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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BIU

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BIU

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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

1918

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: external-relations.office@mail.biu.ac.il

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