Summer 2005

Summer 2005
CAUSING
a
CHANGE
of
HEART

S u m m e r 2 0 0 5
NEWS
9
1
On Campus
Research
The first spacecraft ever to land on
icy Titan did so safely due to
atmospheric conditions
predicted by a TAU
team – p. 12.
On Campus
A gala concert
conducted by Zubin
Mehta launches Israel’s
premier music school at
TAU – p. 3. 5 Worldscene
The 14 th European
Regional Conference
of the Board of
Governors took place
in Berlin, which is
undergoing a Jewish
18
Students
TAU opens its doors to
the first Palestinian
student from
Gaza – p. 18.
community revival – p. 8.
Cover: A TAU medical team has introduced the first Israeli gene
therapy technique for curing chronic coronary artery disease:
Prof. Ran Kornowski (left) and Dr. Shmuel Fuchs (right) with
patient Amos Ben-Yosef – story page 9.
Photos: The Department of Medical Photography,
Beilinson Hospital; Science Photo Library
Cover design: Pnina Wolinsky-Sissman
17
21
23
On Campus
Impact
On Campus
Newsmakers
On Campus
Friends
Editor:
Louise Shalev
Contributors:
Rava Eleasari, Talma Agron,
Pauline Reich, Ruti Ziv
Translation Services:
Sagir Translations, Offiservice
Photography:
Development and Public Affairs
Division Photography Department/
Michal Roche Ben-Ami,
Michal Kidron
Additional Photography:
ASAP/Israel Talby, Uri Roll,
GPO/Avi Ohayon
Illustration:
Pnina Wolinsky-Sissman
Administrative Coordinator:
Pauline Reich
Administrative Assistance:
Edna Goldberger
Graphic Design:
TAU Graphic Design Studio/
Michal Semo, Pnina Wolinsky-Sissman
Printing:
Eli Meir Printing
Issued by the Publications Office
of the Development and
Public Affairs Division
Tel Aviv University
Ramat Aviv 69978
Tel Aviv, Israel
Tel. 03-6414653, 03-6408249
Fax 03-6407080
E-mail: publicat@post.tau.ac.il
www.tau.ac.il

Bust of Albert Einstein by Tosia
Malamud at the Raymond and
Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact
Sciences on the TAU campus
TAU Rector and physics
professor Shimon
Yankielowicz reflects on
the greatness of Einstein
Tel Aviv University Marks Year
of Physics, Einstein’s Theories
An international symposium held by the Cohn Institute
for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas
debates the connection between cultural norms and
scientific developments
Why did modern science –
a global enterprise today
– develop in Europe at a
particular historical
juncture? Which were the decisive
factors that existed nowhere else? Why
did the Babylonians with their
recognized mathematical abilities, or
the Greeks with all their theoretical
genius, stop short of some of the crucial
steps in the direction of a
thoroughgoing empirical science? Why
didn’t China, with all its technical
ingenuity, develop in that direction?
Such questions occupy the attention
of historians and philosophers of
science, and on the occasion of the
centennial of Albert Einstein’s Annus
Mirabilis in 1905, the miraculous year
in which he published three
groundbreaking papers that stood at the
focus of 20th century science, TAU’s
Cohn Institute for the History and
Philosophy of Science and Ideas and
the Goethe Institute, Tel Aviv, held an
international conference on “Cultural
Relativity and the Scientific Enterprise:
Context and Contingency in the
Development of Science.” Researchers
from Germany, Austria, Hungary, the
UK, the USA, India and Israel
gathered to discuss the
cultural dimensions of
science – the strengths
or weaknesses of certain
cultural norms and
traditions, tacit cognitive
and perceptual filters
operating in favor or
against the ideal of
modern science, and the
moral implications of science.
Conference organizers were Dr. Leo
Corry of the Cohn Institute and Dr. Eike
Gebhardt, a sociologist of culture from
Berlin.
TAU Holds Nationwide Conference for High School Students
TAU’s Unit for Science-Oriented Youth at the Constantiner School of Education,
together with other TAU units and the Ministry of Education, invited advanced high
school students from across the country to a scientific conference marking the
Einstein festivities. The students enjoyed 12 lectures by TAU scientists during the
day-long event.
From about 1750 until the rise of Hitler
and Nazism, the German Jewish
community flourished and contributed
significantly to all aspects of modern
European life, producing great writers,
poets, musicians, philosophers,
political leaders and scientists.
Among them one figure stands out as
both the greatest mind and paramount
icon of our scientific and technological
age, a figure whose name has become
synonymous with genius, and who is
one of the 20 th century’s most
compelling personalities: Albert
Einstein.
During 1905, a year we now
remember as his “miraculous year,”
Einstein wrote three papers that
changed science forever. The first was
on the photoelectric effect, for which
he was later to win the Nobel Prize,
and the second was on Brownian
motion. However, it was his third paper
on the Special Theory of Relativity that
revolutionized conventional concepts
of time and space. In it, he determined
that time is relative – in other words,
the rate at which
time passes
depends on your
frame of reference
– while the speed
of light is
constant.
He later
went on to
publish his
General Theory of Relativity, which
explained and tied gravity to the
geometry of space-time and paved the
way for space exploration.
Albert Einstein’s scientific career was
a constant quest for the universal and
immutable laws that govern the
physical world. His theories spanned
the fundamental elements of nature –
from the entire cosmos to subatomic
particles. Einstein was a true theoretical
physicist. His only true tools were a
penetrating and intuitive grasp of the
workings of the universe.
Summer 2005
1
NEWS

