Difference between revisions of "Shalem Center"

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Because existing Israeli universities are perceived by Shalem as "less successful in inspiring today’s young people with a sense of mission and broad vision", the college is "designed to produce innovative civic leaders and strategic thinkers who will ascend to positions of real influence in all sectors of Israeli life."<ref>[http://danielgordis.org/sitefiles/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Shalem-College-FAQs.pdf Shalem College Q&As,] Daniel Gordis.org, accessed June 14 2012</ref>
 
Because existing Israeli universities are perceived by Shalem as "less successful in inspiring today’s young people with a sense of mission and broad vision", the college is "designed to produce innovative civic leaders and strategic thinkers who will ascend to positions of real influence in all sectors of Israeli life."<ref>[http://danielgordis.org/sitefiles/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Shalem-College-FAQs.pdf Shalem College Q&As,] Daniel Gordis.org, accessed June 14 2012</ref>
  
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Shalem literature about the planned college states: "In today’s increasingly post-national world, Israel faces an internal threat stemming from the growing loss of conviction on the part of its young people regarding the justness of its founding and the legitimacy of its continued existence as a Jewish state", suggesting that the college is designed to counter this trend.<ref>[http://danielgordis.org/sitefiles/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Shalem-College-FAQs.pdf Shalem College Q&As,] Daniel Gordis.org, accessed June 14 2012</ref>
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Shalem literature about the planned college states: "In today’s increasingly post-national world, Israel faces an internal threat stemming from the growing loss of conviction on the part of its young people regarding the justness of its founding and the legitimacy of its continued existence as a Jewish state".<ref>[http://danielgordis.org/sitefiles/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Shalem-College-FAQs.pdf Shalem College Q&As,] Daniel Gordis.org, accessed June 14 2012</ref>
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It cites "the specter of a nuclear Iran and an increasing campaign of international delegitimization" as threats to Israel but believes an even greater internal challenge is the "growing number of Israeli and Jewish youth [who] do not believe in the justness or feasibility of a Jewish and democratic state". Shalem states that this phenomenon is resulting in a 'brain-drain', "growing avoidance of army service, and a widespread disdain for government and the political system at large."<ref>[http://www.shalem.org.il/Mission-statements/Shalem-College-Overview.html Shalem College Overview], Shalem Centre, accessed June 15 2012</ref> The college's raison d'etre is explained as a counterbalance to this:
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::If this trend continues, Israel may well lose the fight—not to its enemies, but on account of negligence and sheer indifference. To ensure its survival and success, Israel needs not only a skilled military, a strong economic base, and highly trained technocrats. It also needs a cadre of visionaries."<ref>[http://www.shalem.org.il/Mission-statements/Shalem-College-Overview.html Shalem College Overview], Shalem Centre, accessed June 15 2012</ref>
  
 
=====Lecturers=====
 
=====Lecturers=====

Revision as of 13:15, 15 June 2012

The Shalem Center was founded in Jerusalem in 1994 'with the aim of developing ideas capable of sustaining and unifying the Jewish people, and enriching and strengthening the State of Israel.'[1]

Activities

Lobbying for Herzl Law

The Shalem Centre was involved in lobbying the Knesset in favour of enacting a law establishing a national memorial day for Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism.[2] It assisted in drafting 'the Herzl Law' which was passed in June 2004.[3] In 2006 president and co-founder of the center Daniel Polisar was appointed to the National Herzl Council, an official state committee responsible for commemorating Herzl's legacy through implementing the provisions of the law and carrying out research projects related to his life and memory.[4]

Funding of City of David excavation

Between 2005-8 Shalem sponsored senior fellow and archeologist Eliat Mazar's excavations of a site in East Jerusalem just outside the Old City which she believed to be the ancient palace of King David. The dig was also supported by Susan and Robert Hertog, chairman of the Tikvah Fund[5] who pledged to give $500,000 to the project. The site is located in the Palestinian Wadi Hilweh neighbourhood of Silwan and is seen by some as a means to strengthen Israel's control of East Jerusalem[6]. Robert Hertog, asked by the Washington Post if he contributed in the hopes of enhancing Israel's claim to East Jerusalem, said that it "was not the most significant" reason.[7]

The project was jointly funded by right-wing settler organisation Elad Association[8], instrumental in the Judaization of East Jerusalem[9], who also own the land in question.

