NEWS FROM THE JEWISH STUDIES PROGRAM AND THE CENTER FOR ISRAEL STUDIES
■
FALL 2016
2015
CIS Launches Global Israel Embassy Series
CIS has launched a very popular series
which explores facets of Israel’s diplomatic, economic, and cultural relations with
countries around the world, and provides
students with a uniquely intimate look into
Israeli foreign affairs. During visits to various embassies in Washington, students and
Friends of the Center for Israel Studies have
the opportunity to pose questions to diplomats from Europe and Israel, and enjoy receptions featuring cultural foods from each
nation.
The series kicked-off during the 2015-16
academic year at the Embassy of Uruguay.
His Excellency Carlos Gianelli Derois, Uruguayan Ambassador to the United States,
hosted His Excellency Nestor Alejandro
Rosa Navarro, Uruguay’s Ambassador to Israel; Reuven Azar, Deputy Chief of Mission
Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer, SIS Professor Maina
Chawla Singh, Indian Ambassador Arun Singh and
Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies Michael Brenner at
Embassy of India
of the Israeli Embassy; Michael Brenner,
Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies; and Dan
Arbell, CIS Scholar-in-Residence and a former Israeli diplomat, in a lively conversation
about Israel’s relations with Uruguay and
Latin America. Students were able to chat
with the diplomats over delicious Uruguayan empanadas.
The next event at the Embassy of Ethiopia
drew over 200 students and examined not
only the bilateral relationship between the
countries, but also Beta Israel, the large
Ethiopian diaspora who were brought to Israel in several waves beginning in the late
1970s during Operation Moses and Operation Solomon.
His Excellency Arun K. Singh, Indian Ambassador to the United States, hosted the final
2015-16 “Global Israel Series” event at the
Indian Embassy. A discussion on the growing relationship between India and Israel
featured Ambassador Singh, His Excellency
Ron Dermer, Israeli Ambassador to the US,
AU Scholar-in-Residence Maina Chawla
Singh, and Professor Brenner. The discussion was followed by an Indian dinner hosted by the embassy.
Alem Bekele ’17, President of Ethiopian/Eritrean Student
Association; Pnina Agenyahu, Senior Shlicha at Jewish
Federation of Greater Washington and Jalen Thomas
Chichester ‘17
SIS Professor Maina Chawla Singh, center, with members
of the South Asian Student Association at Embassy of
India.
cont’d on page 3
Lisa Leff wins 2016 Sami Rohr Prize for The Archive Thief
AU Associate Professor of History Lisa
Moses Leff has been named the recipient of
the 2016 Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature for her latest book, The Archive Thief:
The Man Who Salvaged French Jewish History in the Wake of the Holocaust (Oxford
University Press). The award, bestowed
annually by the Jewish Book Council, “recognizes the unique role of contemporary
writers in the transmission and examination
of the Jewish experience” and seeks to “encourage and promote outstanding writing of
Jewish interest.”
The Archive Thief explores the life and work
of Zosa Szajkowski, a noted Polish-born historian of French Jewry who pillaged tens of
thousands of Jewish documents from European archives after WWII and moved them,
documents and artifacts related to the Holocaust and the French Jewish experience.
“I’d really love it if readers were able to understand the ambiguity at the heart of the
story,” Professor Leff told the Jewish Book
Council. “This is a story of someone who
did something that was deeply shameful
and wrong, something criminal. At the same
time, he was heroic and brave, and in the
long run, what he did was as valuable as it
was destructive.”
