing a willingness to broaden the type of thinking
and teaching that occurs on campus,” says Kugel, pointing
out that his own transition to full-time work at Bar-Ilan – one
of many senior appointments the University plans to make
in the coming years – came with no strings attached. This
is despite the reservations a Jewish institution might be
expected to have about Kugel, whose work is characterized
by academic – and religiously ecumenical – Biblical
scholarship. “Bar-Ilan offers serious engagement with the
Jewish religious tradition without flinching from conclusions
drawn from modern scholarship,” says Kugel. “Alongside
the value Bar-Ilan places on Jewish tradition, the University
maintains a tradition of openness. That’s why I joined the
ranks of BIU’s distinguished faculty.”
And as someone who uses modern, critical tools to achieve
a scientific understanding of Judaism’s greatest book, James
L. Kugel could not have chosen a better place to call home.
As it continues to attract top-level faculty,Bar-Ilan is enhancing its reputation as a worldleader in research and teaching. At the sametime, rigorous recruitment – of native-bornIsraelis, immigrants and academics fromabroad – is making education at Bar-Ilan atruly “world class” experience.
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Combining
Garden outside the Jack & Gitta NagelFamily Jewish Heritage Center
Prof. James KugelDepartment of Bible Studies
Academic Cultures
FacultyDevelopmentGoal: $20 Million
Recruitment of 50 ExperimentalScientists in Life Sciences, Exact Sciences,Engineering and Brain Science, includingadditional funding for an “absorptionbasket” consisting of laboratory facilities,equipment and start-up funds
Absorption of World-Class Senior Facultyand Promising Junior Faculty in Law,Social Sciences, Humanities, JewishStudies and the InterdisciplinaryGraduate Programs
Post-Doctoral Fellowshipsboth at Bar-Ilan and to institutions ofexcellence abroad
“Bar-Ilan relates to its doctoral students very seriously. This means more
than just financial and academic support – it means hope for the future."
Orr KarassinPhD Candidate, Faculty of Law
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Lilly Shapell Central Promenade
PhD FellowshipsIn just 50 years, Bar-Ilan University has grown from a small teaching institution
into a major center of academic research and instruction. A key factor in this
transformation is the Doctoral Fellowships of Excellence Program. Thanks to
a significant increase in scholarship funding, Bar-Ilan now boasts the fastest-
growing population of doctoral students in Israel, with over 1,600 PhD candidates
breaking new ground in disciplines ranging from Physics to Talmud, from
Economics to Music and from Law to the Life Sciences.
The best PhD candidates are chosen as Doctoral Fellows of Excellence, a
distinction that gives young scholars the support they need to complete a
doctorate within four years. As part of its Jubilee Campaign, the University
has committed to raising its target number of PhD candidates to 2,000.
Moreover, it seeks to transform the Doctoral Fellowships of Excellence program
from a four-year commitment to a permanent endowment that will ensure an
ongoing source of funding for this vital academic training program. By attracting
the most promising students, and giving them full support as they embark on
their academic careers, Bar-Ilan University is guaranteeing its position at the
forefront of Israeli intellectual, scientific and spiritual achievement.
of Excellence Program. “Beyond the strictly legal issue of
how to define such a crime, I’m looking for practical ways
to promote better compliance. For cases of non-compliance,
I’m examining new models that may lead to better, more
effective law enforcement.”
An activist beyond the walls of academia, Karassin has
served in many voluntary and professional positions, including
Executive Director of Life and Environment – an umbrella
organization that pools the efforts of some 80 non-
governmental groups. With such a wide perspective on
environmental matters, it is perhaps not surprising that
Karassin – who lectures in the Department of Geography
and Environment and the Department of Criminology in
addition to her legal studies – believes that an interdisciplinary
research culture, like the one at Bar-Ilan, is critical to achieving
a better understanding of our natural world and to finding
ways to cope with environmental degradation.
Orr Karassin is not a policewoman. But she does fight crime.
Environmental crime.
A PhD candidate in the Faculty of Law, Jerusalem-born
Karassin, 32, specializes in environmental law and public
policy. Ever since her undergraduate days, when she co-
founded The Green Course – now a 5,000-member
organization promoting environmental activism among
students – Karassin’s academic career has been guided by
her belief that the University must become involved, on a
practical level, with society’s most urgent issues. For Karassin,
involving academia is a vital first step toward turning Israel
into a better, more environmentally-conscious place to live.
