THE TIKVAH FUND
165 E. 56th Street
New York, New York 10022
The Western Tradition of Liberty
November 16, 2014 – November 20, 2014
Participant Biographies
Yuval Abrams
United States of America
Yuval Abrams is a Ph.D. candidate in Philosophy at the City University of New
York Graduate Center. He holds a joint LL.B/B.A. (magna cum laude) in Law and
Philosophy from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he served on the board of
the Mishpatim Law Review, and an LL.M. from New York University School of
Law. His teaching experience includes Jurisprudence, Bioethics, Business Ethics,
Introductory Philosophy, and a Great Books course at Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, New York University, and CUNY-Brooklyn College. Previously he worked in private
legal practice, both in Jerusalem and New York, has been a Junior Fellow at the Shalom Hartman
Institute, and served as a Judicial Clerk to Justice Ayala Procaccia on the Supreme Court of Israel.
Hezi Amiur
Israel
Dr. Amiur holds a Ph.D. in Jewish History from the Hebrew University of
Jerusalem, where he also earned a B.A. cum laude in General History and an M.A. in
Jewish History. His areas of academic expertise include Zionist thought, and early
Zionist settlement. His book on the ideology of modern Jewish settlements will be
published in the coming year by the Zalman Shazar Center. In his position as Israel
Collection Curator, Hezi manages the collection development, digital collaborations,
cultural series and partnerships, as well as relationships with the research community.
Isaac Aschkenazi
Israel
Isaac Aschkenazi is a physics and computer science student at the Technion
Technological Institute in Haifa. Previously, he taught Talmud and mathematics in
NY high schools and served as editor for several publications on related topics
while receiving his rabbinical ordination there. He has studied Talmudic law at the Hebron
Rabbinical College in Jerusalem.
Yuval Kahan
Israel
Yuval Kahan is the founder of the Israeli Academy for Leadership Tel Aviv in
Memory of Ben Zion Shay Hadad. For the past eight years he has managed and
directed the academy. He is active throughout, both in the educational, practical and
financial capacity. Kahan has taught and educated Israeli teens at various formal and
informal institutes, most notably the Shalom Hartman institute in Jerusalem. Kahan
holds an M.A. in Jewish Thought (“Machshevet Yisrael”) from the Hebrew
University in Jerusalem (graduated summa cum laude). Kahan serves as a Lieutenant-Colonel in the
Army reserves.
Hillel Gershuni
Israel
Hillel Gershuni is a blogger, a columnist for NRG and Midah websites, and writer
for Makor Rishon newspaper. He holds a B.A. in Talmud and Hebrew language
from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (2013) and is now working on his thesis
about the anonymous parts of the Babylonian Talmud as part of his M.A. studies
in the Talmud Department of the Hebrew University. He works also works for
the Genazim Project of Talmudic manuscripts. His paper about Maimonides’
approach towards textual variations was published in “Masorah leYosef” annual in 2014.
Sarah Greek
United States of America
Sarah Greek produces Eagle Forum Live, a national radio show on politics and
current affairs, in St. Louis Missouri. Her experience includes more than two
dozen political campaigns, work as a lobbyist and staffer in the Missouri and
Kansas State Capitols, and service with the National Day of Prayer. Ms. Greek’s
writing has appeared at Humane Pursuits, The College Fix, and the Love & Fidelity
Network. Previously, Ms. Greek worked with college students as a life &
academic coach. She is also involved in non-profit work and counsels at a crisis pregnancy center.
Yair Hakak
Israel
Yair Hakak serves as the head of the Department of Policy Planning and
Strategy at the Israel Ministry of Communications, Israel’s telecommunication
and postal regulatory agency. He previously served in various roles in the
Economics Department of the Ministry, and has been involved in many of the notable structural
reforms in the sector in recent years. Mr. Hakak also serves as vice-chairman of the OECD’s
working group on telecommunications policy. In addition to his policy work, Mr. Hakak is a
doctoral candidate at the School of Public Policy of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, where his
research focuses on the development of regulatory policy during the British Mandate for Palestine,
and its enduring legacy on policymaking in Israel.
Mr. Hakak holds a B.A. in Economics from Columbia University in New York, an MBA in Finance
and Banking from the Hebrew University, and an M.A. in Sociology (summa cum laude) from Tel Aviv
University, where his thesis concerned the Palestine Mandatory Department of Posts, Telegraph and
Telephones in 1937–1938.
