CAN ACADEMICS CHANGE THE WORLD? AN ISRAELI ANTHROPOLOGIST'S TESTIMONY ON THE RISE AND FALL OF A PROTEST MOVEMENT ON CAMPUS

By: Moshe Shokeid

(Berghahn 2020, ISBN 978-1-78920-698, 206 pages)

Moshe Shokeid narrates his experiences as a member of AD KAN (NO MORE), a protest movement of Israeli academics at Tel Aviv University, who fought against the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, founded during the first Palestinian Intifada (1987-1993). However, since the assassination of Prime Minister Rabin and the later obliteration of the Oslo accord, public manifestations of dissent on Israeli campuses have been remarkably mute. This chronicle of AD KAN is explored in view of the ongoing theoretical discourse on the role of the intellectual in society and is compared with other account of academic involvement in different countries during periods of acute political conflict.

RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN NON-SECULAR MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTH AFRICAN STATES

By: Mark Tessler

(Palgrave Macmillan, 2019, Print ISBN: 978-3-030-19842-8, Online ISBN: 978-3-030-19843-5, 469 pages)

This book describes and compares the circumstances and lived experiences of religious minorities in Tunisia, Morocco, and Israel in the 1970s, countries where the identity and mission of the state are strongly and explicitly tied to the religion of the majority. The politics and identity of Jews in Tunisia and Morocco and Arabs in Israel are, therefore, shaped to a substantial degree by their status as religious minorities in non-secular states. This collection, based on in-depth fieldwork carried out during an important moment in the history of each community, and of the region, considers the nature and implications of each group’s response to its circumstances.  It focuses on both the community and individual levels of analysis and draws, in part, on original public opinion surveys. It also compares the three communities in order to offer generalizable insights about ways the identity, political culture, and institutional character of a minority group are shaped by the broader political environment in which it resides. The project will appeal to scholars and students in the fields of Middle Eastern and North African studies, Judaic studies, Islamic Studies, minority group politics, and international relations and the Arab-Israeli conflict.

THE ROAD TO PARTITION: UNSCOP AND THE BEGINNING OF UNITED NATIONS INVOLVEMENT IN THE ARAB-ISRAEL CONFLICT

By: Elad Ben-Dror

(Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi, 2019, ISBN 978-965-217-433-8, 364 pages, in Hebrew)

This first-ever systematic study of UNSCOP, the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine, traces how a majority of the committee’s members came to adopt, almost in full, the demands of the Zionist movement. It thus played a decisive role in establishing the state of Israel and in the evolution of Israel-Arab conflict. UNSCOP, appointed in 1947 when the British asked the United Nations to help it formulate a policy on Palestine’s future, performed an intensive inquiry into the country that summer. In the end, its eleven members, from eleven different countries, recommended the end of the British Mandate and the partition of Palestine into two independent sovereign states, one Jewish, on a majority of the territory, and one Arab. These two states, along with Jerusalem, which was designated to come under UN rule, would be linked by mechanisms that would ensure their economic unity. These recommendations formed the basis for the debate at the second session of the UN General Assembly. After making minor changes, the General Assembly adopted the plan on November 29, 1947. In large measure, the decision set in motion the establishment of Israel.

The book offers a comprehensive account of UNSCOP and its work. It is based on extensive archival material, some newly declassified and explains how the members of the committee reached their conclusions. Most of the source material comes from the UN Archives in New York. But, as it also seeks to account for the personal viewpoint of each of the committee’s members, it also makes use of documents they produced and archives of their papers. This wide-ranging approach has produced some findings of great historical importance.

MOVING THROUGH CONFLICT:  DANCE AND POLITCS IN ISRAEL, 1ST EDITION

Edited by: Dina Roginsky, Henia Rottenberg

(Routledge, 2019, ISBN Hardback: 9780367406875, ISBN eBook: 9780367808518, 176 pages)

Moving through Conflict: Dance and Politics in Israel is a pioneering project in examining the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through dance. It proposes a research framework for study of the social, cultural, aesthetic and political dynamics between Jews and Arabs as reflected in dance from late 19th-century Palestine to present-day Israel.

Drawing on multiple disciplines, this book examines a variety of social and theatrical venues (communities, dance groups, evening classes and staged performances), dance genres (folk dancing, social dancing and theatrical dancing) and different cultural identities (Israeli, Palestinian and American). Underlying this work is a fundamental question: can the body and dance operate as nonverbal autonomous agents to mediate change in conflicting settings, transforming the "foreign" into the "familiar"? Or are they bound to their culturally dependent significance – and thus nothing more than additional sites of an embodied politics?

This anthology expounds on various studies on dance, historical periods, points of view and points of contact that help promote thinking about this fundamental issue. It will be of great interest to students and scholars of dance studies, sociology, anthropology, art history, education and cultural studies, as well as conflict and resolution studies.