“In my doctoral thesis, I’m focusing on environmental
crime – criminal acts that harm our natural world, or have a
damaging effect on human health and welfare,” says Karassin,
one of the bright stars of the University’s Doctoral Fellowships
“I chose to pursue my doctorate at Bar-Ilan because it is still
a relatively young university, and there’s much openness to
new ideas here,” Karassin states, noting that while environmental
law is an established field in the West, it is still largely
undeveloped in Israel. “The flexibility shown by the University
administration, including its willingness to promote cross-
disciplinary research, is not only intellectually challenging for
me as a student – it also creates a framework in which faculty
can come together to create new initiatives for public policy.”
Karassin predicts that, in the future, environmental research
will be enriched by ever-deeper interdisciplinary cooperation.
“Effective environmental policy can only come out of
cooperation between professionals in a range of fields,
including Law, Ecology, Economics, Engineering and
Psychology,” she says. “It is my hope that someday I’ll help
create the answers that will help policymakers and law
enforcement officials do their jobs more effectively.”
In the meantime, Karassin continues to “do her job” – pursuing
research and teaching, staying on top of her various public
responsibilities, and (together with her husband) raising two
young children. Karassin credits Bar-Ilan’s Doctoral Fellowships
of Excellence Program for giving her the support she needs
to keep going, full steam ahead:
“Bar-Ilan relates to its doctoral students very seriously, and
is steadfast in giving them the best work environment
possible,” she says. “For someone like me, this means more
than just financial and academic support – it also means
hope for the future. Whether my doctoral work points me
toward a life of scholarship or toward a public career – or
maybe a combination of the two – I will remain grateful that
I studied at a university that had the foresight to understand
the importance of the environment. I will remain grateful that
I studied at Bar-Ilan University.”
Investing in the best – that’s what the DoctoralFellowships of Excellence program is allabout. By nurturing the potential of the nextgeneration of academic leaders, Bar-Ilan islighting up the campus with rising stars –and guaranteeing the University an evenhigher place in the academic firmament.
PhD FellowshipsGoal: $20 Million
24 25
Japanese Garden in the Fred and Barbara Kort Buildingfor Language Studies
The Law and the Land
Orr KarassinPhD Candidate, Faculty of Law
Endowment in Annual Cycles
Target of 150 Fellows Per Year
Divided Among All Faculties:Faculty of Jewish StudiesFaculty of Social SciencesFaculty of Exact SciencesFaculty of Life SciencesFaculty of HumanitiesFaculty of Law
“Sponsor-a-Fellow” Programs
“As a physicist, I know that it can be difficult to move heavy systems. But if you
have a clear vision, even the biggest system – like a university – can be improved.”
Prof. Yosef YeshurunProfessor of Physics
2726
Bar-Ilan University is a vibrant academic institution, which, for a half
century, has evolved into a growing educational concern, replete with six
faculties, 45 departments, hundreds of study tracks, thousands of courses,
and existing scientific centers and institutes which have helped secure
Bar-Ilan's distinguished place in the world of higher education.
In recognition of the fact that too often the excellence from within is
overlooked, the Bar-Ilan Jubilee Campaign will also dedicate significant
efforts to investing in the best of its existing programming, by providing a
broad spectrum of naming opportunities for programs that are “up and
running”, have a proven track record, and will be able to maximize their
potential through new funding opportunities.
Shimon Elad sculpture in the Bob Shapell Park
AcademicInfrastructure
and now heads the University’s National Center of Excellence
in Superconductivity. “When a surge occurs, the magnetic
fields inside the device automatically adjust. When the crisis
passes, the material’s internal magnetic structure – and the
flow of electricity – is restored.”
The Fault Current Limiter is only one of many industrial
applications upon which Yeshurun has collaborated – a
surprising turn for a man whose training pointed him firmly
in the direction of Fundamental Physics. However, by his
own admission, Yeshurun has never resisted change –
especially when faced with an exciting opportunity.
“In 1986, researchers at IBM Switzerland created a compound
that superconducted at the highest temperature then known,”
says Yeshurun, adding that the extremely cold temperatures
required up until that time were seen as the main barrier to
the practical use of superconducting materials. “I received
In the summer of 2003, America was thrown into disorder
by the worst blackout in US history. Today, research conducted
by Prof. Yosef Yeshurun – a world expert on “disordered”
magnetic systems – may eventually prevent such disruptions
from ever happening again.
Yeshurun studies superconductors – materials that, at low
temperatures, conduct electricity with virtually no resistance. In
a closed loop of superconducting material, current will flow
forever – making it the closest thing to perpetual motion in
nature. It also formed the basis of Yeshurun’s novel solution for
power grid protection – a device called a Fault Current Limiter.