New Signal Processing and Multimedia Laboratory
The Signal Processing and Multimedia Laboratory was established at the School
of Electrical Engineering of TAU’s Fleischman Faculty of Engineering, in
collaboration with Freescale Semiconductor Israel (formerly Motorola
Semiconductor, Israel.) The laboratory, which is equipped with the company’s
specialized signal processing chips, will be used by students and faculty working in
the fields of signal and video processing and
communications applications. Freescale also
awarded a master’s scholarship at the faculty.
At the inauguration ceremony, Ronen
Shtayer, CEO of Freescale Israel, said that
the laboratory illustrated how
collaboration between industry and
academia benefits all parties concerned.
Also attending were President of
Freescale Israel, Israel Kashat; Dean of
From left: Ronen Shtayer, Prof. Touvia Miloh
and Israel Kashat
Architect David Reznik: Modernist and a Humanist
The first-ever retrospective of works
by Israeli architect David Reznik
was displayed at TAU’s Genia Schreiber
University Art Gallery. A 1995 Israel
Prize laureate, Reznik was one of the
foremost architects of Israel’s founding
generation. The 20 works featured in
the exhibition were selected for how
they illustrate the development of
Reznik’s architectural language and
the unique characteristics of his work –
at once modernist and humanistic,
said exhibition curator Sophia Dekel-
Caspi. “Reznik incorporated stark and
clean elements of Modernism in his
designs, but never at the expense of
coherence with the surroundings; or the
comfort and ease of use by people,”
she said.
The exhibition was accompanied by
a detailed catalogue featuring research
on Reznik that was published by TAU.
Engineering Prof. Touvia Miloh; and
academic head of the new laboratory,
Prof. David Burshtein.
Born in Brazil in 1924, Reznik
studied architecture there and worked
under the renowned Modernist architect
Oscar Niemayer. He immigrated to
Israel with his wife Rachel in 1949 and
eventually settled in Jerusalem where
he opened his own firm.
Among the many distinctive buildings
designed by Reznik in Jerusalem are the
University Synagogue at the Givat Ram
Campus of the Hebrew University, the
Van Leer Institute, the Israel National
Academy of Sciences and the Hyatt
Regency Hotel. His projects overseas
include the Israeli pavilion at Expo ’67
in Montreal, Canada, and the Israeli
Embassy in Brasilia, Brazil.
The exhibition was selected by the
Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to
represent Israel at the Biennale in Sao
Paulo, Brazil, later this year.
A Reznik design: The School of Education on the Mount Scopus campus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Porter School
Active Nationally,
Internationally
Porter School Debates Land Rights
Land resources in Israel are extremely
scarce and are constantly threatened by
the pressures of development. In
addition to their environmental
significance, the access to and control
over these resources is fraught with
social, economic and political
problems. To this end, the Porter School
of Environmental Studies held a series
of symposia focusing on the topic of
open space and land rights in Israel as
part of its activities within the
framework of the National Forum of the
Environment.
The first symposium, “Municipal
Borders,” held together with the
Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow-New
Discourse, focused on the allocation of
land to local authorities; “Land, Capital
and Governance,” held jointly with the
Knesset Commission for Future
Generations, discussed the issue of land
ownership and policy in Israel; and
“Environment, Planning and Human
Rights in Israel,” held with the Israel
Union for Environmental Defense, dealt
with planning issues from the
perspective of social and human rights,
including the right to a decent
environment. The series was organized
by Dr. Arie Nesher, Professional
Director of the Porter School.
Israeli-Italian Environmental
Cooperation was the
topic of an event held
by the Italian-Israeli
Forum for
Environmental R&D
established by the
Porter School together
with the Italian
Ministry of
Dr. Corrado
Clini
Environment and Territory and the
Italian Embassy in Israel. Guest speakers
included Israeli Minister of the
Environment Shalom Simhon; Director-
General of the Italian Ministry for
Environment and Territory Dr. Corrado
Clini; Head of the School Prof. Hagit
Messer-Yaron and founder of the Porter
School, Dame Shirley Porter.
NEWS 2
Summer 2005

Zubin Mehta
conducting the
Buchmann-Mehta
Symphony
Orchestra
New Era
in Israeli Musical Education
A gala concert under the baton of Zubin Mehta launches TAU’s
Buchmann-Mehta School of Music in cooperation with the Israel
Philharmonic Orchestra
Nineteen year-old pianist Tal-
Haim Samnon’s
performance of Beethoven’s
Emperor Concerto at the
inauguration of TAU’s Buchmann-
Mehta School of Music was received
with rapturous applause and cries for
an encore. Tal symbolizes the type of
talented young musician the new
school aims to train on a world-class
level.
The school, which unites TAU and
the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
(IPO) under Musical Director Zubin
Mehta, is being supported by TAU
honorary doctor Josef Buchmann, a
great TAU benefactor, Vice Chairman
of the International Board of
Governors, and long-time patron of
culture and the IPO.
Honorary President of the School,
Zubin Mehta, who has been awarded a
professorship at TAU, said to
Buchmann: “I will say it simply – with
all of you in the audience as my
witness, Yossele, I love you.” He
stressed that the school fulfills his longtime
dream of “creating a truly
outstanding training program for
orchestral players for the IPO and other
orchestras and to prevent the flight of
Israel’s best young musical talent
abroad.” A special program of
excellence will enable approximately
100 talented young musicians to
receive full scholarships, he noted.
Josef and Bareket Buchmann
The school’s academic standing will
be enhanced by the addition of the
Samuel Rubin Musicology Track, which
currently has 160 students, of whom 65
are on the master’s and PhD level.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sent a
message in which he praised “this
wonderful union between Josef
Buchmann and Zubin Mehta – both
outstanding friends of Israel – as one
that will profoundly influence Israel’s
musical and cultural life.”
Mayor of Tel Aviv-Jaffa Ron Huldai
said this was a great moment for the
city and the entire country.
The school sent a powerful message
about Jewish continuity, TAU President
Itamar Rabinovich said, in that Josef
Buchmann had “survived the subhuman
conditions of the concentration
camps to become an extremely
successful businessman and philanthropist
who is committed to Israel.”
The inaugural concert featured the
school’s Symphony Orchestra together
with lead players of the IPO in an all-
Beethoven program conducted by
Mehta. Tal-Haim Samnon, the piano
soloist, won a competition at the school
to play in the concert.
Head of the school Prof. Tomer Lev
acted as master of ceremonies for the
evening.
Summer 2005
3
NEWS

Animal Attraction
Animal lovers can now go
online for a live video broadcast
of gazelles, birds, bats and other
creatures at TAU’s I. Meier
Segals Garden for Zoological
Research. The site was set up in
collaboration with the Israel
Electric Corporation and the
Moked Emun security company
and allows viewers to zoom in
on the various groups of animals
in the zoo around the clock.
Academic Director of the zoo
Dr. Arnon Lotem says that the
site “is an
excellent
educational
tool for
children and schools and helps
to strengthen the zoo’s
relationship with the public.”
The site will be updated
based on the seasons and the
animals’ activity, and will soon
be available in an English
version. www.tau.ac.il/lifesci/
zoolive
Enhancing human
resources
The Department of Labor Studies
at the Gordon Faculty of Social
Sciences is offering a new oneyear
executive master’s degree in
Labor Studies for experienced
professionals in the field of
human resource management.
The program aims to enhance
the understanding of
organizational processes and
human resource management in
both the private and public
sectors and is headed by Prof.
Gideon Kunda. Graduates will
be awarded a master’s degree in
Labor Studies.
Room Memorializes Sandra Ways-Spielman
The late Sandra
Ways-Spielman
Internet Studies Gain Sponsor
Israel’s largest Internet service provider, Netvision,
has joined forces with TAU in establishing the
Netvision Institute for Internet Studies
The social and cultural impact of the Internet is the focus of TAU’s newly inaugurated
Netvision Institute, which promotes research in the field through symposia and
conferences for the academic and business communities. It has so far organized 21
conferences and seminars, the last of which
addressed the issue of anti-Semitism on the
Web. The institute has also conducted surveys
regarding Internet use in Israel, and has
granted three research fellowships to doctoral
students.
Academic Director of the institute is Prof.
From left: Prof. Niv Ahituv, Prof. Itamar
Rabinovich, Ravit Barniv and Ami Harel
Aseminar room in
the Dan David
Building was dedicated
in the memory of Sandra
Ways-Spielman of Paris,
France, who passed
away one year ago after
a battle with cancer at
the age of 37. Among
those attending the ceremony were
Sandra’s parents Serge and Nadine Ways,
brother Jonathan, former husband
Lionel Spielman and children Adam
and Tanya.
Friends and family members
donated the room as well as
scholarships for students at the
university.
TAU Vice President Yehiel Ben-
Zvi told the Ways family, “every
time you visit here, you too will feel
part of the university family. You
will see your love for Sandra and for
Israel perpetuated through a lively,
youthful and outstanding place of
learning.”
Serge Ways said, “Sandra was a person
of exceptional beauty, generosity and
Niv Ahituv, incumbent of the Marko and Lucie
Chaoul Chair for Research in Information
Evaluation at the Faculty of Management—
Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration. The institute’s professional
director, Eli Hacohen, initiated and implemented the cooperation between Netvision and
TAU.
Netvision CEO Ravit Barniv awarded the three doctoral fellowships to students who
study the role of the Internet in education and art. Ami Harel, President of Discount
Investments and Chairman of the Netvision Board of Directors, and TAU President Itamar
Rabinovich, delivered greetings at the inauguration.
intelligence. She was an outstanding
mother, daughter, sister, friend, and wife,
and it was especially important for us to
memorialize her in Israel. We hope that
Sandra’s shining light will illuminate the
university in a way that it has illuminated
our lives.”
Sandra Ways-Spielman was the author of
The French Licensing Market, a book on
intellectual property and licensing rights in
France.
From left: Yehiel Ben-Zvi, Tanya Ways-Spielman, Nadine Ways,
Adam Ways-Spielman, Jonathan Ways and Serge Ways
The ceremony was followed by a prayer
service at the Cymbalista Synagogue and
Jewish Heritage Center.
NEWS 4
Summer 2005