BEN GURION, A BIOGRAPHY
Two Volumes

Book One: The Conquest of Leadership; Book Two: The Leader - His Rise and Fall

By: Yossi Goldstein

(Bar-Ilan University Press, 2019, ISBN: 978-965-226-510-4, 1440 pages, in Hebrew)

The book covers the life of David Ben-Gurion from his early years in Plonsk, Poland, until his death in 1973. This picture of his life, presented in two volumes, differs from previous biographies and studies of Ben-Gurion with regard to the facts recounted, the insights drawn, the nature of the historical analyses, and its conclusions.

The biography is based on primary sources, some of which have never been drawn on previously—Ben-Gurion’s diary, an irreplaceable historical source for his life, actions, and thought (even though it is tendentious and of limited reliability); his letters; the minutes of meetings he attended; selections from the press—as well as secondary sources. Its composition required me to grapple with many questions associated with the historical importance of its subject—the greatest Jewish statesman of all time—and his complex personality. Who was he? The wisest of men? Gifted with superb intuition? A fierce and cantankerous fighter? A master propagandist? A political manipulator? Stubborn as a mule? An odd sort of fellow?

I found links between historical developments and his personality traits. Ben-Gurion was not afraid to make difficult decisions, even when he knew that their outcome could be disastrous, even when he recognized that his political, military, economic, and diplomatic analyses might be mistaken. He knew how to decide and impose his authority. After he did so he insisted on his way, even if the opposition to him was dramatic. There is no doubt that sometimes his analyses of the situation were erroneous, and one could see those mistakes as the essence. Nevertheless, there has been no leader of his stature who exerted such a strong influence on Jewish society in the modern age and whose dramatic decisions determined the long-term character and development of Israel.

Volume 1 of the biography begins in his birthplace, Plonsk, and continues with his immigration to Palestine and integration into the Second Aliya. It continues with his period in the United States, return to Palestine, and emergence as the leader of the Histadrut. The book describes, explains, and analyzes his success in turning the Histadrut into the most important political, economic, and social player in the Yishuv during the Mandate and the first years of statehood. It also traces how Ben-Gurion, after his elevation to the chairmanship of the Jewish Agency in 1935, became the man who led the Yishuv to political independence. Volume 2 begins with the proclamation of the state and the War of Independence, continues with a description and analysis of his years as prime minister, and concludes with his death.

BREAKING THE BINARIES IN SECURITY STUDIES: A GENDERED ANALYSIS OF WOMEN IN COMBAT

By: Ayelet Harel-Shalev and Shir Daphna-Tekoah

(Oxford University Press, 2020; ISBN: 9780190072582; 168 Pages)

The book focuses on the study of Israeli women combat soldiers and veterans. It addresses this issue by bringing the soldiers' voices and silences to the forefront of research and by presenting the women soldiers as narrators. Our book introduces a theoretical framework in Critical Security Studies for understanding – by binary deconstructions of the terms used in these fields – the integration of women soldiers into combat and combat-support roles and the challenges they face. The book explores the voices and silences of women who served in combat roles in the Israeli Defense Forces. The analysis, however, extends beyond the Israeli case insofar as the book offers important general insights into the larger issues of the links between war and gender, trauma and gender, and politics and gender. The book draws on Feminist theories in International Relations and security studies and introduces an interdisciplinary theoretical perspective that aims to lead scholars to consider why and how women’s experiences should be incorporated into the analysis of violence, state violence, combat trauma, security and in-security. If further sheds light on under-studied aspects of the Israeli society.

IYUNIM: MULTIDISCIPLINARY STUDIES IN ISRAELI AND MODERN JEWISH SOCIETY (HEBREW)

Issue 32 has just been published!!!

Editor: Avi Bareli/Assistant Editor:Orna Miller/Editorial Board:Avi Bareli, Avner Ben-Amos, Kimmy Caplan, Danny Gutwein, Menachem Hofnung, Paula Kabalo, Nissim Leon, Kobi Peled, Shalom Ratzabi, Ilana Rosen, Ofer Shiff

Iyunim is a semi-annual journal, published by the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism, Sede-Boker.

The journal holds two series:

I) The semi-annual series: Each volume contains research articles in various fields that specializes in modern Jewish society and Israeli society and state.

The articles address these issues from a variety of disciplines, such as history, sociology, philosophy, political science, economics, culture, geography, art, gender.

II) The thematic series: Each of its issues is dedicated to a significant current topic within the journal's fields of interest. This two-series format – the semi-annul and the thematic one – provides an invigorating and on-going platform for discussing the most prominent questions of state, society and culture in Israel.