“Instead of relying on circuit breakers – which must be
physically closed to reactivate the flow of electricity – our
device is a self-regulating system that takes advantage of
superconductors’ special magnetic properties,” explains
Yeshurun, who received his doctorate in Physics at Bar-Ilan,
Prof. Yosef YeshurunProfessor of Physics
samples of the material and knew in an instant – I was
changing fields.”
Yeshurun spent a sabbatical year at IBM’s New York laboratories,
examining the new superconductors. “The excitement was
tremendous,” he recalls. “To this day, I feel gifted by the
opportunity I had to be part of such a revolutionary era.”
In 1987 Yeshurun published a paper that identified the cause
of superconductors’ most problematic characteristic – the
tendency of its initially strong magnetic force to decay.
Yeshurun’s findings became a springboard for basic research
all over the world. Amid this activity, Yeshurun – while
continuing his work in Fundamental Physics – had moved
toward applied research.
Yeshurun’s penchant for the practical serves him well in his
demanding secondary career – as a leading formulator of
academic policy. A former member of both the Israeli Council
for Higher Education and the National Council for Research
and Development, Yeshurun has also served as Head of the
Bar-Ilan Physics Department, as well as the Dean of Students,
Dean for the Absorption of Immigrant Scientists, Chairman
of the University Computerization Committee and Vice Rector.
In 2002 he made yet another step up Bar-Ilan’s academic
ladder – to the position of Rector.
“My first love has always been science. But at the same time,
I feel a deep responsibility to do what I can to strengthen
academic society as a whole,” Yeshurun says, adding that he
finds the challenge of building a strong academic infrastructure
for his home campus to be as satisfying as a successful day
in the lab. “As a physicist, I know that it can be difficult to move
heavy systems. But if you have a clear vision, even the biggest
system – like a university – can be improved.”
The National Center of Excellence inSuperconductivity is but one of the manyongoing research efforts at BIU that areworthy of philanthropical support.
AcademicInfrastructureGoal: $15 Million
28 29
Bringing Order
Iron Age storage vessel discovered during a Bar-Ilanexcavation at Shilo
to Academia
Select Naming Opportunities:
Faculties
Departments
Interdisciplinary Graduate Programs
Study Divisions, Tracks and Units
Research Institutes and Centers
Teaching Centers
Research Chairs
Research Laboratories
Research Programs
Teaching and Research Equipment
Academic Conferences
Facility Upgrades
3130
Exterior wall of the Wurzweiler Central Library
“Researchers and students need to sift through a huge amount of digital
information. The importance of the libraries has never been greater.”
Dr. Joshua RosensweigBIU Law, Class of 1976
LibrariesAfter five decades of steady and conscientious investment, Bar-Ilan University's
22-unit library system serves the student body well. The hub of the system is
the Wurzweiler Central Library, which dates from the founding of the University
and today holds one of the ten largest concentrations of Judaica in the world,
as well as a full range of professionally maintained resources in every area
of the sciences and humanities.
With today’s campus-wide library infrastructure granting access to a million
volumes, 20,000 periodicals and a dizzying variety of on-line resources, the
University is currently investing heavily in digital integration in order to ensure
full access to both electronic and physical materials.
Over the next five years, particular focus will be placed on book and journal
acquisition, database development, and assimilation of new technologies that
will form the basis of a simple, campus-wide interface that will open the door
to the rich resources that the Bar-Ilan University library system has to offer.
education. Noting that the current Dean, Prof. Yaffa Zilbershatz,
was a member of his graduating class, Rosensweig also has
special praise for Prof. Arnold Enker, first Dean of the Law
Faculty. “Arnold has always been known as an exceptional
jurist,” he says. “He taught us what a noble, uplifting and socially
important profession law can be when practiced correctly.”
After finishing his studies at Bar-Ilan and going on to complete
a PhD at NYU in just two years – “I was in a hurry to get
back to Israel,” he explains – Rosensweig founded a private
law firm in Tel Aviv, and, at the same time, launched very
“public” careers in both academia and government service.
“I was already teaching at Bar-Ilan when I was asked to
prepare a lecture on international taxation for the Knesset
Finance Committee,” Rosensweig recalls. “When I arrived,
I was surprised to hear myself introduced as the
An infectiously cheerful man who extends one hand in greeting
while thumping on a desk-top picture of his latest grandson
with the other, Dr. Joshua Rosensweig is not what you would
call “bookish.” But as Chairman of the Board of the First
International Bank of Israel, a member of the Bar-Ilan University
Executive Council and a renowned expert on tax law, Rosensweig
knows the value of finding and using the right information –
something made clear to him during his training at BIU.