Shalem College

In April 2009 the center filed an application with the Council for Higher Education in Israel for the opening of an American-style liberal arts college authorized to grant B.A. degrees. The academic content will "rigorously combine the wealth of Jewish and Zionist tradition with classical Western thought through the ages" and a major part of the curriculum "reflects the needs of contemporary Israel"[10]. Teaching staff will represent "the entire political spectrum of Zionism."[11] The college is expected to open in autumn 2012 [12] with the first intake of students to commence studies in 2013. It will begin with 50 to 100 students and ultimately plans to enroll 1000 undergraduates and up to 200 graduate students.[13] Undergraduates will study 4-year course rather than the usual three.[14] The center wants to raise $70 million to fund its establishment. The college will be entirely privately funded, receiving no money from the state.[15]

Rationale

Because existing Israeli universities are perceived by Shalem as "less successful in inspiring today’s young people with a sense of mission and broad vision", the college is "designed to produce innovative civic leaders and strategic thinkers who will ascend to positions of real influence in all sectors of Israeli life."[16]

Shalem literature about the planned college states: "In today’s increasingly post-national world, Israel faces an internal threat stemming from the growing loss of conviction on the part of its young people regarding the justness of its founding and the legitimacy of its continued existence as a Jewish state".[17]

It cites "the specter of a nuclear Iran and an increasing campaign of international delegitimization" as threats to Israel but believes an even greater internal challenge is the "growing number of Israeli and Jewish youth [who] do not believe in the justness or feasibility of a Jewish and democratic state". Shalem states that this phenomenon is resulting in a 'brain-drain', "growing avoidance of army service, and a widespread disdain for government and the political system at large."[18] The college's raison d'etre is explained as a counterbalance to this:

If this trend continues, Israel may well lose the fight—not to its enemies, but on account of negligence and sheer indifference. To ensure its survival and success, Israel needs not only a skilled military, a strong economic base, and highly trained technocrats. It also needs a cadre of visionaries."[19]
Lecturers

The lecturers listed as the college's founders are all reportedly sharp critics of 'leftist' intellectual approaches. One academic involved, Professor Yoav Gelber, told Haaretz the humanties in the Israel academy are "in crisis" partly because "[t]hey teach all the post-modern silliness."[20] President-designate of the college Martin Kramer said the college will not become "yet another home for scholars who have made their reputations by negating the Zionist and Israeli narrative".[21] He has stated that the center will recruit faculty members "whose values commit them to the Jewish people and to the State of Israel - the vessel for Jewish survival. Yet this will not be a school for the indoctrination of Zionism."[22]

Martin Kramer has also said that establishing the college had been an aspiration "since the center's inception", and stressed its importance by adding: "In a way, the Shalem Center was the interim framework established until a kind of critical mass and reputation were achieved that would allow this step [founding the college]."[23]

Admissions

As well as academic ability, the admission will be based on "exceptional intellectual and extracurricular interests and talents, rich backgrounds in volunteer activities, and demonstrated leadership and dedication in frameworks such as the Israel Defense Forces and national service." To recruit students for its inaugural year Shalem will meet with "dozens of individuals who are influential in affecting decisions by top students regarding their choice of college or university, including heads of pre-army preparatory institutes, high school principals, officers in the elite army units that attract the most gifted and motivated young people, and others."Shalem College Q&As, Daniel Gordis.org, accessed June 14 2012</ref>

History

According to a Jerusualem Post article, "the Shalem-Princeton connection runs deep." The center's founders included a number of Princeton University graduates, among them Yoram Hazony and Daniel Polisar, and others like Michael Oren and Martin Kramer have worked at Shalem at various points.[24] Hazony, Polisar and Joshua Weinstein met as students at the university.[25]

