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The Shalem Center ( he, מרכז שלם, ''Merkaz Shalem'') was a
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
research institute
A research institute, research centre, research center or research organization, is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often i ...
that supported academic work in the fields of philosophy, political theory, Jewish and Zionist history, Bible and
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
, Middle East Studies, archaeology, economics, and strategic studies.
In its mission statement the Center wrote that "It seems that the entire Jewish people is suffering from an identity crisis", making its purpose to "provide a proper response to these processes".
Due to the prestige the center was able to acquire, with time renowned academics of different political orientation have joined the ranks of its faculty.
[
The center became ]Shalem College
Shalem College ( he, המרכז האקדמי שלם, ''HaMerkaz HaAkademi Shalem'') is a private liberal arts college in Jerusalem, Israel providing undergraduate education and founded with the aim of producing "broadly educated citizens for live ...
in January 2013, when it received accreditation from the Council of Higher Education to offer Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
s.[
]
History
The Shalem Center was established in 1994 by the young American Jewish scholar Yoram Hazony
Yoram Hazony (born 1964) is an Israeli-American philosopher, Bible scholar, and political theorist. He is president of the Herzl Institute in Jerusalem and serves as the chairman of the Edmund Burke Foundation.
Biography
Yoram Hazony was born ...
as a think tank “intended to confront what he saw as the dangers posed by post-Zionism
Post-Zionism refers to the opinions of some Israelis, diaspora Jews and others, particularly in academia, that Zionism fulfilled its ideological mission with the formation of the modern State of Israel in 1948, and that Zionist ideology should ...
”, financed by conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
funders in the USA. Hazony had served as Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
’s ghost writer
A ghostwriter is hired to write literary or journalistic works, speeches, or other texts that are officially credited to another person as the author. Celebrities, executives, participants in timely news stories, and political leaders often h ...
and was one of his advisers.
In March 2009, the Shalem Center filed an application with the Council for Higher Education in Israel
The Council for Higher Education in Israel ( he, המועצה להשכלה גבוהה, ''HaMo'atza LeHaskala Gevoha'') is a supervisory body for universities and colleges in Israel. It is the only organization with the authority to award academic ...
for the opening of an institution of higher learning that would be authorized to grant B.A. degree
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate education, undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally complet ...
s in the liberal arts
Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the ...
. Middle East scholar Martin Kramer
Martin Seth Kramer (Hebrew: מרטין קרמר; born September 9, 1954, Washington, D.C.) is an American-Israeli scholar of the Middle East at Tel Aviv University and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. His focus is on the history an ...
was chosen to serve as the first president of Shalem College
Shalem College ( he, המרכז האקדמי שלם, ''HaMerkaz HaAkademi Shalem'') is a private liberal arts college in Jerusalem, Israel providing undergraduate education and founded with the aim of producing "broadly educated citizens for live ...
, slated to open in the fall of 2013.
Research fellows
Past fellows include Daniel Gordis
Daniel Gordis (born 1959) is an American-born Israeli author and speaker, who is best known as a passionate advocate of Israel. He is Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College in Jerusalem, where he previously also served as Senior Vice Preside ...
, Asher Crispe, Yossi Klein Halevi
Yossi Klein Halevi ( he, יוסי קליין הלוי, born 1953) is an American-born Israeli author and journalist.
Biography
Yossi Klein Halevi was born and raised in Borough Park, Brooklyn, New York in a Jewish family. His parents, Zoltan a ...
, Martin Kramer
Martin Seth Kramer (Hebrew: מרטין קרמר; born September 9, 1954, Washington, D.C.) is an American-Israeli scholar of the Middle East at Tel Aviv University and the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. His focus is on the history an ...
, Ze'ev Maghen, Michael Oren
Michael Bornstein Oren (Hebrew: מיכאל אורן; born Michael Scott Bornstein; May 20, 1955) is an American-born Israeli historian, author, politician, former ambassador to the United States (2009–2013), former member of the Knesset fo ...