German President Köhler
Visits TAU
Köhler requested briefings by TAU think tanks
in Middle Eastern affairs
Prof. Rabinovich (left) with President Köhler
As part of the visit
of the Federal
President of Germany to
Israel this year, Horst
Köhler and his delegation
spent several hours at TAU.
The visit was initiated by
President Köhler himself,
who cited his wish to learn
more about the current
situation in Israel,
specifically with regard to
Israeli-Palestinian ties, as well as local and regional economic, strategic and
political issues. President Köhler was accompanied by State Secretary Dr.
Michael Jansen, Head of the Federal Foreign Affairs Department Dr. Wolfgang
Schultheiss, and German Ambassador to Israel Dr. Rudolf Dressler, as well as
Israeli Ambassador to Germany Dr. Shimon Stein.
During the closed-door meeting, President Köhler, an economist and former
president of the World Bank, spoke of his growing hope that peace between
Israel and the Palestinians could be achieved.
The meeting was organized jointly by TAU’s Jaffee Center for Strategic
Studies (JCSS) and Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies,
whose members gave presentations on pressing issues in the Middle East.
Subjects discussed were Iraq, Islam and Democracy by Dr. Martin Kramer of
the Dayan Center; European Policies in Regard to the Middle East by JCSS
scholar Dr. Mark Heller; The Change in the Situation between Israel and the
Arab World by JCSS Head Dr. Zvi Stauber; Israel and the Palestinians: Crisis and
Dialogue by Brigadier General (res.) Shlomo Brom of the JCSS; and the Iranian
Challenge by Dr. Ephraim Kam of the JCSS.
Author Gish Jen Visits
Campus
Chinese-American writer Gish Jen was
guest lecturer of the Yael Levin Writer-in-
Residence Program of the Department of
English, Entin Faculty of Humanities. Jen is
the author of Typical American, Mona in
the Promised Land and The Love Wife.
The daughter of Chinese immigrants, Jen
was a pioneer in the genre of cross-cultural
fiction in the United States. Her writing
addresses the two very different worlds she
grew up in – the immigrant world and the
mainstream world. Jen stresses, however,
that she has always been interested not just
in capturing the Chinese-American
experience, but the entire American
experience. “Part of my writing has been an
effort to claim my American-ness in a way
that does not deny my Chinese heritage,”
said Jen. “And it does
seem to me that by
the time you ask
yourself, ‘Well, what
does it mean to be
Iranian-American,
Chinese-American,
Jewish-American,
Irish American?’ you
are American because
it’s not a question that
Gish Jen
people ask in other parts of the world.”
The program was established by Daniela
Shamir and Prof. Meir Het of Israel, together
with family members, in memory of their
aunt Yael Levin, who was an English
teacher.
President Carter hosted by Israeli and Palestinian bird lovers
Former US President Jimmy Carter (pictured center)
released a wryneck bird in the Knesset Gardens in
Jerusalem, as guest of TAU’s Dr. Yossi Leshem (left),
Head of the International Center for the Study of Bird
Migration in Latrun. Carter, an ardent birdwatcher,
took time off from monitoring the Palestinian Authority
elections while in the region, to learn about the project
“Migrating Birds Know No Boundaries,” a research
project supported by USAID MERC on the migration of
birds in the region. The project is run by TAU and the
Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, in
cooperation with Palestinian and Jordanian wildlife
organizations. To Carter’s right is Imad Atrash,
Executive Director of the Palestine Wildlife Society.
Summer 2005
5
NEWS