“We lived in the library,” says Canadian-born Rosensweig,
a member of the Law School’s fourth graduating class who
later returned there to teach. “The staff members were
absolute miracle workers; whatever you needed, they made
it appear.”
Along with book-based learning, Rosensweig says that
personal contacts were an important part of his Bar-Ilan
Committee’s new legal advisor, a position that would last
two years. I didn’t mind though – and later continued in
government work, joining other policy-making bodies
that formulated major revisions of Israeli tax law.”
Working for the betterment of the State is a natural for
Rosensweig, who has been an ardent Zionist since his youth,
attended Yeshiva in Israel in the heady days immediately
after the Six Day War, and – after finishing his doctorate –
proudly served for 15 years in the IDF reserves. “They offered
me the legal corps, but I volunteered for a combat unit
instead,” he says. “My commanding officers were ten years
younger than me. As in the popular soldiers’ euphamism, I
‘ate dirt’ – and I loved every minute of it.”
But when pressed to identify his most treasured “Zionist”
memory, Rosensweig’s thoughts turn back to his student
days at Bar-Ilan during the Yom Kippur War. “I was part of
a student band called Shivat Zion,” he recalls, referring to
the group that went on to record three albums and to win
the Hassidic Song Festival in 1975. “We played for the troops
on both sides of the Suez Canal. For a new immigrant – for
anyone – it was an amazing experience.”
Visiting the Bar-Ilan campus, Rosensweig is delighted to see
how his old haunts – particularly the library system – are
remaining true to their core educational values while, at the
same time, keeping up with technological developments.
“Libraries are not just for books,” he says. “Researchers and
students need to sift through a huge amount of digital
information. The importance of the libraries – and the
professionally-trained ‘miracle workers’ who run them – has
never been greater.”
As the world’s leading academic center forthe “People of the Book,” Bar-Ilan Universityis committed to providing up-to-the-minuteinformation services. With boundlessenthusiasm for the literary treasures of thepast and present, and an eye toward futuretechnologies, Bar-Ilan is proud to serve asthe guardian of our intellectual heritage.
LibrariesGoal: $5 Million
32 33
The Importance of“Miracle Workers”
Gad Ulman sculpture in the David and Luba Glatt Plaza
Dr. Joshua RosensweigBIU Law, Class of 1976
Library AcquisitionsElectronic Journals and PeriodicalsElectronic Reference BooksAdvanced International Databases
Student Computer Areas and Equipment
Purchase of New Library Collections inEmerging Fields of Study
Purchase of Rare Books andBooks/Documents of Historical Value
Refurbishment of Library Facilities
Digitization of Existing Collectionsand Books
The spirit of Jewish inquiry is alive and well at Bar-Ilan University. A place
where all Jews can feel truly at home, the campus boasts the world’s largest
and most respected center for academic research in Judaic studies, as well
as the University’s celebrated Ludwig and Erica Jesselson Institute for
Advanced Torah Studies for Men and the Midrasha for Women – advanced
learning programs that allow young men and women with Yeshiva or Ulpana
backgrounds to devote themselves to Torah study, while simultaneously
pursuing their academic degrees. Central to the Bar-Ilan University mission
is its Core Curriculum of Jewish Heritage Studies, a unique program that
every year brings approximately 20,000 students together to generate a
dynamic dialogue about history, tradition and modern Jewish identity.
At Bar-Ilan, the Jewish experience is alive and accessible beyond the
classroom, with informal learning, Shabbat programs and holiday activities
available to touch the life of every Jew on campus. As part of its Jubilee
Campaign, the University is redoubling its efforts to fight the forces of
assimilation by investing in programs that place the spark of spirituality at
the center of its campus culture. By doing so, Bar-Ilan is leading the way
toward a more enlightened – and unified – Jewish future.
“I define myself as religious, but am happy to have both secular and religious
friends. It’s good that here on campus, different people can learn together
and respect each other – whatever their beliefs.”
Davina EjnesEconomics and Business Student
3534
Mosaic floor of the Stanley Slapin Heritage Plaza
The JewishExperience
Ejnes began her Israeli odyssey at Kibbutz Ein Hanatziv. In
addition to her work on the kibbutz, she studied in Ulpan –
“I couldn’t speak Hebrew at all when I arrived!” – and at
Emuna College. Then, “shopping” for university programs,
she soon settled on Bar-Ilan.