Contents of 32

Ronen Traube, Moshe Dayan and the Palestinian Issue:The Local Elections in the West Bank, 1972 / Lilach Rosenberg-Friedman, The Religious Women Party in the First Knesset Election: Failure or Achievement? / Meir Chazan, Ben-Gurion and Britain, 1930-1939 / Yair Berlin, ‘Talmud Industry’: Daf Yomi and Modern Consumer Culture / Adia Mendelson Maoz, Palestine, My Love: Place and Home in the Literary Works of Sayed Kashua / Elazar Ben Lulu, Ethnography of Ethiopian Sigd in an Israeli Reform Congregation / Udi Carmi, The Americanization of Muscular Judaism / Itamar Radai, Jews from Islamic Countries – Images and Perceptions in the Yishuv Society: The Case of Hannah Helena Thon / Orly C. Meron, Haifa and Beirut in a Comparative Perspective:Jewish Entrepreneurship between the British and the French Mandates/

Kobi Cohen-Hattab, Establishing the Israel State Archives 1948-1950

The issue is available in the academic libraries, the bookstores, and at the distributor "Sifrut Ahshav", 972-3-9229175

Office: 08-6596940 ; omiller@bgu.ac.il ; http://www.bgu.ac.il/iyunim

ANNOUNCING THE PUBLICATION OF A SPECIAL ISSUE

"Israel at 70: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Society, Culture and Politics" in Contemporary Review of the Middle East volume 6, issue 3-4. The guest editors are Csaba Nikolenyi, Director of the Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies and Paula Kabalo, Director of The Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism.

Table of contents:

Csaba Nikolenyi and Paula Kabalo
Introduction: Israel Studies “Here” and “There”

Judith Weisz Woodsworth
A Language for Israel: The Role of Translation in Building the Resources of Hebrew

Sigal Barkai
Neurotic Fantasy: The Third Temple as Metaphor in the Contemporary Israeli Art of Nira Pereg and Yael Bartana

Tal-Or Ben-Choreen
The Emergence of Fine Art Photography in Israel in the 1970s to the 1990s through Pedagogical and Social Links with the United States 

Ofer Shiff and David Barak-Gorodetsky
Pan-Jewish Solidarity and the Jewish Significance of Modern Israel: The 1958 ‘Who is a Jew?’ Affair Revisited

Ira Robinson
A Life to Remember: Yehuda Even Shmuel’s Memorialization of His Son, Shmuel Asher Kaufman and the Crisis of his Zionist Vision

Andrea Gondos
Isaiah Tishby, Új Kelet (New East), and the Cultural Mediation of Zionism in Transylvania (1920-1930)

Adi Sherzer-Druckman
Mamlakhtiyut from Across the Ocean: Ben-Gurion and the American-Jewish Community

Paula Kabalo
Israeli Jews from Muslim Countries: Immigrant Associations and Civic Leverage

Yolande Cohen
Zionism, Colonialism and Post-colonial migrations: Moroccan Jews’ Memories of Displacement

Havatzelet Yahel
The Conflict over Land Ownership and Unauthorized Construction in the Negev 

Emir Galilee
A Nomadic State of Mind: Mental Maps of Bedouins in the Negev and Sinai During the Time of the Ottomans, the British Mandate and the State of Israel

Ben Herzog
Presenting Ethnicity: Israeli Citizenship Discourse

Natan Aridan
Setting up Shop for Israel Advocacy – Diaspora ‘Retailers’ and the Israeli ‘Wholesalers’ in the Early Years of Israeli Diplomacy

Csaba Nikolenyi
Party Switching in Israel: Understanding the Split of the Labor Party in 2011

THE DECLINE OF THE LEFT WING IN ISRAEL: YOSSI BEILIN AND THE POLITICS OF THE PEACE PROCESS

By: Avi Shilon

(I.B.Tauris, 2019, ISBN-9781838601126, 352 pages)

Yossi Beilin was a seminal figure during the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. As deputy foreign minister in the second Rabin government, he was responsible for leading the Oslo process, which was the most important attempt to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. This book is the first to tell the story of the left wing and the peace process based on the private archive of Beilin himself. The thousands of documents – shared exclusively with the author - reveal a far more complete picture of Israel's political-diplomatic history in the late 20th century, and provide new information on key events. Avi Shilon offers a critiques of the 'liberal peace-building' project and analyses the connections between the Labour party's economic policy and foreign policy since the 1970s. This book is both a political biography of Beilin and a new history which recounts the diplomatic processes and social-political changes that occurred in Israel in the past four decades.

ISRAEL UNDER NETANYAHU: DOMESTIC POLITICS AND FOREIGN POLICY

Contributing Editor: Robert O. Freedman

(London and New York: Routledge 2020, Paperback ISBN 978-0-367-35876-1, 310 pages)

The scholars participating in this book are leading experts from both the United States and Israel and represent a broad spectrum of viewpoints  on Israeli domestic politics and foreign policy. The case studies in the book cover  Israel’s main political parties;  highlight the special position in Israel of Israel’s  Arab, Russian and religious communities,  evaluate  Netanyahu’s stewardship of the Israeli economy and analyze his response to terrorism.. The foreign policy   case studies cover Israel’s relations with the United States, the American Jewish Community, Russia, the Palestinians, the Arab World, China, India, Europe , Iran and Turkey.   Another  highlight of the book is an assessment of Netanyahu’s leadership of the Likud Party, which answers the question as to whether Netanyahu is a pragmatist interested in a peace deal with the Palestinians or an ideologue  who wants to hold on to the West Bank as well as all of Jerusalem.

