Dr. sarina chen 
  Achva Academic College
Zaddik Ha'Dor- The Temple Mount and Israeli Religious-Nationalist Society

 January 13th  2015; 12:00-14:00
Eshkol tower, 14th floor, room 1419

The lecture will examine the dramatic shifts in the attitudes towards Temple Mount in the Orthodox--National Jewish society in Israel during the last 46 years. During the immediate aftermath of the Six Day War of 1967, most Orthodox-Nationalists followed the commands of the Israeli chief Rabbinate that declared that according to the Torah it is forbidden for any person to enter the area of the Temple Mount due to its sacredness. Four and a half decades later the Temple Mount turned into a central site of meaning and contestation for the same constituency. A new generation of Rabbis turned the pilgrimage to the place into a "Mitzvah"(a religious order) and new prayers book, published by the "Temple Institution", glorifying the temple worship, become increasingly popular.
The lecture will show what were the social and cultural dynamics in play, leading to far-reaching transformation.

Prof. Mark A. Raider
University of Cincinnati
“Stephen S. Wise and Golda Meir: Zionism, Israel and American Power in the Twentieth Century”

Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2013, 4pm-6pm
Auditorium 146, Younes and Soraya Nazarian Library

Chair and commentator: Dr. Zohar Segev, the Department of Jewish History

This paper considers the cases of two towering historical figures who straddle the pre- and post-state periods: Stephen S. Wise (1874-1949) and Golda Meir (1898-1978). Wise, America’s dominant Jewish and Zionist leader in the 1930s and 1940s, and Meir, Israel’s fourth prime minister, give us an excellent opportunity to focus on how two political leaders responded to twentieth-century crises that threatened Jewish survival, while highlighting the critical role of the United States and American power in shaping Zionist and Israeli history.

Mark A. Raider is Professor of Modern Jewish History in the Department of History at the University of Cincinnati and a Research Associate in the University’s Center for Studies in Jewish Education and Culture. He is also Visiting Professor of American Jewish History at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
His books include The Emergence of American Zionism (1998); Abba Hillel Silver and American Zionism, with J. Sarna and R. Zweig (1997); The Plough Woman: Records of the Pioneer Women of Palestine–A Critical Edition, with M. Raider-Roth (2002); American Jewish Women and the Zionist Enterprise, with S. Reinharz (2005); and Nahum Goldmann: Statesman Without a State (2009). He is currently completing an edited anthology titled Free Associations: Selected Essays of Hayim Greenberg–A Critical Edition as well as a full-scale biography of Rabbi Stephen S. Wise.

Professor Jonathan Phillips
University of London
Saladin: Life and Legend – From the Medieval Age to the 21st Century

April 6 2014; 16.00-18.00
Conference Room 2001 Floor 20 Eshkol Tower

The Sultan Saladin remains one of the most iconic figures of the medieval age. As the man who recovered Jerusalem from the crusaders in 1187 he became the hero of Sunni Islam. Intriguingly, in the course of his clash with Richard the Lionheart and the Third Crusade he became hugely admired in the Christian West, in large part because of his reputation for generosity and courtesy. Many centuries after his death, Saladin continues to be an immensely potent symbol of religious and military resistance to the West. His image also endures in aspects of contemporary culture such as ballet, television cartoons and pop songs. This lecture will review Saladin’s career and look at how his reputation was formed and preserved over the centuries, considering the influences of his legacy in both the Islamic world and the West. It will also challenge the frequent assertion that he was almost entirely forgotten in the Near East until 1898 when Kaiser Wilhelm’s visit to the region supposedly prompted a revival of interest in his career and legacy.

Professor Jonathan Phillips ,Professor of Crusading History, Royal Holloway, University of London He has studied with Professor Peter Jackson (Keele University) and was a doctoral student of Professor Jonathan Riley-Smith. He has published several books on the crusades, including The Second Crusade: Extending the Frontiers of Christendom (Yale, 2007) and Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades (London, 2009), the latter which has been translated into six other languages. He is a frequent contributor to television and radio programmes on the crusades. He is also the Head of the History Department at Royal Holloway, University of London.