Ariel Kallner
Israel
Ariel Kallner is the founder and the chairman of the Hazon Leumi (National
Vision) organization. Hazon Leumi’s goal is to raise the new generation of
strong young leaders, with developed Jewish identities and intellectual ability
to develop deep vision to affect the agenda of Jewish people and the state of
Israel. Mr. Kallner has been an activist since his youth in several national
organizations. Mr. Kallner works as Project Leader at Phillips Medical
Systems in the area of Information technology. He graduated with MBA
degree from Haifa University and B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Technion Israel Institute of
Technology in Haifa, Israel. Mr. Kallner is 34 years old, married and father of two daughters and
one son.
Sefi Keller
Israel
Sefi Keller has LL.B. & B.A (Political Science) from the Hebrew University. He
is currently studying for an M.A. in political science at the Hebrew University.
He is Co-founder of PolitiWatch—Israel’s first fact-checking initiative. Mr.
Keller occasionally publishes Op-eds at Mida and the Washington Post. He is a
Project leader at the Public Knowledge Workshop. Mr. Keller is a dog owner
and a blues enthusiast.
Joshua London
United States of America
Joshua E. London is Co-Director of Government Relations at the Zionist
Organization of America. Previously, he served as Deputy Director at the
Orthodox Union’s Institute for Public Affairs, as Director of Policy for the
Jewish Policy Center, and as a Senior Editor with the American Spectator
magazine. He holds a B.A. in political science from the University of
California at Davis (1997), and an M.A. in social science from the University
of Chicago (1998). Mr. London is the author of Victory in Tripoli: How America’s
War with the Barbary Pirates Established the US Navy and Shaped a Nation (John Wiley & Sons, 2005), a
history of America’s war against Muslim pirates in North Africa under Thomas Jefferson. He also
writes a weekly wine and spirits column for the Washington Jewish Week which is syndicated to over a
dozen Jewish newspapers in the US. Mr. London has written on a variety of topics for such media as
The Washington Times, the Washington Examiner, Time magazine, The American Spectator magazine, the
Middle East Quarterly, Moment Magazine, The Washington Jewish Week, The NY Jewish Week, The Jewish
Press (NY), the LA Jewish Journal, Ami magazine, Human Events, Military.com, National Review
Online, InFocus, and The Cutting Edge News.
Refael Minnes
Israel
Refael Minnes is a lecturer at Ariel University and Bar-Ilan University, Israel.
He holds a B.Sc. in Biophysics (2003; magna cum laude) and a Ph.D. in Physics
(2008) from Bar-Ilan University. Dr. Minnes did a postdoctoral research at the
School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania (2008-2012) where he received
the Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) postdoctoral fellowship. After
returning to Israel, Dr. Minnes served as the head of the microscopy unit and
as a lecturer at Bar-Ilan University and since 2014 he is a lecturer at the
department of Physics, Ariel University. His current research focuses on applying physical methods
to advance the biological/medical research. In his main project he is trying to develop a new method
for the early detection of melanoma using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy.
Uri Perednik
Israel
Uri Perednik is a journalist for the internet magazine Mida and the founder
and head of the movement the struggle for Aliya of Ethiopian Jewry. He is an
undergraduate student of International Relations and Media at the Hebrew
University and served in the IDF intelligence Unit 8200 as a team leader. Mr.
Perednik has volunteered and worked for many years with the Ethiopian
community in Ethiopia and in Israel and has published articles about his
activity in Ynet, Makor Rishon and The Jerusalem Post and has also appeared on several national radio
and television programs. He has published over 20 articles in Mida about terrorism and Zionism and
speaks English and Hebrew (mother tongues) as well as Arabic, Amharic and Spanish.
Yehoshua Pfeffer
Israel
Rabbi Yehoshua Pfeffer was born and grew up in London, England. At
age 17 he embarked on a Yeshiva career spanning close to 20 years,
during which he earned rabbinical approbation, published a book on the
workings of legal documents in Jewish law (awarded Bnei Braq prize for
Torah literature), and served as rabbinical judge on a civil law Beis Din.
He also served as halachic assistant to the Israel Chief Rabbi, and as chief
editor for the Ner LeElef resource program. He holds a degree in law from the Hebrew University
(hons.) and served as clerk at the Israel Supreme Court. He has published articles in numerous
magazines and journals on the subject of Jewish Law and Thought, and was for many years chief
halachic editor of a renowned Jewish website. He is currently a Tikvah Fellow, and is working to
initiate and run Tikvah programs for the Haredi community in Israel.