ARAFAT AND ABBAS: PORTRAITS OF LEADERSHIP IN A STATE POSTPONED 

By: Menachem Klein

(Oxford University Press, 2019, ISBN-10, 0190087587, ISBN-13: 978-0190087586; 256 pages)

This landmark volume presents vivid and intimate portraits of Palestinian Presidents Yasser Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas, revealing the impact these different personalities have had on the struggle for national self-determination. Arafat and Abbas lived in Palestine as young children. Uprooted by the 1948 war, they returned in 1994 to serve as the first and second presidents of the Palestinian Authority, the establishment of which has been the Palestine Liberation Organization's greatest step towards self-determination for the Palestinian nation. Both Arafat and Abbas were shaped by earlier careers in the PLO, and each adopted their own controversial leadership methods and decision-making styles.

Drawing on primary sources in Arabic, Hebrew and English, Klein gives special attention to the lesser known Abbas: his beliefs and his disagreements with Israeli and American counterparts. The book uncovers new details about Abbas' peace talks and US foreign policy towards Palestine, and analyses the political evolution of Hamas and Abbas' succession struggle. Klein also highlights the tension between the ageing leader and his society.

Arafat and Abbas offers a comprehensive and balanced account of the Palestinian Authority's achievements and failures over its twenty- five years of existence. What emerges is a Palestinian nationalism that refuses to disappear.

PALESTINE TO ISRAEL: MANDATE TO STATE, 1945-1948

Two volumes

Volume I:  Rebellion Launched

Volume II: Into the International Arena 

By: Monty Noam Penkower

(Touro University Press, 2019; Vol 1. IBSN: 9781618118745, Vol. 2 ISBN: 9781618118776, Vol. 1 357 pages, Vol. 2 469 pages)

Seventy years after the creation of the State of Israel, Palestine to Israel: Mandate to State, 1945-1948 offers the definitive narrative of the achievement of Jewish sovereignty in the beleaguered Promised Land. Professor Monty Noam Penkower explores developments in Palestine and in the Arab states, including how the Palestine quagmire became a pawn in inter-Arab feuds; British and American responses both official and public; the role of Holocaust survivors; the context of the Cold War; and the saga as it unfolded in the corridors of the United Nations. Joining extensive archival research to a lucid prose, the two volumes offer a riveting conclusion to his Palestine in Turmoil and Decision on Palestine Deferred.

YIDDISH IN ISRAEL - A HISTORY

By: Rachel Rojanski

(Indiana University Press, 2020, Hardback ISBN: 978-0-253-04514-0, Paperback ISBN: 978-0-253-04515-7, eBook ISBN: 978-0-253-04518-8, 338 pages)

Yiddish in Israel: A History challenges the commonly held view that Yiddish was suppressed or even banned by Israeli authorities for ideological reasons, offering instead a radical new interpretation of the interaction between Yiddish and Israeli Hebrew cultures. Author Rachel Rojanski tells the compelling and yet unknown story of how Yiddish, the most widely used Jewish language in the pre-Holocaust world, fared in Zionist Israel, the land of Hebrew.

Following Yiddish in Israel from the proclamation of the State until today, Rojanski reveals that although Israeli leadership made promoting Hebrew a high priority, it did not have a definite policy on Yiddish. The language's varying fortune through the years was shaped by social and political developments, and the cultural atmosphere in Israel. Public perception of the language and its culture, the rise of identity politics, and political and financial interests all played a part. Using a wide range of archival sources, newspapers, and Yiddish literature, Rojanski follows the Israeli Yiddish scene through the history of the Yiddish press, Yiddish theater, early Israeli Yiddish literature, and high Yiddish culture. With compassion, she explores the tensions during Israel's early years between Yiddish writers and activists and Israel's leaders, most of whom were themselves Eastern European Jews balancing their love of Yiddish with their desire to promote Hebrew. Finally Rojanski follows Yiddish into the 21st century, telling the story of the revived interest in Yiddish among Israeli-born children of Holocaust survivors as they return to the language of their parents.

READING ISRAEL, READING AMERICA: THE POLITICS OF TRANSLATION BETWEEN JEWS

By: Omri Asscher

(Stanford University Press, 2019, Cloth ISBN: 9781503610057, Paper ISBN: 9781503610934, Digital ISBN: 9781503610941, 256 pages)

American and Israeli Jews have historically clashed over the contours of Jewish identity, and their experience of modern Jewish life has been radically different. But what happens when the encounter between American and Israeli Jewishness takes place in literary form—when Jewish American novels make aliyah, or when Israeli novels are imported for consumption by the diaspora? Reading Israel, Reading America explores the politics of translation as it shapes the understandings and misunderstandings of Israeli literature in the United States and American Jewish literature in Israel. Engaging in close readings of translations of iconic novels by the likes of Philip Roth, Saul Bellow, Bernard Malamud, Amos Oz, A. B. Yehoshua, and Yoram Kaniuk, Asscher decodes the ideological encounter between Israeli and American Jews.   