“I have always loved math, and was looking for a place where
I could prepare for a career in business,” she says. “At the
same time, because I made Aliya by myself, I was looking
for a campus where I could feel at home.”
After almost three years in her on-campus “home”, Ejnes
knows that she made the right decision, and hopes to
continue on at Bar-Ilan for a Masters degree in Business
Administration. She attributes her satisfaction with the
University to two things: the high academic level and the
positive Jewish atmosphere.
“Jewish Heritage Studies office, Shalom!”
If you telephone the Jack and Gitta Nagel Family Jewish
Heritage Center in the afternoon, chances are your call will be
fielded by a lilting voice speaking in French-accented Hebrew.
Davina Ejnes, 22, helps facilitate the smooth running of the
hundreds of classes offered as part of Bar-Ilan University’s
Core Curriculum of Jewish Heritage Studies. It is a fitting on-
campus job for Ejnes, a third-year student in the Department
of Economics. Since moving to Israel from France, she has
been deeply immersed in exploring her own Jewish heritage
and in sharing her growing knowledge with others.
“I attended all-Jewish schools in France, and was very active
in Bnei Akiva,” recalls Ejnes. “Despite the strong Jewish
atmosphere at home, I was looking for something more, and
decided to come to Israel.”
Davina EjnesEconomics and Business Student
“My business and economics courses have been demanding,
and I know that I’ve been well prepared for my future,
wherever that may be,” she says. “But in addition to my
secular classes, Bar-Ilan allowed me to improve my Torah
learning skills. My work at the Midrasha – the women’s
division of the Jesselson Institute for Advanced Torah Studies –
has been worth the effort, even though it meant taking seven
additional classes in Judaic studies to earn my degree.”
As a French and English speaker, Ejnes works as a counselor
for groups of high school students visiting Israel. She has
also been employed by the Birthright program, which brings
Jewish young adults to Israel for the first time. Because of
her experience and outgoing personality, it was only natural
that Bar-Ilan would choose Ejnes as a student “ambassador,”
occasionally calling on her to introduce the University to
French-speaking tour groups and potential students. But
according to Ejnes, the lively campus atmosphere makes
Bar-Ilan an easy sell.
“There’s so much going on here,” she says. “Every bulletin
board is covered with flyers for student-run events,” she
says, adding that, for her, the availability of informal, Torah-
centered activities have helped strengthen her connection
to the religious community.
Still, Ejnes stresses that the varied make-up of the Bar-Ilan
student body has been an essential – and most welcome –
part of her education. “I define myself as religious, but am
happy to have both secular and religious friends. It’s good
that here on campus, different people can learn together
and respect each other – whatever their beliefs.”
As a pluralistic community that reserves aplace of honor for traditional Jewishexperience, Bar-Ilan University provides ahealthy model for religion and mutual respect.Carrying this message with them after theygraduate, Bar-Ilan students serve as a potentforce for social healing and enrichment.
The JewishExperienceGoal: $4 Million
Conference on the Jewish People
Jewish Studies Internet Journal
Annual Yearbook of Torah PortionCommentaries
Parashat HaShavua Study Center
Core Courses in Jewish Heritage Program
Biblical Archaeology Field Trips andCourses in the Jewish Heritage Program
Programs in the Lookstein Center forJewish Education in the Diaspora
Torah veDerekh Eretz – One-YearProgram for Overseas Students
Special Fellowship Programs in PracticalRabbinics, Senior Rabbinic Leadership(PhD), PhD Fellowhips for Women in theJesselson Institute for Higher Torah Study
Pre-Marital and Marital Training Programs
Jewish Enrichment Programs(sponsored by the Campus Rabbi)
36 37
Trellis leading to the Bob Shapell Park
A Home for the Spirit
3938
Student WelfareAt Bar-Ilan University, education is a living process that takes place twenty-
four hours a day, both within the walls of the classroom and beyond. With
a student population made up of religious and secular Jews and Arabs,
native Israelis and new immigrants, the University is a living laboratory for
dynamism and diversity.
Underscoring the University’s commitment to inclusion is its growing
scholarship program, which allows students from disadvantaged
backgrounds to break the cycle of poverty, and climb the educational ladder
to independence and success. Over the next five years, Bar-Ilan plans to
increase support of programs aimed at improving student welfare – from
psychological counseling services, to help for disabled veterans, to programs
aimed at drawing the heterogeneous student body together into a more
unified learning community.