The three obtained initial funding in 1991 and founded the center in 1994 as a not for profit organisation. Since 2005 it has also been a registered company. By 2007 it reportedly had an annual budget of $10 million, around 100 employees and was paying Hazony and Polisar salaries worth NIS 850,000 ($220,000) each.[26]

In April 2009 the center filed an application with the Council for Higher Education in Israel to establish an American-style liberal arts college able to grant B.A. degrees intended to "cultivate a cadre of broadly-educated, committed citizen leaders for the Jewish state and the Jewish people"[27]

Research units and departments

People

Board of Directors

Yair Shamir, Chairman of the Board | Isaac Applbaum | Jed Arkin | Jayne Beker | Louis Frenkel | Yoram Hazony | Leon Kass | Ronald S. Lauder | Polina Liberman | David Messer | Elisa Palter | Daniel Polisar | | Aliza Sharon[28]

Former directors

Howard Jonas | Barry Klein | William Kristol | Allen Roth | Jacob Z. Schuster[29]

Executive Leadership

Daniel Polisar, President and co-founder | Martin Kramer President-designate, Shalem College and Senior Fellow | Yoram Hazony, Provost and co-founder | Daniel Gordis, Senior Vice President | Anat Altman, Vice President for Strategic Planning | David Arnovitz, Vice President for Operations | Erez Eshel, Vice President for Student Affairs | Seth Goldstein, Chief of Staff, Office of the President | Ofir Haivry, Director of Studies and Associate Fellow | Yael Hazony, Vice President for Communications and Director of the Press | Jonathan Mensh, Chief Financial Officer |[30]

Former senior management

Suzanne Balaban, Vice President for Communications | Elana Ben-Haim, Director of Strategic Development at Shalem | Shai Porath, Vice President for External Relations[31]

Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies

Natan Sharansky director, 2006-9

Shalem College

Planning Team

Rhanan Har-Zahav, Legal Council for Shalem College[32]

Academic Council

Eytan Gilboa | Daniel Gordis | Yosef Gorny | Isaac Hasson | Menachem Kellner | Martin Kramer | Dan Laor | Ze’ev Maghen | Asher Maoz | Daniel Polisar | Ziva Shamir | Suzanne Stone | Asher Susser | Joshua Weinstein | Hillay Zmora

Public Council

Anat Altman | Yitz Applbaum | Jed Arkin | Menachem Dotan | Erez Eshel | Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Aharon Ze'evi Farkash | Chaim Friedland, | Prof. Ruth Gavison | Dr. Daniel Gordis | David Y. Greenberg | Dr. Aviad Hacohen | Stuart Hershkowitz | Doron Inbar | Yaron Jacobs | Martin Kramer | Izhak Lax | David Leichner | David Messer | Prof. Aaron Namdar | Aviv Revach | Ruth Polachek| Dr. Daniel Polisar | [[Yair Shamir] | Aliza Sharon

Scholars and Faculty

Joshua Berman | Daniel Gordis | Ofir Haivry | Yoram Hazony | Meirav Jones | Martin Kramer | Menachem Kellner | Yosef Isaac Lifshitz | Zeev Maghen | Daniel Polisar | Assaf Sagiv | Suzanne Last Stone | Joshua Weinstein[33]

Former

Ran Baratz | David Gelernter | Eric Gould | Yossi Klein Halevi | Yagil Henkin | Ido Hevroni | Pini Ifergan | Ami Linder | Amichai Magen | Julia Magnet | Eilat Mazar | Arie Morgenstern | Avi Nov | Dan Schueftan | Yiftah Shalev | Michael Widlanski | Ehud Ya’ari[34]

Post Doctoral Fellows

Tzahi Weiss | Hannah Hashkes | Michael Fagenblat | Micha'el Tanchum

Funding

In 1991 Hazony, Polisar and Weinstein obtained the initial funding of a few thousand dollars, from Barry Klein, to set up the Shalem Center Association.[35]In May 2005 the Las Vegas-based Adelson Family Foundation announced that the Shalem Center in Jerusalem was to receive a $4.5 million grant to enable creation of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies, which Sharansky heads and in which Ya'alon is a "distinguished fellow."[36][37] Initial funding also came from Ronald Lauder[38], chairman of the center's Foundation Board, while he was chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and he reportedly gave "a few hundred thousand dollars a year".[39]