Lisa Leff and Carolyn Hessel of the Jewish Book Council
illicitly, to the United States. While many
would consider archive-looting objectionable, some appreciate Szajkowski’s efforts,
which led to the rescue of many significant
Following the success of The Archive Thief,
Professor Leff plans to use the $100,000
prize money to research her next book, a
history of the 1892 Panama Affair, a financial
and political scandal involving corruption in
the French company that started to build the
Panama Canal. n
Yediaut | Fall 2016 1
FOCUS ON: HISTORY, POLITICS & CULTURE
Daniel Gordis Explores Begin’s Legacy
This past March Daniel Gordis delivered
the Amos Perlmutter Memorial Lecture,
“From Hunted Revolutionary to PeaceMaking Statesman: Why Did Menachem
Begin Leave No Political Heirs?” Gordis,
Senior Vice President and the Koret Distinguished Fellow at Shalem College in
Jerusalem, contended that Israel’s current
leaders lack Menachem Begin’s hopeful
vision, despite frequently invoking the late
prime minister’s name. He suggested that
today’s leaders differ from Begin in three
significant ways: they lack a strong liberalarts education, they believe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be religious rather than
political, and they are disillusioned with
the prospect of peace. To overcome these
shortcomings, Gordis called upon the international community, especially American Jews, to remind Israelis that “the idea
of the Jewish people having a state is an
idea that the world has not abandoned.” If
Israel feels protected, and
believes that this is “not a
religious conflict but a political conflict…we will actually come to a point where
Israelis take the risks for
peace that Menachem Begin was willing to take.”
The lecture was co-sponsored by the School of
Public Affairs and the
Center for Israel Studies
in memory of Amos Perlmutter, who taught in the
School of Public Affairs for
thirty years. n
Daniel Gordis
Michael Oren and
Tamara Wittes
Discuss U.S.-Israel
Relations
Member of Knesset and
former Israeli Ambassador to the United States
Michael Oren elaborated on his book, Ally:
My Journey Across the
American-Israeli Divide,
in a wide-ranging disMichael Oren
cussion focused on the
U.S.-Israel relationship. Oren evoked President Kennedy’s call to peace through mutual cooperation with America’s allies, adding “that peace will, in turn, be predicated
on preserving those alliances and prudently
projecting American power. That is JFK’s
legacy and it is the lesson […] of the Middle
East today, for all of us, whether here in the
United States or the State of Israel.” Tamara
Wittes, Director of the Center for Middle East
Policy at the Brookings Institution, probed
Oren on foreign policy developments since
he left Washington and moderated questions from the student-filled audience. The
event was jointly-sponsored by the Center
for Israel Studies, the Jewish Studies Program, and the Kennedy Political Union. n
Reinventing Israel Conference
In October 2015 the Center for Israel Studies
and the Jewish Studies Program co-hosted
“Reinventing Israel: Transformations of Israeli Society in the 21st Century,” a conference
which brought fifteen international scholars to
examine recent aspects of the transformation
of Israeli society in the 21st century.
Topics included changes in Holocaust memory, the emergence of the Israeli high-tech
industry, rising economic inequality between
rich and poor, growing influence of the Haredi
population, and Israel-diaspora relations.
The conference began with remarks from
David Ellenson, director of the Schusterman
Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis University, whose keynote lecture, “From BG to Bibi:
The End of an Era in Israel-Diaspora Relations?,” examined the reasons behind an apparent disconnect between American Jews
and the Jewish State. Specifically, Ellenson
pointed to West Bank settlements and the
lack of religious recognition of non-orthodox
streams of Judaism as two issues driving
American Jews’ views on Israel. He said
2 Yediaut | Fall 2016
settlement creation is a major moral impediment to the American Jewish desire for Israel
to be compatible with American-style democracy. He also contended that denominational
identification of Jews is exclusively a Western,
especially North American Jewish phenomenon, and that religious recognition of non-orthodox Jewish religious streams, so important
to the American Jewish diaspora, is actually
a foreign policy problem for Israel. He concluded with a contention that “some repairs
need to be made as we move into the 21st
century if, in the end, what we desire is that
the ties that have traditionally marked Jewry
throughout the world will ultimately come to
be achieved here.”