SECULARIZING THE SACRED: ASPECTS OF ISRAELI VISUAL CULTURE

By: Alec Mishory

(Brill, 2019, E-Book ISBN: 978-90-04-40527-1, Hardback ISBN: 978-90-04-40526-4, 407 pages)

As historical analyses of Diaspora Jewish visual culture blossom in quantity and sophistication, this book analyzes 19th-20th-century developments in Jewish Palestine and later the State of Israel. In the course of these approximately one hundred years, Zionist Israelis developed a visual corpus and artistic lexicon of Jewish-Israeli icons as an anchor for the emerging “civil religion.” Bridging internal tensions and even paradoxes, artists dynamically adopted, responded to, and adapted significant Diaspora influences for Jewish-Israeli purposes, as well as Jewish religious themes for secular goals, all in the name of creating a new state with its own paradoxes, simultaneously styled on the Enlightenment nation-state and Jewish peoplehood.

CFA: Three-Year Israel Studies Postdoctoral Associate at the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies

The Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies invites applications for a three-year Postdoctoral Associate Teaching Position in Israel Studies.

This position, which is partly funded by a grant from the Israel Institute, D.C., is open to scholars in all fields of Israel Studies; preference will be given to scholars who can teach courses in contemporary Israel and the environment. 

The postdoctoral associate is expected to teach at least four full (4-credit) courses per year, in person, during the fall and spring semesters, two of which must focus on Israel, as well as curate four academic and/or public-facing events related to Israel over the course of each year of residence.

We are particularly interested in courses that place Israel in a regional context, especially with a view to the management of natural resources (water and land management), sustainability, environmental justice, and regional conflict and cooperation. Courses should straddle scientific and social inquiry and contribute to the International Relations regional track in Africa and the Middle East, as well as to the functional track in Environment and Development. Courses offered in cooperation with the Department Earth and Environment may touch on the following, or other relevant issues:  

·      Carbon-based and alternative energy, society, and the environment

·      Regional climate change, conflict, and sustainability

·      Israel and Middle East regional eco-systems and responses to climate change

·      Hydrology, irrigation, and desert agriculture

·      Eastern Mediterranean coastal ecologies and economies

·      Land management, biodiversity, and environmental justice

The position provides a salary of USD 56,000 per year. We expect the postdoctoral associate to spend significant time on campus and make an effort to forge connections with faculty and students across schools and departments and help us build plausibility for Israel Studies at Boston University. The postdoctoral associate may not undertake any other sustained teaching or employment during his/her tenure at Boston University. 

Application deadline for employment starting September 1 is January 30, 2021.

The search will continue until the position is filled.

Applicants should have earned the PhD within the past 5 years. Advanced doctoral students applying must include a statement from their dissertation supervisor indicating that they will have the Ph.D. in hand by July 1, 2021. Applicants should submit the following materials electronically, in form of a single pdf, by email to ewcjs@bu.edu, with “Israel Studies Postdoctoral Teaching application” in the Subject line:

• A letter of intent, with a list of potential courses;
• A current CV;
• Past course evaluations (if possible);
• Three letters of recommendation, emailed directly to ewcjs@bu.edu in .pdf form

An official transcript from the applicant's doctoral-granting institution.
All eligible applicants will be also vetted by the Israel Institute, D.C., and should submit a concurrent application online at https://IsraelInstitute.smapply.io/prog/teaching-fellow-22

Boston University is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor.

Visiting Assistant Professorship of Israel Studies

The University of Virginia Jewish Studies Program, an interdisciplinary program drawing on more than thirty faculty from across the University, invites applications for a three-year visiting assistant professor (VAP) in Israel Studies, anticipated to begin August 25, 2021. We are particularly interested in candidates who can teach courses in the history and politics of modern Israel as well as courses in related topics that may include Israeli culture, literature, religion, and society.  

The core responsibilities of this position include teaching four courses per year, two each during the spring and fall terms. At least two of these courses will be focused specifically on modern Israel. In addition, the responsibilities include organizing a limited number of public-facing scholarly events in conjunction with the UVA Jewish Studies Program.

The successful applicant will hold a PhD at the time of the appointment in a relevant field of study such as history, political science, Middle Eastern Studies, or other related fields.

This position is co-sponsored by the Israel Institute Teaching Fellowship Program.

Review of applications begins on January 25, 2021 and will continue until the position is filled. Questions regarding this position should be directed to Professor James Loeffler at james.loeffler@virginia.edu.

Please apply online at

https://uva.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UVAJobs/job/Charlottesville-VA/Visiting-Assistant-Professor--University-of-Virginia-Jewish-Studies-Program_R0020628

Case Western Reserve University – Stephen H. Hoffman Professorship in Modern Hebrew Language and Literature

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Case Western Reserve University, in conjunction with the Program in Judaic Studies, invites applications and nominations for the Stephen H. Hoffman Professorship in Modern Hebrew Language and Literature. A Ph.D. in Hebrew literature, Hebrew language, or comparative literature or cultural studies with a focus on Hebrew is required. The department welcomes interdisciplinary approaches, such as film studies. The successful applicant will be appointed at the rank of professor or associate professor, commensurate with experience. Advanced assistant professors who would be eligible for tenure and promotion at the time of appointment are also welcome to apply. Successful candidates for appointment as associate professor should have a substantial publication record and a national reputation in the candidate’s area of scholarship. Successful candidates for appointment as professor should have demonstrated both an international reputation and continuing accomplishment in the profession, including a strong record of scholarly publications.