By making student welfare central to its long-term strategy, the University
is sending a strong message: that every Bar-Ilan student is a “blue chip”
investment for the future.
Ginsburg Terrace, located between the Charles Grossberg Education Building and the Charles Wolfson Humanities Hall
Nati Birnbaum, Law student
“Spending three hours together in a classroom, week after week, you can’t just walk away
from the hard questions.”
Chen Mere, Law student
“By sponsoring student welfare projects like the Secular-Religious Dialogue, Bar-Ilan is
sending a strong statement … After all, whatever our backgrounds, we’re all in this together.”
says, adding that the mix of religious and secular students
is one of the things that attracted him to Bar-Ilan. “The
seminar didn’t change my feelings about God or religious
practice, but I did discover new things – especially about
religious girls.”
On this point, Mere, 22, laughingly agrees. “Some of the
secular students assumed that, as a religious woman, I would
marry whomever my parents chose,” she recalls, incredulously.
“As the seminar progressed, everyone realized we had much
more in common than we originally suspected.”
But reaching common ground required talking, and lots of
it. “The goal of the seminar is to reduce ignorance and
intolerance,” says Birnbaum. “Spending three hours together
in a classroom, week after week, you can’t just walk away
from the hard questions – like public transportation on
Shabbat, the chief Rabbinate’s control of marriage and
divorce, and who serves in the army.”
Chen Mere and Nati Birnbaum have a lot in common. Both
are Tel-Aviv natives and second-year Law students. Both are
confident and outspoken. But Mere is religious. Birnbaum
is secular. At Bar-Ilan, that’s what brought them together.
This past year, Mere and Birnbaum participated in the
University’s unique Secular-Religious Dialogue, a semester-
long program that has become one of Bar-Ilan’s most sought-
after seminars. Through discussion, text learning, and trips
to sites of religious and secular interest, the program seeks
to help students clarify their attitudes toward Jewish tradition,
while at the same time, to gain a greater understanding of
their secular or religious counterparts. And while they both
grew up in relatively mixed neighborhoods, both of these
students agree that the seminar helped open their eyes
about the other “half” of Israeli society.
For Birnbaum, 26, dialogue between secular and religious
Jews was nothing new. “From the time I was ten years old,
I met religious kids through the Beitar youth movement,” he
Nati Birnbaum, Law student
Chen Mere, Law student
According to Mere – who herself did two years of National
Service on a religious track instead of joining the IDF – it
was gratifying to see secular participants’ assumptions
change over time. “At first, some seemed to believe in
religious stereotypes – that we all live in Mea Shearim, or
that we’re all right-wing,” she says. “And some were afraid
of religious coercion. But by the end of the semester, we
went away together for a Shabbat – prayer was optional
and we sang modern Israeli songs around the dinner table
instead of traditional zmirot – and it was a beautiful
experience for everybody.”
Birnbaum was pleased to discover a surprising degree of
flexibility among religious participants. “Most of the religious
students favored some kind of compromise about public
Sabbath observance, like allowing shopping malls in the city
centers to remain open,” he says. “I think our weekly meetings
had an impact on how they see this issue.”
Mere nods in agreement, but adds that along with her growing
understanding of secular culture, the seminar helped her
gain a new perspective on the world in which she grew up.
“I started the seminar with an unconsciously condescending
attitude – that religious life is simply better than any secular
option. Now, while I still believe that a religious lifestyle is the
best for me, I recognize there’s no one right way to be a
Jew. By sponsoring student welfare projects like the Secular-
Religious Dialogue, Bar-Ilan is sending a strong statement
about unity for all Israelis. After all, whatever our backgrounds,
we’re all in this together.”
Because of the diversity of its studentpopulation, Bar-Ilan is proud to “get personal,”and provide a range of programs designed toenhance each and every student’s educationalexperience. From cultural events to remediallearning to financial aid, the University iscommitted to seeing each student grow as anindividual – and find his or her place in society.
40 41
An Ongoing Dialogue
Dahan Family Unity Park
Student WelfareGoal: $3 Million
Dialogue ProgramsReligious-SecularJewish-Arab
Remedial Reading Program at theHaddad Center for Research on Dyslexiaand Reading Disorders
Social Action Unit
Scholarship ProgramsStudents from Development TownsCombat SoldiersPhysically ChallengedNew Immigrants
Counseling ProgramsSpecial Support Programs forEthiopian StudentsSpecial Support Programs for Studentsfrom the FSU and Other New Immigrants
Student Computer Study Areas –Equipment and Learning Areas
Peer Tutoring Programs
Special Academic Service Programs forStudents Called to Reserve Duty
Legal Counseling Service
Optometry Clinic
Pre-Academic Unit for New Immigrants
“The social sciences are not just about understanding the people’s problems, but
about using this information for communal outreach which improves society. I hope
that my findings will help others deal more effectively with Post-Traumatic Stress.”