Fania Oz-Salzberger, Mohammad Wattad and
James Loeffler
The final session was a lively discussion imagining Israel in 2035 featuring Fania Oz-Salzberger (University of Haifa), James Loeffler
(University of Virginia), and Mohammed Wattad (Zefat Academic College School of Law). n
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the
Knapp Family Foundation, which made this
conference possible
David Ellenson
Young Israel on Stage
THE STRUGGLE FOR
ISRAEL 1917-1947
What is it like to try to be a “normal” twentysomething in the midst of war and uncertainty? Department of Performing Arts students sought answers to this question as
they performed excerpts of The Guide to
the Good Life, an edgy, contemporary Israeli play by Yael Ronen. Following the scenes,
the audience was treated to a showing of
Operation Grandma, an Israeli cult comedy
about the military and kibbutz life, directSinai Peter introduces Young Israel on Stage
Olivia Marcus and Grant Saunders in The Guide to the
Good Life
Bruce Hoffman and Benny Morris
ed by Dror Shaul. The evening ended
with a discussion with “Young Israel on
Stage” directors Sinai Peter (Visiting
Israeli artist and Scholar-in-Residence)
and Caleen Jennings (Department of
Performing Arts), Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies Michael Brenner, and Maya
Cohen (Embassy of Israel). The event
was co-sponsored by the Center for
Israel Studies and Department of Performing Arts. n
Georgetown University professor Bruce
Hoffman discussed his new book, Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 19171947, which was the recipient of the 2015
National Jewish Book Award. Ben-Gurion
University’s Benny Morris, Goldman Visiting
Professor at Georgetown University, provided a lively response to the account of the
violent birth of the Jewish homeland. The
lecture was co-sponsored by CIS and the
School of Public Affairs. n
Home and Wandering With Eshkol Nevo
CIS and the Department of Literature welcomed one of Israel’s most acclaimed
writers, Eshkol Nevo, who discussed the
themes of “home” and “wandering” in
his latest books, Neuland and Homesick.
Nevo addressed an existential dilemma of
Jewish history: the conflict between exile
and home. Remarks were followed by a
discussion and Q&A moderated by Professor Michael Brenner, and a book-signing reception.
This year the new Sondra and Howard
Bender Israeli Writer series will bring more
influential Israeli writers to the American
University campus. Through public lectures and literature master classes the
series will provide students with the ability
to experience Israeli identity through the
eyes of some of its most important cultural
voices. The series honors the legacy of
Howard Bender and Sondra D. Bender, a
longtime American University trustee. n
Michael Brenner and Eshkol Nevo
Global Israel Embassy Series Turns to Europe
cont’d from page 1
Ryan Fedasiuk
“The Global Israel series provided a unique perspective on how
Israel interacts with the rest of
the world. Being an American,
I almost exclusively hear about AmericanIsraeli relations or Israeli relations with the
Arab world through an American lens. But
these events improved my intercultural understanding and provided me with a new
way of looking at Israel,” said Ryan Fedasiuk
SIS ’19.
During the 2016-17 academic year, the highly-popular Center for Israel Studies (CIS)
“Global Israel Series” pivots its attention to
the relationship between Israel and Europe
with a series of events at European embassies.
The “Global Israel Series” is supported by
Barbara Ann Bender in loving memory of
her parents, Howard Bender and Sondra D.
Bender. n
Yediaut | Fall 2016 3
FACULTY NEWS
Dan Arbell, Israel Studies Scholar in Residence, College of Arts and Sciences (CAS)
continues as a nonresident senior fellow in
the Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings, appears regularly in the U.S. and international media commenting on Israel affairs,
and has published articles on Israel-Turkey
relations and the two-state solution.
Boaz Atzili, School of International Studies
(SIS), is working on a book on deterrence in
Israeli security policy and strategic culture.
He participated in a manuscript development workshop at Princeton University’s
Bobst Center for Peace and Justice for upand-coming scholars in international affairs.
Calvin Goldscheider, Israel Studies Scholar
in Residence (CAS), published book chapters on immigration and ethnicity, and lectured on religiosity and ethnic diversity in
Israel at, among others, the Berkeley Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies, Association for Israel Studies conference in
Montreal, and the Schusterman Center for
Israel Studies at Brandeis University’s Summer Institute for Israel Studies.
Gershon Greenberg, Department of Philosophy and Religion (CAS), continues to
serve as Visiting Professor in the Department of Jewish Thought, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in the fields of Jewish
religious thought during the Holocaust, and
19th-century Jewish thought. He published
in Hebrew, Justice is like the great deep:
Orthodox Theological Responses to the Holocaust (Mossad Harav Kook)
Alan Kraut, Department of History (CAS),
delivered the keynote address at a conference on Immigrant Entrepreneurship at the
German Historical Institute in Washington.
He continues as President of the National
Coalition for History, and chairs the History
Advisory Committee of the Statue of Liberty/
Ellis Island Foundation.