Expectations include the teaching of courses in Hebrew language, literature, and culture at both the undergraduate and graduate levels; departmental and university service; and contributions to the Program in Judaic Studies. Contributions to curricular development are encouraged and excellence in teaching is expected. The successful candidate should be capable of teaching in both English and Hebrew and should have near-native fluency in both languages.

The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures is a vibrant, research-oriented department with 13 full-time faculty members. It offers 8 language disciplines of study, with majors or minors in French, German, Japanese Studies, and Spanish. In addition, course work or a minor is available in Arabic, Chinese, Italian, and Russian. The department offers language as well as advanced literature, cinema, culture, and study-abroad courses. It also houses the World Literature program. The successful candidate will also be a core member of the Program in Judaic Studies, which has existing strengths in the religion, history, and cultural anthropology of the Jews and offers a minor in Judaic Studies. More broadly, the candidate will be encouraged to participate in the many interdisciplinary opportunities within the College of Arts and Sciences, including the Baker Nord Center for the Humanities, which organizes interdepartmental colloquia, offers funding support for faculty research, hosts public lectures, and organizes the Cleveland Humanities Festival.

Case Western Reserve University is part of University Circle, which has one of the nation's largest concentrations of educational, cultural, medical, and performing arts organizations. The College of Arts and Sciences houses educational and research programs in the arts, humanities, social sciences, physical and biological sciences, and mathematical sciences. The College comprises 21 academic departments, 35 interdisciplinary programs and centers, and 270 faculty members. Students are encouraged to conduct research in their chosen or related fields within the College as well as in collaboration with nearby cultural institutions.
To ensure full consideration, complete applications should be received by January 15, 2021, though applications will be accepted for the duration of the search until a final candidate is selected. Electronic applications are requested. Please email a single PDF document; containing a cover letter; a curriculum vitae; a writing sample; a statement on research; a statement on teaching; at least one sample syllabus; and a diversity statement, which explains either:

a) How their research, teaching, and/or service have contributed to diversity, equity and inclusion within their scholarly field(s) and/or how their individual and/or collaborative efforts have promoted structural justice inside and outside institutions of higher learning. This statement should also reflect on the ways in which the candidate’s continued efforts will foster a culture of diversity, pluralism, and individual difference at Case Western Reserve University into the future, Or

b) How they value diversity, equity, and inclusion within their research and discipline(s) and how their own scholarly work might contribute to structural justice inside and outside institutions of higher learning. This statement should also suggest how the candidate’s work, while as a member of Case Western Reserve University, will contribute to diversity, equity, and inclusion and how moving forward they intend to foster a culture of diversity, pluralism, and individual difference.

Letters of recommendation will be requested from long-listed candidates.

Please send all application materials to Lauren Gallitto (lauren.gallitto@case.edu), Program in Judaic Studies, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-7112.

In employment, as in education, Case Western Reserve University is committed to Equal Opportunity and Diversity. Women, veterans, members of underrepresented minority groups, and individuals with disabilities are encouraged to apply.

Case Western Reserve University provides reasonable accommodations to applicants with disabilities. Applicants requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application and hiring process should contact the Office for Inclusion, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity at 216-368-8877 to request reasonable accommodations. Determination as to granting accommodations for any applicant will be made on a case-by-case basis.

Support Available for the Development of New Israel Courses

The Israel Institute is pleased to offer Faculty Development Grants to tenured or tenure-track professors who want to develop new courses about modern Israel and add them to their regular rotations. Grants can be used for teaching release, travel to Israel, honing language skills, or pursuing other activities necessary for creating a new course. Grants cannot be used for updating or revising existing courses.

Deadline: February 16, 2021

How to Apply: Please visit the Israel Institute website to learn more about eligibility, logistics, and to submit your application.

Should you have any questions about the program or about the Israel Institute's work, please contact Dr. Erika Falk, Israel Institute Program Director, at (202) 216-2219 or efalk@israelinstitute.org.

The Israel Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, and non-advocacy 501(c)(3) organization that advances rigorous teaching, research, and discourse about modern Israel in partnership with leading academic, research, and cultural institutions.

Diversify Your Teaching Portfolio — Funding Available

The Israel Institute is pleased to offer Faculty Development Grants to tenured or tenure-track professors who want to add new courses about modern Israel to their regular rotations. Grants can be used for teaching release, travel to Israel, honing language skills, or pursuing other activities necessary for creating a new course. Grants cannot be used for updating or revising existing courses.

Deadline: February 16, 2021

How to Apply: Please visit the Israel Institute website to learn more about eligibility, logistics, and to submit your application.