Moshe BensimonGraduate student, Criminology
4342
Founded on the ethical principles of Judaism, Bar-Ilan University is guided
by its commitment to Gmilut Chasadim – a Hebrew term referring to the
Torah commandment to give to needy individuals and to the community-
at-large. Bridging the gap between intellect and emotion, the University
puts moral activism at the center of its pursuits, encouraging research
that yields practical benefit to the disadvantaged.
In the world of education, the University promotes both excellence and
equal opportunity, by giving a voice and institutional support to children
and young people with special needs – including new immigrants, the
learning disabled and the gifted. Research programs related to Male
Fertility, Developmental Disorders and Aging are forging new ethical
guidelines for life-long medical practice. And a wide range of personal
support programs – ranging from legal clinics, to advocacy centers for the
disenfranchised, to help for wounded IDF veterans – focus the University’s
finest minds on meeting contemporary social challenges, while creating
a framework that activates the healing power of their hearts.
At Bar-Ilan University, the ivory tower has been transformed into a tower
of strength for those in need.
Lobby of the Marcus & Ann Rosenberg Music Building
CommunityOutreach
In Bensimon’s case, music helped. An avid pianist, Bensimon
completed his undergraduate work at Bar-Ilan with a double
major in Music and Criminology. He then went on to pursue
a Masters degree in Criminology as well as a certificate
program in Music Therapy – and eventually, a specially-
designed PhD that combined aspects of the two.
“One of the subjects we study in Criminology is the experience
of victims,” says Bensimon. “As a musician, I wanted to look
at ways in which music therapy can help victims – specifically
soldiers – express the pent-up emotions that are left behind by
trauma. That’s how I became the IDF’s first-ever music therapist.”
For his doctoral research, Bensimon met with a small group
of soldiers over a period of four months, filming each session
and painstakingly transcribing each word of the group’s
Like so many Israelis, Criminology doctoral student Moshe
Bensimon has experienced the trauma of war. In 1991,
Bensimon was serving in Lebanon when he saw three soldiers
killed before his eyes.
“As a medic attached to a commando unit, I was trained to
deal with combat in the field,” says Jerusalem-born Bensimon,
35. “But I now recognize that I needed emotional help that,
at the time, I did not receive. This led to my academic interest
in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.”
PTSD causes a range of symptoms including difficulty with
social interaction, agitation, sleep disorders and flashbacks.
Whatever their initial trauma – war, a terror attack, or some
other experience – PTSD sufferers may struggle for years to
regain a sense of normalcy.
Moshe BensimonGraduate student, Criminology
discussion – as well as the sounds they produced on various
musical instruments – for later analysis. Noting a gradual
improvement in his patients’ mental state, Bensimon also
saw something else: a clear pattern in the soldiers’ emotional
response to different categories of instruments.
With a range of instruments close at hand, group discussions
were often “accompanied” by spontaneous music that would
change over the course of the session. “When the soldiers
felt overwhelmed by their memories,” says Bensimon, “they
played mainly on metal instruments – which they
unconsciously connected with weaponry, sirens, death and
other painful concepts. Then, after relieving tension through
drumming, they tended to choose wooden instruments,
which they associated with life, growth and peace.”
Bensimon sees his study – which created a framework for
helping needy individuals – as an expression of the Bar-Ilan
ideal. “The Social Sciences are not just about understanding
the people’s problems, but about using this information for
communal outreach which improves society. As a therapist,
I felt privileged to reach out to help these soldiers, and hope
that my findings will help others deal more effectively with
Post-Traumatic Stress.”
Ironically, most of the soldiers in the group were veterans of
Operation Defensive Shield, a grueling IDF campaign launched
in response to terror attacks against Israeli civilians – a
campaign in which Bensimon, a reserve soldier, also served.
For Bensimon, this coincidence only underscores the
importance of creating effective treatments for trauma.
“Unfortunately, we live in a society that has seen more than
its share of war,” he says. “The way we care for soldiers who
have borne the brunt of this burden will make a real difference
in the way we pull through.”