Lisa Leff, Department of History (CAS) won
the 2016 Sami Rohr Prize for Literature (see
p. 1) and was elected co-president of the Society for French Historical Studies.
Alan Levine, Department of Government
(SPA), directs AU’s Political Theory Institute.
Robert I. Lerman, emeritus, Department of
Economics (CAS), continues to work with
the Brookdale Institute to evaluate projects
in Israel operated by the Joint Distribution
Committee.
Richard Linowes, Department of Management, Kogod School of Business (KSB),
taught two courses this summer on organizational leadership and greentech entrepreneurship at Tel Aviv University’s Coller
Institute of Venture.
Saul Newman, Department of Government
(SPA), has been appointed Interim Associate
Dean for Undergraduate Education of the
School of Public Affairs.
Maina Chawla Singh, Scholar in Residence
(SIS), presented “Israeli Youth in India” as
part of a colloquium on the Jews of India at
California State University, Long Beach.
Myra Sklarew, emerita, Department of Literature (CAS), published several poems,
including “Moses” in Jewish Journal and
“Violation” in the newly-released Veils, Halos & Shackles: International Poetry on the
Oppression and Empowerment of Women
(Kasva Press).
Jeffrey K. Sosland, School of Professional
and Extended Studies (SPExS), presented
“Israel and Jordan’s Complex Water Interdependence” at a symposium on water in the
Middle East at Northwestern University.
Lauren B. Strauss, Scholar in Residence,
Department of History (CAS), presented the
paper “‘Stop crying! You need healthy eyes
to enter America!’ at a conference in Israel
on the 100th yahrzeit of Sholem Aleichem
and at the American Jewish Historical Society’s Biennial Scholars Conference in New
York.
Guy Ziv (SIS) presented the paper “Rhetoric
vs. Policy: Rabin and Netanyahu on a Palestinian State” at the Association for Israel
Studies (AIS) conference in Jerusalem, and
discussed his book, Why Hawks Become
Doves (SUNY Press), at JGU in Mainz, Germany, and at LMU in Munich, Germany. n
welcome visiting
professor
Jewish Studies and Israel Studies
Directors
Yoav Gelber is the 201617 Israel Institute Visiting
Professor at American
University. A historian
from IDC Herzliya and
the University of Haifa
(Professor Emeritus), he
specializes in Jewish
Yoav Gelber
history and the history of
the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). A noted scholar, Gelber headed the
University of Haifa’s Herzl Institute for Research and the Study of Zionism (1987-2010)
and its Strochlitz Institute for Holocaust
Studies (1985–96), as well as IDC Herzliya’s Nevzlin Center for Jewish Peoplehood
(2010-16). While at AU, he will teach courses
on Israeli history, including “Israel Between
1967-1973” and “Israeli Society Through Immigration.” n
Pamela S. Nadell, director of the Jewish Studies Program and Patrick Clendenen Chair in
Women’s and Gender
History, is serving a twoyear term (2015-2017) as
President of the AssociaPamela S. Nadell
tion for Jewish Studies,
the largest learned society and international professional organization advancing the scholarly research and
teaching of Jewish studies. She completed
her five-year term as chair of the Department of History, was assistant editor of the
recently published Melton’s Encyclopedia
of American Religions (9th ed.), and gave
public talks at, among others, the Embassy
of Israel (DC), B’nai B’rith International and
Ludwig Maximilians University (Munich). n
4 Yediaut | Fall 2016
Michael Brenner, director of the Center for Israel Studies and Seymour
and Lillian Abensohn
Chair in Israel Studies,
continues as international president of the
Leo Baeck Institute (New
Michael Brenner
York/Berlin) and serves
on the boards of the Association for Israel Studies, Israel Institute,
and Franz Rosenzweig Center of Hebrew
University. In 2016 he published Israel:
Between Dream and Reality in German.
An English version is under contract with
Princeton University Press. He gave public
talks at, among others, The Jewish Museum
of Poland in Warsaw, and the University of
Texas at Austin. n
OUR GRADS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
How are recent AU Jewish Studies graduates and Israel Studies minors applying
their studies “in the real world?”