According to an article published in 2007 in Haaretz, the Tikvah Fund founded by Zalman Bernstein had for some years "provided the center with more than $5 million a year".[40]

Funding for Shalem College

In June 2008 the Klarman Family Foundation of Boston and George and Pamela Rohr of New York each made a commitment of $1 million in support of establishing a liberal arts college at the Shalem Center.[41]

In February 2010 the Conduit Foundation based in Chicago, USA, announced a $5 million donation towards the Shalem College. Betsy Brill of the Conduit foundation said the planned college "reflects our foundation’s vision, which is the continuity of the Jewish people and the sustainability of Israel as a Jewish state."[42]

In summer 2010 Shalem received $2 million to endow the first chair of the Shalem College. An "anonymous donor from England" gave $1 million and the Conduit Foundation gave the other half.[43]

In May 2011 the New York-based Tikvah Fund - the Shalem Centre's "most generous" donor for over a decade according to Yair Shamir, chairman of the Shalem Foundation Board - pledged to match donations up $12.5 million received over the first 4 years after the establishment of the Shalem College.[44]

Publications

The Shalem Centre publishes the quarterly journal Azure: Ideas for the Jewish Nation launched in 1996 and issued in Hebrew (under the name Techelet) and English. Notable contributors have included former Shalem Center fellows such as Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren, jurist Ruth Gavison and Hillel Neuer of UN Watch. It has published several articles critical of anti-Zionism and post-Zionism.[45][46][47]

In 1997 a publishing house Shalem Press was established which specialises in translating "classics from the Western tradition" into Hebrew. Its first translation was The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek, known for being a major proponent of free market economics.[48] Other titles it has translated include Samuel Huntingdon's Clash of Civilizations which became a bestseller in Israel.

In 2004 a peer-reviews journal "dedicated to reevaluating the nature and scope of the Jewish contribution to the core ideas of Western civilization", Hebraic Political Studies was founded.[49]

Contact

Address:The Shalem Center
13 Yehoshua Bin-Nun Street
Jerusalem
93102
Israel
Telephone: (+972) 2-560-5500.
E-mail: inquiries@shalem.org.il.
Website:http://www.shalemcenter.org.il/
Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Shalem-Center/63364750961
LinkedIn:http://www.linkedin.com/companies/shalem-center