Should you have any questions about the program or about the Israel Institute's work, please contact Dr. Erika Falk, Israel Institute Program Director, at (202) 216-2219 or efalk@israelinstitute.org.

The Israel Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, and non-advocacy 501(c)(3) organization that advances rigorous teaching, research, and discourse about modern Israel in partnership with leading academic, research, and cultural institutions.

The Dvora and Michael Goldhirsh Foundation at the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism

is offering NIS 5,000 research prize for a doctoral dissertation proposal in the field of Holocaust Studies approved by a recognized research institution from October 2018 onward.

Dissertation proposals focusing on one of the following research fields will be given preference:

• Key issues, processes, and events during the Holocaust
• The Holocaust as reflected in social, cultural, and intellectual life in Israel and the Jewish world
• Holocaust remembrance and commemoration in Israel and abroad

Applicants should submit the following documents as attachments to an email message addressed to bgi@bgu.ac.il

• The approved doctoral dissertation proposal
• An official approval of the dissertation proposal as authorized by the academic or research institution where the research is conducted
• Two letters of recommendation should be sent separately and directly to the committee's administrator, to the email address below, by the applicant's mentors or by faculty members whose expertise corresponds to that of the applicant

The applicant is responsible for verifying receipt of all required documents.

The Goldhirsh Research Prize will be awarded at the Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony to be held at the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sde Boker Campus, in the presence of the Goldhirsh family.

Applications must be submitted by Friday, January 15, 2021 to the Ben-Gurion Research Institute for the Study of Israel and Zionism Director’s office, bgi@bgu.ac.il

For further inquiries please contact: Tel. 9728-6596936; bgi@bgu.ac.il

Call for Applications: 2021 JDC Archives Fellowship Program

The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) Archives is pleased to announce that it is accepting applications for its 2021 fellowship program. In 2021, seven fellowships will be awarded to senior scholars, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students, and independent researchers to conduct research in the JDC Archives, either in New York or in Jerusalem. Topics in the fields of twentieth century Jewish history, modern history, social welfare, migration, and humanitarian assistance will be considered, as well as other areas of academic research covered in the JDC archival collections.  Our finding aids can be consulted to identify relevant areas. The fellowship awards are $2,000-$5,000 and the deadline for submission is January 26, 2021.

Fellows are expected to make a public presentation on their research upon conclusion of their fellowships.

Past fellows have worked on diverse topics ranging from the eradication of malaria in Mandatory Palestine to Soviet Jewish emigration to the West in the 1970s and 1980s. The areas of research and lectures of previously awarded recipients can be viewed here.

DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIPS IN ISRAEL STUDIES AT BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

Full and partial fellowships supporting doctoral students whose research focuses on Israel. Candidates must be accepted into Brandeis University graduate school programs of Anthropology, History, Literature, Middle East Studies, Near Eastern & Judaic Studies, Politics or Sociology. Competitive living stipend with generous health care benefits. Renewable for up to five years. Deadlines vary by department. Learn more at www.brandeis.edu/israel-center/resources/grants-fellowships/graduate-students.html.

CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY: FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES

The Azrieli Institute of Israel Studies at Concordia University is a multi-disciplinary research centre that brings together students, faculty and researchers who are dedicated to the study of Israel in all its facets.

In an effort to promote faculty-based projects, stimulate research and teaching, and contribute to the study of the state of Israel, locally, nationally and internationally, the Institute is offering financial support in the form of grants and scholarships in the following categories:

Visiting Researcher:

The Institute welcomes applications for short-term or sabbatical Visiting Researcher positions. Research stipends are available.

Post-doctoral fellowships:

Applicants with a completed PhD can apply for a post-doctoral fellowship.

The deadline to apply for these grants vary.  For details please visit: http://www.concordia.ca/azrieli

Call for Papers for an edited volume focusing on  the Canaanite Movement (the 'Young Hebrews')

Editors: Dr. Shai Feraro (Tel Hai College) and Ofri Krischer (George Washington University)

The 'Young Hebrews', also known as the Canaanites, were a group of young artists, poets and Palmach members who – during the 1940s and 1950s – wished to create a new Hebrew nation in what was then British Mandate Palestine, that will cut itself off from 2,000 years of Jewish Diaspora and be based instead on the shared cultural heritage of the Semitic peoples. This Hebrew vision began to sprout during the 1930s in the writings of historian and ideologue Adya Gur Horon (aka Adolphe Gourevitch, 1907-1972), but it was the poet Yonatan Ratosh (aka Uriel Shelach, 1908-1981) – who met Horon in Paris in 1938 – who developed it into a more concrete political concept, which he then tried to advance via groups such as the 'Council for the Coalition of Hebrew Youth' and the 'Young Hebrews Center'. While the Canaanite Movement suffered political failure and disintegrated following the early 1950s, its long-term effects on Israeli society – especially in art and literature – far outgrew its minute size, and its propagators and members included noted individuals such as Ahraon Amir (1923-2008),  Benjamin Tammuz (1919-1989), Amos Kenan (1927-2009), Boaz Evron (1927-2018), and Uzzi Ornan (b. 1923).