Nicole Samuel (BA/
CAS: History ’00;
Jewish Studies minor)
is currently working
as a Senior Research
Associate at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at
Brandeis University.
Her research focuses
on Jewish identity,
Nicole Samuel
formal and experiential Jewish education,
and Jewish institutions. She is the co-author of several studies on Jewish education. Having worked in academia for over
a decade, Nicole credits AU for instilling in
her a passion for Jewish studies. “I became
very interested in Jewish Studies at AU and
decided to pursue graduate studies and a
career in the field.” She is especially thankful
for AU Professor Pamela Nadell, whom she
calls “a phenomenal teacher and an incredible mentor to me to this day.”
Alexis Bock Robbins
Alexis Bock Robbins
(BA/CAS:
Jewish
Studies ’01) applies
her Jewish Studies
major every day as
the Assistant Director for Community
& Global Impact at
The Jewish Federation of Greater Wash-
ington where she works with local agencies to engage Washingtonians with Israel
and strengthen their relationship to other
Jews in Washington and around the world.
Alexis’s own relationship with Israel was fostered at AU, where she was one of the first
students to go on the AU Abroad program
to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, an
experience which she says “instilled a love
of Israel in me and furthered my interest in
American Jewish identity.”
Aiden Pink (BA/SIS:
International Studies
’13; Israel Studies minor) is the Assistant
Editor of The Tower
Magazine, an online
publication covering
Israel and the Middle
East. He has written
extensively about Israel advocacy on colAiden Pink
lege campuses, the
Jewish-American experience, and Israeli culture. Aiden stresses
the importance of providing “accurate and
insightful” coverage of the region, and credits the Israel Studies program for allowing
him to analyze critically the intricacies of
the American-Israeli bond. He found that
Professor Guy Ziv’s “U.S.-Israel Relations”
course created an “intellectually stimulating
environment where assumptions could be
respectfully challenged.”
Hannah Ehlers at work at DC scores
Corps fellow in Washington, DC, where she
works full-time at DC SCORES, a non-profit
organization that provides students in DC
Public Schools, 85 percent of whom live below the poverty line, with free after-school
programs and summer camps. “Having lived
in DC for the last four years as a student at
American University, I feel deeply connected to the city and its people,” says Hannah,
further crediting her Jewish Studies education for instilling her commitment to social
justice . n
Hannah Ehlers (BA/CAS: Jewish Studies ‘16)
embraces tikkun olam. Since graduation,
she has been an AVODAH – Jewish Service
MATTHEW SALIMAN RECEIVES ISRAEL WRITING AWARD
Congratulations to Matthew Saliman, SPA
‘16, who received CIS’s Sklarew Israel Writing Prize for the best paper or poem related
to Israel. Saliman’s paper, “The Gaza Crisis:
An Analysis of Bush’s ‘Democracy Everywhere’ Doctrine,” discussed the intentions
and results of President George W. Bush’s
interventions in the Middle East, particularly in the Gaza Strip. According to Saliman,
President Bush’s belief that democratization
would bring peace led his administration to
promote elections in the volatile, politically
unstable Gaza Strip, ultimately resulting in
Hamas, a recognized terrorist group, winning in 2006. Saliman concludes that “…
there can only be a transition to democratic
governments when civil institutions are developed, the civilians are ready for the new
government form, and radical elements are
eliminated.”
During his four years at AU Saliman served
as co-founder and Vice President of Zeta
Beta Tau Fraternity, a Hasbara Fellow, and
President of AmeriPac, an AIPAC-trained Israel advocacy group. He also secured prestigious internships at the Embassy of Israel,
the House Committee on Foreign Affairs,
and the Republican Jewish Coalition. He will
begin Georgetown University law school in
September 2017.
The annual writing award was created in
2008 by literature Professor Emerita Myra
Sklarew, in honor of Benjamin and Eva Wolpe Reinkel and in memory of Harry Rinkel
and Janice Eanet n
CIS managing director Laura Cutler, Matthew Saliman
and SIS Professor Boaz Atzili
Yediaut | Fall 2016 5
ADDITIONAL LECTURES AND PROGRAMS
Sponsored by the Center for Israel Studies and Jewish Studies Program
Anywhere Else screening and discussion
with Stefan Buchwald (Embassy of Germany), Ilan Sztulman (Embassy of Israel), and
Michael Brenner, Seymour and Lillian Abensohn Chair in Israel Studies (AU).