• Mr. William Kristol of the US, Editor and
Publisher of The Weekly Standard, delivered
a lecture entitled “The Bush Foreign Policy
and Neo-Conservative Ideology after
September 11” as guest of the Harold Hartog
School of Government and Policy and the
Department of Political Science. His talk was
William Kristol followed by a panel discussion featuring Mr.
Dov Weisglass, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister; TAU
President Itamar Rabinovich; Prof. Peter Berkowitz of George
Mason University Law School and the Hoover Institution,
Stanford University; and Prof. Yossi Shain, Head of the Hartog
School.
• Prof. Ruth Wedgwood of Johns Hopkins University spoke
on American democracy and the changing nature of the laws
of war at the first seminar of the Israel Program on
Constitutional Government Seminar Series of the Hartog
School of Government and Policy.
• The Entin Faculty of Humanities’ School of History and the
Institute for the History and Culture of Latin America hosted
Prof. Adrian Shubert of York University, Canada. He spoke on
“The Bullfighter Takes Off Her Make Up: Gender and Corrida
in Modern Spain.”
• The Mortimer and Raymond Sackler
Institute of Advanced Studies hosted three
guest lecturers: Prof. Hilary Putnam of
Harvard University, a Sackler Senior
Professor by Special Appointment at TAU’s
School of Philosophy; Prof. Ulf Hannerz of
the Department of Sociology and
Anthropology of Stockholm University; and Prof. Hilary
Prof. Wout Ultee of the Department of Putnam
Sociology, University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
• Prof. Andrzej Bialas of Jagellonian University, Krakow,
Poland, delivered the Emilio Segre Distinguished Lecture
in Physics endowed by Raymond and Beverly Sackler.
Prof. Peter
Bodenheimer
• Prof. Peter Bodenheimer of the Lick
Observatory, Santa Cruz, California,
delivered the Yuval Ne’eman
Distinguished Lecture in Geophysics,
Atmospheric and Space Sciences
endowed by Raymond and Beverly
Sackler.
Globalization vs. Nationalism
Is globalization bringing about the end
of nationalism and the nation state?
What meaning will the European
Constitution have for traditional nation
states in Europe? These were some of
the questions raised at a seminar
entitled “Nationalism in a Changing
World” held by TAU’s S. Daniel
Abraham Center for International and
Regional Studies, in cooperation with
CERI-Sciences Po, Paris.
In his keynote address, Prof. Alain
Dieckhoff of CERI-Sciences Po
challenged the prevailing view that
nationalism is on the decline because
of globalization. “The basic principle at
the heart of nationalism – self
determination – is limitless and can be
put forward by various groups that
claim to be peoples,” said Dieckhoff.
“The appeal of nationalism remains a
powerful one for all peoples looking for
political freedom,” he said.
Dr. Alon Rachamimov of TAU’s
School of History said that while
institutions such as the European
Union, the United Nations, the
International Criminal Court and the
International Monetary Fund had to a
certain extent limited the ability of
states to exercise full sovereignty, none
of these institutions had managed to
From left: Prof. Alain Dieckhoff, Prof. Elie Barnavi
and Prof. Raanan Rein
create cultural constructs appealing
enough to attract the same emotional
fervor as nationalism.
The seminar was organized by Prof.
Raanan Rein, Director of the Abraham
Center, and moderated by Prof. Elie
Barnavi, Head of TAU’s Curiel Institute
for European Studies, History, Culture
and International Relations.
Parlez-vous Francais?
The French Department, Entin Faculty of Humanities, under the direction
of Prof. Nadine Kuperty-Tsur, held an International Francophone Day
devoted to the teaching of the French language. The event was opened by
three ambassadors of French-speaking countries, France, Belgium and
Switzerland, and attended by Prof. Tobie Nathan, ethno-psychiatrist and
cultural counselor of the French Embassy, which sponsored the event; Prof.
Jean Binon of the University of Louvain, Belgium; Prof. Danielle Flament of
Paris X-Nanterre; Mrs. Aimee Laure Tancman, Inspector of French at the
Israeli Ministry of Education; and Prof. Elie Barnavi of TAU’s School of
History, a former Israeli ambassador to France.
Argentina after the crisis
Argentina’s Minister of the Interior, Dr. Anibal
Fernandez, lectured on “The Crisis of 2001 and
the Incorporation of Argentina in the
International Context” at an event organized by
TAU’s Institute for Latin American History and
Culture. Mr. Atilio Molteni, Ambassador of
Argentina to Israel, gave greetings and Prof.
Raanan Rein, Director of the S. Daniel Abraham
Center for International and Regional Studies,
moderated the event.
NEWS 6
Summer 2005

• The Goldstein-
Goren Diaspora
Research Center held
an international
conference on
“Rethinking European
Jewish History,” which
was the second in a
series of the center’s
long-term project,
New Perspectives on
European Jewry. The
seminar brought together scholars from North
America, Europe and Israel to reevaluate critical
assumptions and methods in the historical study
of the Jews in Europe, and to forge an agenda for
pursuing research of the topic in the 21 st century.
The final session entitled “From Europe to
America and Back” was co-sponsored by the
Goldstein-Goren Center for American Jewish
History at New York University and held in the
presence of family members Alexander and
Celina Goldstein-Goren. The conference was
organized by Prof. Jeremy Cohen, Head of the
TAU Goldstein-Goren Center, and Prof. Shulamit
Volkov of TAU’s Minerva Institute for German
History.
Adelegation from
Lodz, Poland, headed
by Mayor Dr. Jerzy
Kropiwnicki, visited the
campus and met with
President Itamar Rabinovich,
Vice President Yehiel Ben-
Zvi and members of the TAU
faculty.
Campus Visitors
Mayor Jerzy Kropiwnicki (left) with
Vice President Yehiel Ben-Zvi
TAU hosted a delegation from the French National Union
of Students (UNEF), who arrived in Israel to strengthen
relations and cooperation between French, Israeli and
Palestinian universities. They met with Rector Shimon
Yankielowicz; Prof. Jonathan Price, Director of Inter-
Academic Affairs; and Prof. Elie Barnavi, former Israeli
ambassador to France.
Richard
Descoings
Adelegation from CERI-Sciences Po,
Paris, headed by Richard Descoings,
was hosted at TAU within the framework of a
cooperation agreement signed between the
two institutions. They met with faculty
members and students and were accompanied
on campus by Vice President of the French
Friends Association François Heilbronn.
Howard Gilman Conference Boosts German-
Israeli Scientific Collaboration
Senior scientists and officials from TAU met with their German counterparts
at four leading Berlin research centers to discuss developments in
neuroscience, genetic research and nanoscience, within the framework of
an Israeli-German Science Colloquium sponsored by the Howard Gilman
Foundation.
Sessions took place at the Freie University, the Max Planck Institute for
Molecular Biology, Humboldt University and the Technical University.
Among the participants from TAU were Rector Shimon Yankielowicz and
Vice President and Dean for Research and Development Prof. Ruth Shalgi.
Also attending were scientists from other German research institutions as
well as from India and the Netherlands.
Hartog School leads mayoral delegation to South Africa
TAU’s Hartog School of Government and Policy led a delegation of twelve
Jewish and Arab mayors and local government officials to South Africa for a
study visit to examine the role of local government in the consolidation of
democracy in that country. Prof. Yossi Shain, Head of the Hartog School,
noted that the initiative “both enriched the delegates’ knowledge and
contributed to efforts to improve South Africa-Israel relations.” The group was
hosted by the Institute for Democracy in South Africa (IDASA) and supported
by the Institute of International Education, the Ford Foundation, the South
African government and members of the Hartog School’s advisory board,
Stanley and Marion Bergman of the USA and David Altschuler of the UK.
Agroup of attorney generals from the US, guests of the
America-Israel Friendship League, visited the campus
and met with Prof. Asher Susser, Director of the Moshe Dayan
Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies, and Prof. Dina
Porat, Head of the Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish
Studies.
The American Forum of TAU’s Jaffee Center
for Strategic Studies hosted the Director of
AIPAC, Howard A. Kohr, at TAU. He met with
center researchers and spoke on the AIPAC
lobby and the Bush administration.
Howard Kohr
Adelegation of the German Federal Ministry for Education
and Research visited TAU and toured facilities that
receive German federal funding, including the Minerva Dead
Sea Research Institute, the GLOWA Jordan River Project, and
research labs in cancer research and water technology.
Dr. Patrick Boisseau, International Coordinator of
Nano2Life, European Network of Excellence, visited
TAU and met with senior researchers in nanoscience and
nanotechnology and life sciences. Guest of honor at the
meeting was former President of the State of Israel Prof.
Ephraim Katzir of TAU.
Summer 2005
7
NEWS