This edited volume seeks to examine Canaanism and its effect on Israeli society, as well as on thinkers in adjacent countries, in historical, ideological-political, and artistic contexts. Among the issues already set to be examined: contact between the 'Young Hebrews' and proponents of Phoenician nationality from among Lebanese Maronites; individuals such as Lehi leader and Israeli politician Nahtan Yellin-Mor (1913-1980) and their dialogue with Canaanite ideas; echoes of Canaanite thought in later organizations such as Uzzi Ornan's 'I am Israeli' Movement; References to the ancient Canaanites in the history of pre-Zionist Western thought; Canaanite influences on Israeli art;  and even the surveillance placed upon the group by various State and pre-State bodies.

We would be happy to receive additional proposals for chapters that focus on the study of the Canaanite Movement and/or a variety of closely corresponding subjects, such as (but not limited to): the effects of Canaanite ideology on Israeli society; contact between the 'Young Hebrews' and proponents of similar nationalistic ideas in the region, such as the Pharaonist movement in Egypt, and Assyrian nationalism in and around northern Iraq; gender and the Canaanite Movement; Palestinian Canaanism; Canaanism and Israeli literature, and more.

Potential contributors should send an abstract (up to 150 words), a tentative title and a short bio to Dr. Shai Feraro (shaiferaro@gmail.com) and/or Ofri Krischer (ofrikrisher@gmail.com) by 15 November 2020. Those invited to participate will be required to deliver the full chapters (ranging between 7,000-8,000 words incl. bibliography) until 31 August 2021.   

We are happy to answer any additional queries.

Dr. Shai Feraro (Tel Hai College)

Ofri Krischer (George Washington University)

CALL FOR REVIEWS: JEWISH FILM AND NEW MEDIA 

Jewish Film & New Media invites authors to submit reviews of multimedia outlets and content (such as films, video games, art, festivals, exhibitions, digital platforms, digital archives, etc.) related to Jewish themes in a broad sense.

Jewish Film & New Media is an international, peer-reviewed journal that engages in critical discussion of the representation of Jews, Jewishness, and Judaism in cinema, television, and new media, as well as the Jewish contribution to these media outlets, in a widely defined fashion. Bringing together scholars in a variety of disciplines, the journal provides a key resource for academic study and research, and aims to widen the parameters of Jewish film and new media studies. The journal encompasses historical and cultural dimensions of Jewish film and new media alongside its identities, languages, styles, forms, and audiences.

Jewish Film & New Media is unique in its interdisciplinary nature, exploring the rich and diverse cultural heritage across the globe. The journal is distinctive in bringing together a range of cinemas, televisions, films, programs, and other digital material in one volume and in its positioning of the discussions within a range of contexts—the cultural, historical, textual, and many others.

Submissions should be 1,000-1,500 words in length following Chicago Manual of Style, 16th edition.

For further submission and editorial information, please contact Dr. Aya Yadlin-Segal (multimedia reviews editor) at ayayad@hac.ac.il

For further information on the journal and back issues visit https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/jewishfilm/  

Save the Date, January 27: "Israeli Elections 2021: Decision at Last?"

The Northwestern Israel Innovation Project invites you to a series of webinars exploring the forthcoming Israeli election, beginning with a pre-election discussion titled: “Israeli Elections 2021: Decision at Last?” on Wednesday, January 27th, at 12 p.m. CST / 20:00 ISR time.

The Netanyahu-Gantz coalition lasted only eight months and Israel is now facing its fourth election in two years. Is there a chance that this time we will have a definite outcome? Can the anti-Netanyahu right-wing parties take down the right-wing prime minister? Will the center-left manage to overcome its deep divides? Can the Joint List remain joined? Will Arab voters change their traditional voting patterns? 

Join us as Elie Rekhess, head of the Israel Innovation Project, interviews Anshel Pfeffer, senior correspondent and columnist at Haaretz and Israel correspondent for The Economist, on the upcoming Knesset Elections.

Anshel Pfeffer has been a journalist covering Israeli and international affairs for the past 24 years, mainly for Haaretz. He has covered over the years a wide range of beats including politics, security, education, religion and international affairs. In addition, he has reported from thirty countries around the world. His latest book is Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu (Basic Books 2018).

Register here: https://northwestern.zoom.us/webinar/register/1516109874854/WN_3fKUkWUKR--ZvKLVbnj62g

LIVE WEBINAR

THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND ISRAEL: What Can We Expect?

THURSDAY, JANUARY 28 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Eastern Time

Fighting For Dignity: Migrant Lives at Israel’s Margins by Sarah S. Willen, Sunday, January 31st, 11 am-12:30 pm (6-7:30 IST

Register here: https://msu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEpfu-rrjkiH9x9EPeI2DzlILQ7xeccRmT4

Annual Docu.Text Documentary Film Festival Going Online

The National Library of Israel's annual Docu.Text Documentary Film Festival is going online this year with award-winning films and a range of special events and exhibits.

For more information: https://docutext.nli.org.il/english