Cambridge History of Jewish American Literature, Hana Wirth-Nesher, Tel Aviv University.
“From Eden to Exile: Unraveling Mysteries
of the Bible”, Eric Cline, George Washington University.
Holocaust Studies Forum Lecture by Dr.
Havi Dreifuss. Co-Sponsored by U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum
“Interfaith Dialogue: Confronting Religious
Violence” discussion with Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of the United
Kingdom and Ireland, Ambassador Akbar
Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies at AU and Michael Brenner. Discussant:
Reverend Joseph Eldridge. Co-sponsored.
SIS and Washington Hebrew Congregation.
“Jewish Refugees from Arab Lands”, BenDror Yemini, Yediot Ahronot senior journalist.
“Jews in Postwar Hungary” Holocaust
Studies Forum Lecture by Dr. Ildiko Barna.
Co-Sponsored by JSP and U.S. Holocaust
Memorial Museum.
“Mapping Affections: Shiduchim, Networks, and Love Stories in Modern Judaism”, Mirjam Zadoff, Indiana University –
Bloomington.
“Mexican Film Director Guita Schyfter: A
Panel Discussion.” Co-sponsored with Center for Latin American and Latino Studies.
“Of Minarets and Menorahs: Oriental Synagogues in 19th Century Germany”, John
Efron, UC Berkeley.
“Texts and Traditions V: Jesus: Jewish
Rabbi, Son of God, Spirit of Allah” panel
discussion with Rabbi Leila Berner, AU Professor Martyn Oliver, and Rev. Janet Craswell. Co-sponsored by the Religious Studies
Program and the Office of the United Methodist Chaplain.
“One Nation Under Gods: A New American
History” discussion with author Peter Manseau.
“The Archive Thief”, Lisa Leff, American
University. Co-sponsored by Department of
History.
Promised Land performance and discussion with Mosaic Theater artistic director Ari
Roth, the actors, Israeli director and Visiting Israeli Artist Sinai Peter, and AU student
Dau Doldol ‘18, a refugee from Sudan. Cosponsored by CIS and the Department of
Performing Arts.
“The Secular-Religious Divide in Israel”,
Guy Ben-Porat, Ben-Gurion University.
Start Up Nation Technology Fair, Israeli
technology and innovation trade show and
internship opportunity fair. Panel discussion
with Israeli Start-up CEOs chaired by KSB
Professor Erran Carmel. Co-sponsored by
AU Hillel, CIS and Kogod School of Business
(KSB). Co-sponsored by AU Hillel, CIS and
Kogod School of Business (KSB).
Susanne Kessler: Jerusalem Gallery Talk.
Co-sponsored by AU Museum and Center
for Israel Studies.
“The Terezín Project: Reflections on the
Holocaust Through Performance and Discussion” panel discussion with AU faculty
and performances by the AU Choral Arts
Chamber Singers and AU Chamber Singers.
The Wonders Israeli film screening.
“Water, Cooperation, and Peace in the Middle East” with students from the summer
2015 SIS graduate practicum, SIS Professors Dr. Eric Abitbol and Dr. Ken Conca, and
Dr. Clive Lipchin, Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. Co-sponsored by School of
International Service (SIS) and CIS. n
“Texts and Sects: Perspectives on the
Dead Sea Scrolls”, Maxine Grossman, University of Maryland.
Students from the Water, Cooperation and Peace
practicum with their advisers, Ken Conca (left) and Eric
Abitbol (right)
Center for Israel Studies
American University’s Center for Israel Studies is one of the nation’s premier centers for educating about today’s Israel—its
achievements and its challenges. Our approach is multidisciplinary, going beyond the Arab-Israeli conflict to study modern
Israel’s history, vibrant society, culture, multiethnic democracy, and complex geopolitical issues. The center’s goal is to enhance scholarship and knowledge in the university and the wider community about a multifaceted Israel. Using AU’s expertise
in global education, and its central location in Washington, D.C., CIS seeks to connect Israel to the next generation of young
leaders and to serve as a national and international hub for nurturing and catalyzing Israel studies.