Jacob Reses
United States of America
Jacob Reses is Research Assistant to the CEO of Heritage Action for America, a
policy advocacy organization affiliated with the Heritage Foundation. He holds a
B.A. in Public Policy from Princeton University (2013; awarded with high
honors); where he wrote a senior thesis on the relationship between trust fund
accounting rules and growth in federal domestic spending. In college, he served
as a Senior Columnist at The Daily Princetonian, as a Managing Editor of The
Princeton Tory, and as President of the Princeton College Republicans. Prior to
joining Heritage Action in 2014, Mr. Reses worked as a researcher at Baron
Public Affairs, a political risk analysis firm, and interned for Charles
Krauthammer of The Washington Post, for the Senate Budget Committee, and for
the Honorable Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Yechezkel Rosenblum
Israel
Yechezkel Rosenblum is a lawyer for renewable energy and real estate companies
and Deputy Chairman of the Israel Bar Association’s Committee of Energy and
Infrastructure. He is a Rabbi and social entrepreneur, a director of the Government
Company of Community Centers (IACC), and a director of the National Insurance
Institute. He was the founder of and remains member of board for the KEMACH
fund for Ultra-Orthodox advancement in education and employment. Mr.
Rosenblum holds a B.A. in Talmud from Bar-Ilan University (2003), LL.B. in Law
from Ono College (2004), and studying LL.M. in Law at the Hebrew University. He is a Member of
the National Secretariat, Agudat Israel Workers Union (PAI). Mr. Rosenblum is the founder and
chairman of “TOV” (Working Haredies movement) (Jerusalem, Beitar Illit, Beit Shemesh, Elad and
Emmanuel). He co-wrote a position paper about Orthodox citizenship and its integration in the
country.
Yedidya (Julian) Sinclair
Israel
Yedidya (Julian) Sinclair serves as Vice President for Research at Energiya Global, a
prominent Israeli solar energy company. He is also Senior Rabbinical Scholar at
Hazon, the world’s largest Jewish environmental organization. Trained as an
economist as well as a rabbi, he began his economics career advising the UK
Government. Previously he served as campus rabbi at Cambridge University,
where he also taught Jewish Thought in the Divinity School. His translation of Rav Kook’s
Introduction to Shabbat Ha’aretz was just published, and his translation of Micah Goodman’s Secrets of
the Guide to the Perplexed is due to be published by JPS in May 2015. Rabbi Sinclair holds a B.A. (First
Class Honors) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University, an MPA from the
Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, as well as Orthodox semicha. He lives in Jerusalem
with his wife and their five children.
Orit Sklar
United States of America
Orit Sklar is the Development Director at the Faith & Freedom Coalition,
America’s largest and most influential organization dedicated to educating
and mobilizing people of faith for effective civic action. A political blogger
and commentator, Ms. Sklar has contributed to leading publications and
provided election and political analysis for CNN’s Newsroom and a wide
range of radio programs. She appears as a guest panelist on Fox 5 Atlanta’s
weekly political television show, The Georgia Gang, and is a frequent guest
speaker at conservative conferences. Ms. Sklar has been particularly
involved in issues related to culture, millennials and Israel. She is known
nationwide for her advancement of First Amendment rights and academic freedom on American
university campuses, and is the co-recipient of the 2009 Ronald Reagan Award from the American
Conservative Union. Ms. Sklar serves on the alumni board of Young America’s Foundation and cochairs the young professional division of the Republican Jewish Coalition of Atlanta. Ms. Sklar
graduated from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a degree in civil engineering. A native of
Mount Vernon, New York, Orit resides in Atlanta, Georgia and attends Congregation Ariel.
Jeff Stier
United States of America
Jeff Stier is a Senior Fellow at the National Center for Public Policy
Research in Washington, D.C., and heads its Risk Analysis Division. Mr.
Stier is a frequent guest on CNBC, and has addressed health policy on CNN
as well as other network newscasts. He does over 100 radio shows a year,
including on NPR and other nationally syndicated radio shows. His
National Center op-eds have been published in top outlets including The Los
Angeles Times, The New York Post, Newsday, Forbes, The Washington Examiner,
and National Review Online. Mr. Stier has testified at FDA scientific meetings,
met with members of Congress and their staff about science policy, and has
submitted testimony to state government legislative hearings. Mr. Stier worked both in the office of
the Mayor and in the Corporation Counsel’s office in the Giuliani administration in New York City.
His responsibilities included planning environmental agency programs, legal analysis of proposed
legislation, and health policy. Mr. Stier is Chairman of the Board of the Jewish International
Connection, NY. While earning his law degree at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Mr. Stier
served two terms as Editor-In-Chief of the Cardozo Law Forum.