This year’s European board
meeting was held in Berlin on
the occasion of the 40 th
anniversary of diplomatic
relations between Israel and Germany.
The conference was hosted by the
German Friends of TAU and attended
by TAU governors, supporters and
guests from Europe, the USA, Canada,
Argentina and Australia. Conference
sponsor was the trust company,
Grundstückgemeinschaft
Tauentzienstrasse 13, Berlin.
Representing TAU at the event were
President Itamar Rabinovich; Vice
President Yehiel Ben-Zvi; Rector
Shimon Yankielowicz; and
Vice President Yehiel Ben-
Zvi (center) with Jakob Gutman and
his daughter Rebecca Gutman of
Tauentzienstrasse 13
United
Together in
a Reunited City
TAU held its 14 th European Regional Conference of
the Board of Governors in Berlin
Director of the Development and
Public Affairs Division Danny Shapiro.
The conference opened with a gala
dinner at the historic Kempinski Hotel,
which also served as the center for
conference activities. TAU Honorary
Doctor Ernst Gerhardt, President of the
German Friends of TAU, welcomed the
participants to Berlin. Guest of honor
Dr. Shimon Stein, Israeli Ambassador to
Germany, said that the ties between
Germany and Israel were exceptionally
strong in the fields of science and
research and that Tel Aviv University
had played a major role in this area.
Keynote speaker Dr. Josef Joffe,
Publisher and Editor of the German
newspaper Die Zeit, gave a talk entitled
“Spring 2005: The World as Viewed
from Berlin.”
Europe’s fastest-growing Jewish
community
TAU President Itamar Rabinovich said
that the German capital holds special
significance for Jews. “Pre-war Berlin
was one of the world’s foremost centers
of Jewish life, the birthplace of the
Reform and Conservative movements,
and a magnet for Jews from all over
Europe,” said Rabinovich. “That
community was, of course, obliterated
in the Holocaust; however, today,
Berlin has the fastest-growing Jewish
community in Europe and is also one of
the world’s richest cultural venues,” he
said.
Prof. Rabinovich praised the German
Friends of TAU as one of the
university’s oldest and most important
Friends associations and thanked them
for organizing “such a rich and
impressive program and for bringing
some of Germany’s leading intellectuals
to stimulate and enrich the
conference.”
The academic program comprised
eight lectures in topics ranging from
developments in the Middle East to an
overview of biopharmaceutical
research, as well as presentations on
the city’s Jewish heritage, modern
architecture and art, and on Germany’s
role in the world today.
Highlights of the conference
included a visit to the Reichstag, a boat
tour of the River Spree, a tour of Jewish
sites and a viewing of the soon-to-be
opened Berlin Holocaust Memorial,
including a presentation by Lea Rosh, a
major force behind its establishment.
Guests also toured the Berlin Musical
Instruments Museum, the world’s
largest collection of instruments dating
from the 16 th century, where they heard
a musical performance by the Silver-
Garburg Piano Duo, graduates of TAU’s
Buchmann-Mehta School of Music.
Guests were hosted to Friday night
dinner by the Berlin Jewish community.
President’s Award to Reinhart Rath
At the Berlin
Conference, the 2005
President’s Award was
bestowed upon
Reinhart C. Rath in
recognition of his
activities for the Berlin
Friends of TAU and his service on
behalf of the Kodesz estate, which
has established medical institutes and
scholarships at the university.
NEWS 8
Summer 2005

In a breakthrough technological
achievement, a team of
cardiologists led by a TAU
professor has used gene therapy to
improve the flow of blood to the heart
of a patient suffering from coronary
artery disease.
The operation, carried out on a
68-year old patient, represents the first
stage of a multi-center international
clinical trial involving more than 10
European hospitals and 130 specially
screened patients.
The innovative procedure was
developed by Prof. Ran Kornowski of
TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, who
is Director of the Cardiac Catheterization
Institute at the TAU-affiliated
Cardiology Department of the Rabin
Medical Center, together with senior
cardiologist Dr. Shmuel Fuchs of the
Rabin Center.
Prof. Kornowski said this was the first
time that gene therapy had been used
in the field of cardiology in Israel. “We
hope it will initiate at our center a new
investigational approach in the
treatment of severe cardiac patients,”
he said.
Coronary artery disease affects from
between 30 to 50 million sufferers
worldwide, eight million of whom die
every year from blocked arteries and
heart failure. In Israel alone there are
approximately 10,000 heart events
each year. While angioplasty can serve
to clear blocked arteries in the majority
of sufferers, between 5 to 10 percent of
patients do not respond adequately to
this treatment or to open-heart surgery.
The gene transfer technique is aimed at
these chronic sufferers.
“Although gene therapy has been
considered a major challenge for
investigators in various medical fields,
Lifeline for the Heart
A TAU cardiologist and his colleagues have introduced the
first Israeli gene therapy procedure for treating severely ill
heart patients
we followed it with great interest for
several years before we decided to
launch this clinical trial which
synthesizes the cardiology world with
that of gene transfer techniques,” said
Prof. Kornowski after successful
completion of the first experimental
treatment.
Growth factor gene
The procedure involves injecting the
gene for vascular endolathelial growth
factor (VEGF), which is known to
stimulate the growth of blood vessels,
directly into the heart of the patient.
The compound is produced by the
GenVec company, USA. The scientists
use as a “gene carrier” a deactivated
virus that has been genetically
engineered to cause no harm, and that
delivers the growth factor gene directly
to the relevant sites in the heart. “The
gene should act as a ‘temporary factory’
for the production of a substance that
might improve the flow of blood to the
heart and hopefully will improve its
condition when it is at rest and under
exertion,” says Prof. Kornowski.
The first procedure was performed
on a male patient suffering from severe
angina pectoris who previously
underwent two open-heart operations
and was not helped by medications.
Surgeons used a special catheter and
3D mapping devices to deliver the
genes to 12 precise locations in the
heart.
Awake during the procedure, the
patient experienced no pain and was
discharged the following day, feeling
well. However, Kornowski stressed that
it would take some time to know the
exact effects of the procedure or
validity of the clinical trial.
The success of the treatment will be
measured by many factors such as the
results of exercise capacity, nuclear
cardiology examinations, severity of
chest pain symptoms, nitroglycerine pill
uptake, echocardiography and the
overall improvement in the patient’s
condition and well-being, noted
Kornowski.
Kornowski and Fuchs initiated the
idea of gene transplantation seven years
ago, together with a team of researchers
in the USA. During this period, they
began collaborative research with
GenVec and Cordis, a Johnson &
Johnson company.
Summer 2005
9
NEWS