Resources

Notes

  1. ↑ Shalem Center Our History, accessed 24 May 2012
  2. ↑ Na'ama Lanski and Daphna Berman Storm in a neo-con teapot Haaretz, accessed June 15 2012
  3. ↑ Ella Florsheim, Giving Herzl His Due, Azure, accessed June 14 2012
  4. ↑ Daniel Polisar Biography, Shalem Center, accessed June 15 2012
  5. ↑ Our History, Shalem Center, accessed June 6 2012
  6. ↑ Scott Wilson, A Dig Into Jerusalem's Past Fuels Present-Day Debates, Washington Post, accessed June 6
  7. ↑ Scott Wilson, A Dig Into Jerusalem's Past Fuels Present-Day Debates, Washington Post, accessed June 6 2012
  8. ↑ Nadav Shragai, Is Jerusalem discovery King David's waterway?, Haaretz, accessed June 6 2012
  9. ↑ Meron Rapoport, The Republic of Elad, Haaretz, accessed June 6 2012
  10. ↑ Shalem College Q&As, Daniel Gordis.org, accessed June 14 2012
  11. ↑ Ofri Ilani, New college will turn out 'Zionist' graduates, Haaretz, accessed June 6 2012
  12. ↑ Tikvah Fund issues $12.5 million grant, Shalem Centre, accessed June 6 2012
  13. ↑ Shalem College Q&As, Daniel Gordis.org, accessed June 6 2012
  14. ↑ Elliot Jager,A Progressive First From a Conservative Think Tank, Jerusalem Post, accessed June 14, 2012
  15. ↑ Melanie Lidman, Shalem Center gets major grant for college, Jerusalem Post, accessed June 6 2012
  16. ↑ Shalem College Q&As, Daniel Gordis.org, accessed June 14 2012
  17. ↑ Shalem College Q&As, Daniel Gordis.org, accessed June 14 2012
  18. ↑ Shalem College Overview, Shalem Centre, accessed June 15 2012
  19. ↑ Shalem College Overview, Shalem Centre, accessed June 15 2012
  20. ↑ Ofri Ilani, New college will turn out 'Zionist' graduates, Haaretz, accessed June 6 2012
  21. ↑ Rebecca Atwood, The liberal art of nation-building, Times Higher Education, accessed June 6 2012
  22. ↑ Elliot Jager,A Progressive First From a Conservative Think Tank, Jerusalem Post, accessed June 14, 2012
  23. ↑ Elliot Jager,A Progressive First From a Conservative Think Tank, Jerusalem Post, accessed June 14, 2012
  24. ↑ Elliot Jager, A Progressive First From a Conservative Think Tank, Jerusalem Post, accessed June 14, 2012
  25. ↑ Na'ama Lanski and Daphna Berman Storm in a neo-con teapot Haaretz, accessed June 14 2012
  26. ↑ Na'ama Lanski and Daphna Berman Storm in a neo-con teapot Haaretz, accessed June 14 2012
  27. ↑ Shalem College Q&As, Daniel Gordis.org, accessed June 14 2012
  28. ↑ Board of Directors, Shalem Center, accessed June 15 2012
  29. ↑ Shalem Center Shalem Center Leadership, accessed 21 August 2009
  30. ↑ Executive Leadership, Shalem Centre, accessed June 15 2012
  31. ↑ Shalem Center Shalem Center Leadership, accessed 21 August 2009
  32. ↑ Shalem Center Shalem Center Leadership, accessed 21 August 2009
  33. ↑ Faculty and Scholars, Shalem Center, accessed June 15 2012
  34. ↑ Shalem Center Scholars and Faculty, accessed 21 August 2009
  35. ↑ Na'ama Lanski and Daphna Berman Storm in a neo-con teapot Haaretz, Last update - 00:00 30/11/2007
  36. ↑ Foundation Centre Adelson Family Foundation Awards $4.5 Million to Shalem Center in Jerusalem Posted on May 3, 2007, accessed 21 August 2009
  37. ↑ Shalem Center [1]
  38. ↑ Elliot Jager, A Progressive First From A Conservative Think Tank, Jerusalem Post, accessed June 14, 2012
  39. ↑ Na'ama Lanski and Daphna Berman Storm in a neo-con teapot Haaretz, accessed June 14 2012
  40. ↑ Na'ama Lanski and Daphna Berman Storm in a neo-con teapot Haaretz, accessed June 14 2012
  41. ↑ Tzvee Teaneck Shalem Center to Become a Liberal Arts College in Israel Tzvee's Talmudic Blog 6.25.2008, accessed 21 August 2009
  42. ↑ Abe Selig, $5m. donation makes Shalem College vision a reality, Jerusalem Post, accessed June 6 2012
  43. ↑ $2 Million Donation Endows First Chair at Shalem College, Shalem Centre, accessed June 6 2012
  44. ↑ Tikvah Fund issues $12.5 million challenge grant for the establishment of Shalem College, Shalem Center, accessed June 6 2012
  45. ↑ Assaf Sagiv, The Sad State of Israeli Radicalism, Azure, accesed June 6 2012
  46. ↑ Is This Land Still Our Land? The Expropriation of Zionism, Azure, accessed June 6 2012
  47. ↑ Zionism's New Challenge, Azure, accessed June 6 2012
  48. ↑ Our History, Shalem Centre, accessed June 6 2012
  49. ↑ Our History, Shalem Centre, accessed June 6 2012
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