At Bar-Ilan, compassion is built into thecurriculum, and serves as a guiding lightfor the research agenda. Throughcommunity-based programs serving allsectors of the Israeli populace, theUniversity is helping to promote the creationof a better and more just society.
CommunityOutreachGoal: $3 Million
44 45
The Army Sessions
Exterior of the Marcus & Ann Rosenberg Music Building
Young Scientist Program for HighSchool Students
Law ClinicsLegal AidHuman Rights for the DisabledLegal Aid for Women in Family DisputesCommunity NegotiationEnvironmental PracticesCriminal Law
Conflict Resolution Clinic
Road Safety Clinic
Psychology and Psycho-Educational Clinics
Family Counseling Center
Center for the Study of Family Well-Being
Center for Diagnosing and TreatingReading Disorders
Male Fertility Laboratory
Mathematical Program for Gifted HighSchool Students
Social Action Unit
Third Age Study Programs
Student Mentoring Programs
Advocacy Programs in Gender Studiesand Status of Women
Academic Programs for Members ofthe Security Forces
Academic Programs for the Ultra-Orthodox
Conferences, Concerts and Other Events
for the Bar-Ilan University Jubilee Campaign
The following is a select list of opportunities to name facilities, programs,chairs, special funds, scholarships and fellowships:
$40M and over
To Name the North Campus
$20M and over
To Name the South Campus
To Name a Building
To Name an Advanced Science Institute
$10 million and over
To Name a Faculty Mini-Campus
To Name a Building
To Name the Sports Complex
To Name a Dormitory
To Name an Advanced Scientific Center
$5 million to $10 million
To Name a Faculty
To Name an Institute or Center in Human Studies
To Name the BIU Press
$1 million to $5 million
To Name an Interdisciplinary Program
To Name a University Department
To Name a Faculty Library
To Endow a New Faculty Position
To Name a Floor in a Building
To Name a Professor
To Name a Program
To Name a Study Track
To Endow a Chair
Gift OpportunitiesTo Endow a Research Project
To Endow a Doctoral Fellowship of Excellence
To Endow a Post-Doctoral Fund
To Endow a Doctoral Fund
To Endow an Annual Conference Fund
$100,000 to $1 million
To Name a Building Wing
To Name a Science Laboratory
To Name a Student Cafeteria
To Name an Auditorium, Computer Lab, Classroom or Access Bridge
To Advance Jewish Identity Enhancement Programs
To Endow a Scholarship Fund for Needy Students
To Endow a Graduate Fellowship
To Endow a Library Fund
To Endow a Publication Fund
To Endow a Fund for Visiting Professors
To Endow an Academic Prize
To Endow an Academic Course
To Endow a Legal Clinic for the Community
To Endow an Annual Conference
To Purchase State-of-the-Art Research Equipment
To Name Programs and Facilities for Special Needs Students
To Name a Garden, Plaza or Walkway
Under $100,000
To Name an Annual Scholarship
To Support a Student Program
To Name Publications
To Sponsor an Annual Conference
To Sponsor a Four-Year Doctoral Fellowship of Excellence
To Purchase Computers and Equipment
For further information about these and other philanthropic opportunities,please contact our Friends organizations listed on the back cover.
4746
BIU
JubileeInto the N
ext 50 Years
Published by the Office of the Associate Vice PresidentDivision of External RelationsBar-Ilan University
Editor-in-Chief:Judith Haimoff
Producer:Ian Tick
Editor:Zvi Newman
Writer:Sandy Cash
Photographer:Cathy Raff
Designer:Sleepwalkers
Printer:A.B. Offset
Project Manager:Evelyn Drummer
Bar-Ilan UniversityOffice of the Associate Vice President 972 3 531 8595Division of External Relations 972 3 531 7602
Friends of Bar-Ilan University Worldwide
e-mail: [email protected]
American FriendsNew York 1 212 673 3460
Midwest 1 248 540 8900
Florida 1 954 987 7887
West Coast 1 310 652 3601
Canadian FriendsMontreal 1 514 731 7893
Toronto 1 905 660 3563
British FriendsLondon 44 208 201 7666
European FriendsFrankfurt 49 69 237 003
Zurich 41 41 710 2455
Paris 33 1 4766 0834
Latin American FriendsMexico City 52 555 294 1365
Caracas 58 212 416 6019
Sao Paulo 55 11 3088 5111
Australasian FriendsMelbourne 61 3 9654 5777
Singapore 65 6 738 5554
South African FriendsJohannesburg 27 11 887 6766
Israel FriendsRamat Gan 972 3 531 7848