A Titanic
Prediction
A TAU planetary scientist
played a key role in
determining the atmospheric
conditions on Titan, Saturn’s
largest moon, prior to the
first-ever spacecraft landing
on its icy surface
By Louise Shalev
An artist’s conception of the descent of the Huygens probe on Titan
When the US-European
space probe Huygens
landed safely on Titan
earlier this year – with
all three parachutes ejecting safely –
TAU planetary scientist Prof. Akiva Bar-
Nun breathed a sigh of relief. For some
nights previously he had been having
nightmares about parachutes failing to
open. “The most exciting moment was
when the probe sent out its own radio
beep telling us that it was alive, and
then we all applauded,” said Bar-Nun.
“The second one was when we heard
the thud of the landing on the surface.”
Bar-Nun was part of the Cassini-
Huygens space mission to explore
Saturn and its moons, a joint effort of
NASA, the European Space Agency and
the Italian Space Agency and one of the
most ambitious space projects ever
mounted. The Cassini orbiter is
undertaking a four-year tour of the
From left: Dr. Diana Laufer, Prof. Akiva Bar-Nun, Prof. Vasili
Dimitrov and Ronen Jacovi.
Saturnian system. The Huygens probe
plunged into Titan’s mysterious and
murky atmosphere on January 25, 2005,
landing on a slushy mass of ice and
liquid methane.
The historic landing capped three
decades of work for Bar-Nun, an expert
in planetary atmospheres and comets at
TAU’s Department of Geophysics and
Planetary Sciences, Raymond and
Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact
Sciences, and a former Director-General
of the Israel Space Agency.
At the time of the landing, he and his
group of mostly Italian scientists were
stationed at the European Space
Agency’s Communications Center in
Darmstadt, Germany.
Bar-Nun has spent the past 15 years
working with the group that developed
experiments for the Huygens probe and
he contributed significantly to the
performance and durability of the
detectors on board. He
was chosen to join the
team not as an Israeli
representative but based
on his expertise on Titan’s
make-up.
Making predictions
Bar-Nun’s long-held
predictions regarding
Titan’s atmosphere have
been backed up by space
exploration, including the
discovery of propane. He
and his colleagues at TAU also found
that the compound acetylene posed a
danger to the Huygens probe.
“Acetylene under solar irradiation can
turn into sticky aerosols in the
atmosphere,” notes Bar-Nun. “When
we produced these aerosols in our
laboratory, they were so sticky when
fresh that we feared they would block
the probe’s instruments and smear the
cameras.” Further study revealed that
the aerosols would spontaneously
harden like marbles and do no damage,
a fact that has been confirmed by the
space mission.
Another of the team’s findings that
has been confirmed by the Cassini
mission is the absence of lightning
discharges on Titan. “This settles a
controversy between the Israeli group
of scientists who maintained for
decades that the driving force behind
Titan’s atmospheric chemistry was the
sun’s irradiation and the French team
who claimed it was due to lightning
discharges,” says Bar-Nun. “All in all,
the chemical composition of Titan’s
upper atmosphere as found by the
Cassini spacecraft is very similar to
what we found in our own
experiments,” says Bar-Nun.
Why study Titan?
Titan is the only moon in the solar
system with a thick gaseous atmosphere
made up of methane and nitrogen,
explains Bar-Nun. “Titan is a time vault.
NEWS 10
Summer 2005

The molecules on its surface have remained undisturbed by
turbulence and internal forces such as on other planets like
Jupiter and Saturn. Therefore, its unique environment may
resemble that of Earth some several billion years ago and
could be of crucial importance for providing clues as to how
life emerged on Earth,” says Bar-Nun.
He stresses, however, that because of extremely low
temperatures on Titan of minus 180 O C, the water there is only
in the form of ice, whereas on primitive Earth there was
plenty of liquid water and water vapor, which created the
right conditions for the emergence of life. “Titan is a dead end
as far as life is concerned,” says Bar-Nun.
So why go there?
“For the sheer pleasure, beauty and curiosity of seeing how
far we can go,” says Bar-Nun. “Why did Columbus go
westward and why did Magellan circumvent the globe?”
Prof. Bar-Nun, incumbent of the Gordon Chair of Planetary
Sciences at TAU, is a member of the ESA’s Rosetta Mission, a
Titan (right), shrouded by a yellow
haze, as photographed by the
Cassini spacecraft, and the similarity
in color of aerosols produced in
Prof. Bar-Nun’s laboratory (above).
major research project involving the study of comets that is
scheduled to land a spacecraft on the Churyumov-
Gerasimenko comet in 2014.
Prof. Bar-Nun’s research is carried out in cooperation with
TAU’s Prof. Vasili Dimitrov of the KAMEA Project, Dr. Diana
Laufer, and doctoral student Ronen Jacovi, and is supported
by Israeli research funds, mainly the Israel National Science
Foundation.
TAU Experiment on
Board Columbia Yields
Important Results
Despite the tragic loss of Israeli astronaut Col. Ilan
Ramon and the Columbia space crew on
February 1, 2003, Ramon’s experiment on dust
particles and thunderstorms in the atmosphere has
proved a resounding success. This was the summation
given by TAU geophysicist Prof. Colin Price
at a conference held by TAU’s Raymond
and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact
Sciences to mark the second
anniversary since the loss of the
Columbia. The conference, entitled
“No Place Is Far Enough,” was held in
the presence of Mrs. Rona Ramon. Guest
speaker was NASA astronaut Dr. Michael
J. Massimino, who spoke on “Back to the Moon,
Onward to Mars: The Future of Space Exploration.”
According to Price, 75% of the data amassed by
Ramon for the TAU-led MEIDEX experiment was
salvaged and has already led to the publication by
TAU faculty of eight academic papers on transient
luminous events (TLE’s) in the Earth’s upper
atmosphere, also known as sprites, haloes, and blue
streaks. This nighttime component of the MEIDEX
research is ongoing and has given rise to a new
project named for Ramon, called ILAN, involving the
recording of lightning and sprites over the Tel Aviv
skies.
The main daytime component of MEIDEX has
resulted in a series of case studies of various physical
effects of dust and smoke in the atmosphere, said
TAU’s Prof. Joachim H. Joseph, MEIDEX principal
investigator.
Alcohol Drinking and Evil Yeast
S
cientists have long suspected that heavy alcohol drinking
increases the risk of oral cancer, a condition that results in more
deaths each year than skin or cervical cancer. However, since
alcohol is not known to be carcinogenic, the exact link between it
and oral cancer has remained unclear.
Now, TAU oral microbiologist Prof. Mel Rosenberg, together with
doctoral student Amir Shuster and Dr. Nir Osher of TAU’s Sackler
Faculty of Medicine, have found that alcohol reacts with the yeast
that normally resides in our mouths in a way that might cause
disease and even put people at risk for cancer.
The findings of the study, which were published in the journal
Yeast, confirm previous theories of Finnish researchers who claim
that yeast in the mouth and throat are the cause of oral cancers
among alcohol drinkers.
The TAU researchers found that when activated by alcohol, the
yeast oxidizes and produces acetaldehyde, a known carcinogen.
This leads the yeast to damage and destroy red blood cells, a
process that may cause them to grow and proliferate on oral
surfaces.
Rosenberg, a world expert in mouth odors, discovered the
destructive combination of alcohol and yeast while investigating the
cause of “alcohol breath.” “The discovery that this process occurs
only in the presence of alcohol suggests that the microorganisms in
our mouths and digestive tracts may ‘shift gears’ when we drink,”
says Rosenberg.
Some fifty percent of the population has yeast in their mouths on
an ongoing basis, but the research indicates that some strains are
more capable of causing disease than others. “It might not be the
type or amount of alcohol that increases risk, but the amount and
type of yeast that thrives in an individual’s body,” says Rosenberg.
To date the TAU team has identified the strains of yeast that
damage and destroy red blood cells. They hope to bring the research
to the point where they can develop a simple test to determine
whether the yeast population in an individual’s mouth is potentially
harmful, and even cancerous.
Summer 2005
11
NEWS