Jewish Studies Program
American University’s commitment to the Jewish Studies Program dates back to the early 1970s. Since then, AU’s Jewish
Studies Program has included a major and a minor and offered courses across the curriculum, including in our General Education Program, for all AU students. For more than forty years, AU’s Jewish Studies Program has advanced research and teaching and fostered a greater understanding of Jewish Studies scholarship on our campus and among our wider community. n
6 Yediaut | Fall 2016
IN APPRECIATION
MAY 1, 2015-APRIL 30, 2016
This represents a list of all gifts of $250 and up made to the Center for Israel Studies and the Jewish Studies Program in the College of
Arts and Sciences between May 1, 2015 and April 30, 2016. Contributions to the Center for Israel Studies includes contributions to the
Seymour and Lillian Abensohn Endowment Fund, the Myra Sklarew Israel Writing Prize and the Lorry Segal Israel Travel Fund as well as to
CIS operations.
Friends of the Center for Israel Studies
and Donors to Jewish Studies Program
Lillian Klein Abensohn AU ♦v
Gary M. Abramson ‘68 P ♦ and Pennie M.
Abramson P ♦ v
Judith M. Alembik ’60 v
Anonymous
Marilyn Wolfson Armel ’63 v
Lori A. Baer
Jacob Baime
Joy H. Baxt and Leonard J. Baxt v
Gabriela Bebchick and Leonard
Bebchick v
Miriam Benbassat and Eliezer H.
Benbassat v
Barbara Ann Bender ♦
Dava A. Berkman v
Carol Berman ♦ and Gary C. Berman ♦ v
Michele G. Berman and Allan Berman v
James David Blum
Stuart Brown ♦v
Daris M. Clifton and Martin K. Alloy v
Ryna G. Cohen ♦
Laura K. Cutler AU v
Nancy E. Duber ’82 ♦ and Marc N. Duber
’81 ♦ v
Scott A. Edelman
Lois H. England P
Sharri B. Freedman JD’93 and Jeffrey A.
Freedman JD ‘93 v
Debra Friedmann and Peter Friedmann v
Gail Gorlitzz and Cris Smith v
Carol V. Graham P v
Jacqueline D. Green P and John Alan
Grossman P v
Deborah E. Greenspan and Jerald B.
Greenspan v
Jean Greenspan v
Kenneth R. Heyman ’72 and Miriam
Heyman v
Sophie R. Hoffman ‘69 and Howard
Hoffman ‘70 v
Jill A. Klein MBA ’91 AU and Frederick L.
Klein v
Charles Knapp
Robert P. Kogod ’62 H ’00 ♦ and Arlene R.
Kogod ♦ v
Sara Lillian Kremer v
Amy E. Krupsky and Kenneth Krupsky v
Joel L. Leibowitz ’62 v
Ellen Lessans and Stuart H. Lessans v
Philip G. Levy
Judith B. Linowes and Harry M. Linowes v
Norman H. Lipoff P v
Cynthia F. Lubin P and David B. Lorsch P v
Philip N. Margolius AU P v
Alan L. Meltzer ‘73 P ♦ and Amy
Meltzer P ♦ v
Annette G. Moshman v
Lynne D. Myers and Donald J. Myers v
Andrew S. Neft ’86 and Nonna V.K. Neft v
Melanie F. Nussdorf P and Lawrence C.
Nussdorf P v
Glenna D. Osnos and David M. Osnos v
Toni H. Paul ’71 and Ronald A. Paul v
Sandra Pollen and Richard H. Pollen v
Susan Porter and Stephen W. Porter v
Frieda Raben and Milton Raben v
Galia D. Reiss P and Ori M. Reiss P
Diane L. Schilit MS ’83 and Howard M.
Schilit AU
Stephen M. Shapiro ’69 and Susana F.
Shapiro v
Margaret A. Silver ‘94 and Sidney J.
Silver v
Myra W. Sklarew AU v
Jean P. Soman v
Peter T. Starr AU and Alice C. Hill v
Monica Sussman and Richard Sussman
Ira Wagner
Diane A. Wattenberg v
Esther Wilner and Elliot Wilner
Foundations and Corporations
Baxt Family Foundation, Inc.