, Natan Sharansky
Natan Sharansky ( he, נתן שרנסקי; russian: Ната́н Щара́нский; uk, Натан Щаранський, born Anatoly Borisovich Shcharansky on 20 January 1948); uk, Анатолій Борисович Щаранський, ...
, and former Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon
Moshe "Bogie" Ya'alon ( he, משה יעלון; born Moshe Smilansky on 24 June 1950) is an Israeli politician and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces, who also served as Israel's Defense Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu from 2013 ...
. David Keyes
David Keyes () is an Israeli-American public relations representative and human rights activist. Keyes was the executive director of Advancing Human Rights, the co-founder of CyberDissidents.org, and the head of Movements.org, a platform for ...
worked at the center.
Academic programs
Shalem's research programs supported scholarship in the areas of philosophy, political theory, Jewish and Zionist history, Bible and Talmud, Middle East Studies, archaeology, economics, and strategic studies. Shalem was also home to Shalem Press, one of Israel's leading academic publishing houses. The press specializes in the translation into Hebrew of classic and modern works of Western philosophy. The Center also conducted educational programs at the post-doctoral, undergraduate, and high-school levels for students from Israel and abroad.[
The newly created ]Shalem College
Shalem College ( he, המרכז האקדמי שלם, ''HaMerkaz HaAkademi Shalem'') is a private liberal arts college in Jerusalem, Israel providing undergraduate education and founded with the aim of producing "broadly educated citizens for live ...
will offer an Israeli B.A. modeled on the American liberal-arts degree. Top Israeli and overseas applicants will pursue a unique core curriculum, combining the study of the great texts of Western and Jewish thought. Students will choose a major at the end of their first year. Initially, the college will offer two majors: Middle East and Islamic studies, and an interdisciplinary program in philosophy and Jewish thought.
Publications
Between 1996 and 2011, the Center published the quarterly journal '' Azure: Ideas for the Jewish Nation'', and between 2005 and 2009, it published ''Hebraic Political Studies
''Hebraic Political Studies'' was a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Shalem Press, funded by the Shalem Center, '' a peer-reviewed scholarly journal. ''Azure'' (published in Hebrew as ''Techelet'') was the largest-circulation general interest journal in Israel.
The Center's publishing house, Shalem Press, publishes classics of Western democratic thought in Hebrew translation, as well as works of Jewish thought in English.
Funding
The Center began to receive significant support from Sanford (Zalman) Bernstein and the Tikvah Fund in 1996. In 2007, the Sheldon Adelson Family Foundation
The Adelson Foundation is an American private charitable foundation founded by business magnate Sheldon and Miriam Adelson. The organization is based in Los Angeles.
Background
The foundation is divided into two branches, including the Adelson ...
announced a $4.5 million grant to enable the creation of the "Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies" at the Shalem Center, to be headed by Natan Sharansky
Natan Sharansky ( he, נתן שרנסקי; russian: Ната́н Щара́нский; uk, Натан Щаранський, born Anatoly Borisovich Shcharansky on 20 January 1948); uk, Анатолій Борисович Щаранський, ...
. The Institute closed in 2009, with the departure of Sharansky to head the Jewish Agency. In 2010, the Center announced a $5 million gift from the Chicago-based Conduit Foundation, headed by long-time Shalem trustee David Messer, to seed the establishment of Shalem College
Shalem College ( he, המרכז האקדמי שלם, ''HaMerkaz HaAkademi Shalem'') is a private liberal arts college in Jerusalem, Israel providing undergraduate education and founded with the aim of producing "broadly educated citizens for live ...
. Other significant supporters of Shalem College include the Klarman Family Foundation of Boston, George and Pamela Rohr of New York, Harvey and Jayne Beker of New York, Larry
Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence (given name), Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names.
Larry may refer to the following:
People Arts and entertainment
*Larry D. Alexander, American arti ...
and Judy Tanenbaum of Toronto, Warren and Debbie Kimel of Toronto, and the Ziegler Family Trust.
References
External links
Shalem College Website
{{authority control
Think tanks based in Israel
Jewish studies research institutes
Political research institutes