Bringing Nanotec
In a five-year project, a team led by
Dr. Dafna Benayahu of TAU’s
Sackler Faculty of Medicine is
working with 27 other research
groups from throughout Europe to
revolutionize medical technology. Their
goal is to develop the nano-scale tools
needed to create a “tissue machine” – a
device using stem cells that could
produce, for the first time, a specific
population of cells or tissue needed to
heal a variety of ailments.
“Imagine that we could transplant
into a patient’s body new cartilage or
bone to reverse spinal cord damage, or
heart muscle tissue to repair a damaged
heart,” says Dr. Benayahu of the
Department of Cell and Developmental
Biology. “The research we’re doing
could turn that vision into reality.”
Dr. Dafna Benayahu
CellPROM
The project, being supported by the
European Union at a cost of 30 million
euros, is called “CellPROM,” short for
“cell programming.” Scientists already
know how to take individual stem cells,
nature’s template cell, and program
them to turn into one or another kind of
tissue. CellPROM strives to lay the
scientific foundations for accelerating
and automating this process on a large
and industrially viable scale.
The kind of stem cells being studied
are not embryonic, but rather adult stem
cells, which are found in bone marrow.
“Using the adult type helps us bypass
the ethical issues associated with
embryonic stem cells,” explains
Benayahu. “In addition, growing tissues
based on a patient’s own stem cells
could significantly lessen the body’s
rejection of that tissue when it is
transplanted back into the patient,” she
says.
A specialist in the biology of stem
cells, Benayahu is attempting to develop
a “lab on a chip” as her part of
CellPROM, together with microsystems
expert Prof. Yosi Shacham of TAU’s
Research Institute for Nanoscience and
Nanotechnology.
The chip needs to automate the
process of identifying stem cells from
among the widely varied types of cells
found in bone marrow. This is no easy
task, as only one out of 100,000 cells is
a stem cell. After it recognizes the right
cells, the chip has to sort and channel
them to a culture dish where they can
reach the critical mass point for tissue
engineering.
“The next challenge is to identify the
conditions whereby a stem cell will turn
into each type of required tissue,” says
Benayahu. “The nano-biotechnological
tools we design will have to mimic
natural processes of cellular signaling
and differentiation.”
Benayahu points out the
multidisciplinary nature of the project.
Biologists are investigating different
types of cells and cellular mechanisms;
engineers are designing the chips; and
physicists and chemists are working on
the interface between biology and
nano-mechanics. Every three months
the research teams meet for a day-long
symposium to share their findings, and
occasionally one or a few partners will
hold a smaller gathering.
“By the end of the project we hope to
build a prototype of the tissue machine,
or at least parts of it,” says Benayahu.
“There is tremendous interest by the
biomedical industry in this technology,
which could improve the quality of
life of hundreds of thousands of
patients the world over,” she says.
TAU: Major partner in Nano2Life
In addition to its participation in
CellPROM, Tel Aviv University is the
only Israeli institution affiliated with
another major pan-European initiative –
the Nano2Life European Network of
Excellence in Nanobiotechnology. The
driving force behind TAU’s joining the
network were Prof. Shacham; Dr. Yair
Sharan, Director of the Interdisciplinary
Center for Technological Analysis and
Forecasting (ICTAF); and Dr. Ron
Maron, Managing Director of the
Institute for Nanoscience and
Nanotechnology.
A four-year project, Nano2Life
provides a framework for
collaborative thinking among
200 researchers from 23
institutions in the fields of
biology, medicine and
nanotechnology. “The
main objective of
Nano2Life is to promote
research and
applications in the
hottest nanobiotech
fields, such as
sensing devices,
drug delivery and
fabrication of
new materials
like
nanowires,”
says Prof. Rafi Korenstein, a biophysicist
at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, the
head of the Marion Gertner Institute for
NEWS 12
Summer 2005

hnologies to Life
A chip for powering a “tissue machine” that could reverse heart, liver or
nerve damage is just one of the futuristic nano-scale biotechnologies being
developed at TAU in collaboration with European research consortia
By Rava Eleasari
Medical
Nanosystems, and
the coordinator of
TAU activity in
Nano2Life.
“TAU has
recognized strengths in
these fields,” says
Korenstein. “We’re a major
partner in the network in
terms of both the scope and
quality of the research we’re
initiating.”
Out of 10 strategic
research areas identified by
Nano2Life, three are led by TAU
faculty members. Prof. Korenstein
heads nano-based drug delivery;
Prof. Ehud Gazit of the Department of
Molecular Microbiology and
Biotechnology, Wise Faculty of Life
Sciences, heads the nanoscale
assemblies group; and Dr. Mira
Marcus-Kalish, Senior Researcher at
ICTAF, leads the converging
technologies group. Other research
topics range from nano-imaging and
improvement of biochips to
nanotechnology and cancer.
Dr. Marcus-Kalish also coordinates
the joint research activities of the entire
Nano2Life network. This includes
determining the focus of the 10 research
areas, arranging for exchanges between
students and faculty members, bringing
scientists together for meetings and for
writing joint grant proposals, and
enabling researchers to gain access to
facilities and equipment. Two gatherings
have been held on the TAU campus,
and the network’s one-year anniversary
conference was held recently in
Germany.
“We’re hoping to evolve into a
permanent European Institute of
Nanobiotechnology,” notes Marcus-
Kalish. Along with overseeing research,
this body would also tackle ethics and
regulatory issues, conduct short and
long-term health risk assessments, and
manage technology transfer. Nano2Life
is already working closely with more
than 20 industrial partners to develop
new nanobiotechnological instruments
and materials for health care, the
environment, security, and food safety.
Toward convergence
A specialist in biological modeling,
Marcus-Kalish is enthusiastic about the
possibilities inherent in the nano-bio
interface. “Nano is the language of the
body. If you want to speak this
language, you have to work on the nano
scale,” she says.
In the converging technologies area,
which Marcus-Kalish leads,
nanotechnology experts and engineers
are working with biologists, medical
doctors and cognitive science specialists
to provide all-encompassing, holistic
solutions for treating diseases or
enhancing the physical and mental
capabilities of the human body.
“More than describing any specific
product or process, the term
‘converging technologies’ represents a
call to action,” says Marcus-Kalish. “The
new trend in the scientific world is to
see a person – body, psychology and
cognition – as inextricably connected to
environment and society as a whole. If
you want to solve a problem, you need
to address every angle of it
simultaneously, and to find new ways of
integrating and exploiting existing and
new knowledge,” she says.
“For example, when designing a
drug, you need to take into account the
patient’s individual biology, state of
mind, eating habits, and environmental
and cultural context,” Marcus-Kalish
says.
Widening the effort
Prof. Korenstein believes that “nano is
the last visible frontier of science –
miniaturization on the atomic and
molecular level.”
“If you can implant a nano device in
the body and operate it, you may be
able to repair single cells or parts of
cells,” he says. Likewise, new materials
fabricated on the nano scale could be
more reliable, stronger and of multiple
uses.
Korenstein would like to recruit more
scientists across the campus to
interdisciplinary research activity in
nanoscience and nanotechnology, “but
we need more resources,” he says.
“We’ve got the people with the talent,
imagination and multidisciplinary
approach – TAU has tremendous nano
potential.”
Summer 2005
13
NEWS