Berman Family Foundation
Jack Chester Foundation
The Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen
Foundation
Ryna and Melvin Cohen Family Foundation
Duber Family Foundation
Lois and Richard England Foundation
Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund
Samuel and Grace Gorlitz Foundation
Israel on Campus Coalition
Knapp Family Foundation Inc.
McGraw Hill Financial
Milbank Tweed and Hadley
Jack and Annette Moshman Charitable
Foundation
Robert Russell Memorial Foundation
Charles Schwab Corporation
Curt C. and Else Silberman Foundation
Silver Family Foundation
United Jewish Endowment Fund
Vanguard Charitable Endowment Program
Thanks to Our generous
donors, these students
received Jewish Studies and
Israel Studies Scholarships:
Judaic Arts and Studies Scholarship
Claire Bailey
Elysia Martin
Alexandra Schultz
Estelle Seldowitz Endowed Scholarship
Fund
Raizl Campbell
MacKenzie Freudenrich
Lesley Agatha Igra Grossman
Elysia Martin
Aaron Torop
Kelly Whitehead
Everett and Marian Gordon Scholarship
Hannah Ehlers
Elysia Martin
Lorry Segal Israel Travel Award
Jared Rosenfeld
Ben Hersch
Olivia Marcus
KEY
v The 1893 Society recognizes the commitment of loyal donors with two or more consecutive years of giving and the significant
role they play in sustaining university life.
♦ Lifetime members of the President’s Circle (Individuals who have made cumulative contributions totaling $100,000)
AUCurrent or former faculty or staff • P AU parent • H Honorary Degree Recipient
Yediaut | Fall 2016 7
NON PROFIT ORG
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
PERMIT No. 966
WASHINGTON, DC
American University
4400 Massachusetts Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20016-8012
AU Launches Campaign to Endow the Center for Israel
Studies
In 2018, the Center for Israel Studies will be
celebrating its 20th anniversary. This is an
exciting and notable milestone that allows
the Center’s friends and supporters to reflect on what CIS has accomplished during
its many years of scholarship at American
University. But, more importantly, this commemoration allows us to envision what CIS
is capable of achieving in the future.
The Office of Development and Alumni Relations is thrilled to announce a new campaign to endow the Center for Israel Studies
by 2018; the 20th anniversary of its inauguration by the late Shimon Peres in 1998. By
working to endow the Center, the university
hopes to celebrate and recognize the excellent community engagement, research and
scholarship opportunities it provides the AU
campus.
This endowment will secure CIS’ place as a
preeminent academic center for Israel Studies within Washington and beyond. It will
also position AU to become the first university in the nation to offer an Israel Studies
major. As a precondition of the creation of
a major, two additional permanent faculty
positions in Israel Studies must be funded
and established. To ensure that the Center
continues its engagement with the greater
DC community, the campaign to endow CIS
aims to establish the Israel Studies Leadership Seminar, which will bring international
thought leaders to American University to
grow CIS’ local networks among the DC
community. Furthermore, scholarships that
support study abroad would aid in the Center’s mission to foster valuable cultural exchanges for American University students
and Israeli students alike. Finally, a fund to
establish the Center for Israel Studies’ annual conference and create a permanent
lecture series on Israel related topics would
be critical to foster continued academic and
community engagement.
By endowing and naming the Center for Israel Studies, we are ensuring its future. We
look forward to partnering with longtime
supporters, donors and friends to fulfill this
monumental mission.
For more information about the Center
for Israel Studies endowment campaign,
please contact Elizabeth Harless, Assistant
Dean of Development at harless@american.
edu or at 202-885-5907. n
WE COUNT ON DONOR SUPPORT TO ENSURE THE
VIBRANCY OF OUR PROGRAMS
To contribute to our programs please contact:
CENTER FOR ISRAEL STUDIES
202-885-3780 | [email protected] | www.american.edu/cas/israelstudies
SHIMON PERES, former president and prime minister of
Israel, inaugurated the Center for Israel Studies in May
1998 during a commencement address.
JEWISH STUDIES PROGRAM
202-885-2425 | [email protected] | www.american.edu/cas/js
An equal opportunity, affirmatve action university, UP12-181