By Louise Shalev
In 2000, a group of prominent ultra-
Orthodox rabbis issued an edict
banning their communities from
using the Internet. The Internet,
said the rabbis, posed a danger one
thousand times greater than television
and was liable to “bring ruin and
destruction upon all of Israel.” Surfing
the Web detracts from studying
religious law and may lead to forbidden
temptations such as pornography,
gambling, games and music, they
warned.
Despite the ban, the Internet has
penetrated the ultra-Orthodox – also
known as Haredi – community in ways
unforeseen by the rabbis, finds a study
conducted by TAU husband and wife
team Prof. Gad Barzilai of the
Department of Political Science and codirector
of the law, politics and society
program, and Dr. Karine Barzilai-
Nahon of the University of Washington,
Seattle, USA.
The study, entitled “Cultured
Technology: Internet and Religious
Fundamentalism,” is the first
comprehensive profile of how Haredi
surfers adapt the technology to their
culture and needs – a process the
Barzilais term “cultured technology.”
The aim of the research was to examine
how the community handles the
conflict between social discipline and
limited personal freedom on the one
hand, and the secular values embodied
by modern telecommunications
technology on the other.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews
Go Online
Despite rabbinical prohibitions, over one third of
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jews are surfing the Internet,
finds a TAU study
Dr. Karine Barzilai-Nahon and
Prof. Gad Barzilai
Accessing the data
Self-contained religious groups rarely
volunteer information to outsiders.
However, the researchers were able to
draw on an unusually large and reliable
source of data. An Israeli Internet
service provider, Hevre, allowed them
to examine surfing patterns among its
686,000 customers, of whom about
14,000 were identified as ultra-
Orthodox.
While the Internet symbolizes
individual freedom, inclusiveness,
equality and openness, the ultra-
Orthodox Jewish population lives in
isolation from the outside world in a
community ruled by strict discipline
and a patriarchal hierarchy. “In the case
of the Haredi leadership,” found the
researchers, “they have adopted the
technology for their own purpose of
socializing and mobilizing community
members.
“The spiritual leadership is able to
enforce and strengthen communal
values online by offering its members
virtual services such as E-prayers and
online consultations with higher
religious authorities that were
previously only available in person, as
well as by countering arguments raised
by opponents of the community,” they
say.
With an average of six children and
only one wage earner per family, the
Haredi community is the poorest
population group among Jews in Israel.
Recognizing this, the rabbis made a
special dispensation permitting use of
the Web for business and work
purposes. However, they offer
guidelines for its use such as placing
the computer in a place in the home
where the screen is visible to all and
filtering E-mail.
NEWS 14
Summer 2005

Gender gap
Just 35% of Haredi users are women,
although more females than males hold
jobs (husbands generally pursue fulltime
religious study). “The women use
the Net to voice disputes and to bypass
somewhat the limitations imposed
upon them in their personal and public
life,” say the researchers. Women are
engaging in biblical and Talmudic
study, a practice often restricted inside
the Orthodox community, for example.
The study found that Haredis were
less likely than their secular counterparts
to use E-mail, for fear of interacting
with the outside world, but were more
likely to take part in online forums and
chat groups. It also revealed a growing
group of young Haredis who surf the
Web from public places like Internet
cafés. “It is precisely this group the
rabbis are worried about,” note the
Barzilais.
These users can exploit the
anonymity of the Internet to criticize
their rabbis’ decisions. Yet, despite
occasional scandals and libel suits,
most of the ultra-Orthodox use the
Internet for exchanging information
about community events, religious law
and national affairs, found the
researchers.
Web censorship
The research showed that censorship is
a major means by which the community
leadership controls the information
flow. Censorship is imposed by filtering
and blocking sites and by inflicting
punishments on transgressors. However,
even under the harshest conditions of
communal surveillance, individuals
find ways to circumvent censorship and
access forbidden material that might
challenge the community’s basic
principles, say the Barzilais.
Although the Internet is changing the
normal boundaries of communication
among ultra-Orthodox Israelis, the
community is maintaining its basic
patterns of norms, beliefs, identities and
behavior, conclude the Barzilais.
“Paradoxically, the technology is
strengthening the community at the
same time as it threatens the group’s
cohesiveness,” they say.
The study was published in the
journal,The Information Society.
A Collective
Displacement
The Jewish settlers slated for evacuation from the Gaza
Strip should be offered an alternative pioneering challenge
within Israel’s pre-1967 borders, suggests a TAU study
By Louise Shalev
Neve Dekalim, Gush Katif
This year some 7,500 Jewish settlers are to be evacuated from the
Gaza Strip under the government’s disengagement plan. If the
withdrawal is implemented as planned, the settlers will be relocated
either in existing communities in Israel or to brand new ones that will be
especially built for them. But how can the settlers come to terms with the trauma
they feel at losing their homes and land? How will they integrate into Israeli
society after the upheaval?
In an interdisciplinary study prepared by TAU’s Prof. Itzhak Schnell of the
Department of Geography and Human Environment and Prof. Shaoul Mishal of
the Department of Political Science, the researchers argue that the Gaza settlers’
opposition to the withdrawal is largely based on the feeling that they will lose
their elite social status and self-image as pioneers within Israeli society.
Many of the approximately 7,500 Jewish settlers who reside in the Gaza Strip
– also known as Gush Katif – originally come from Israel’s underprivileged
southern development towns and border settlements, the TAU study points out.
These towns absorbed immigrants from North African and Arab-speaking
countries in the 1950s, but have to this day remained at the bottom of the socioeconomic
ladder. The settlers moved to Gaza in search of a higher standard of
living and the promise of generous government loans and subsidies.
Social mobility
More importantly, stress the researchers, the move to Gaza promised the settlers
social and economic mobility away from the margins of Israeli society to the very
heart of the space identified with the new Zionist ethos. “Gaza was a place of
self-fulfillment for them.”
For the first time, these people experienced being part of the elite of Israeli
society. They saw themselves as the third generation of Zionist pioneers,
replacing the first generation that founded the State and second generation of
Summer 2005
15
15 NEWS

native Israelis who ensured its survival.
“This reinforced their sense of selfesteem
and upgraded them in Israeli
society – at least in their eyes,” say
Schnell and Mishal. “Disengagement
threatens to return the Gaza settlers to
their former marginal status in Israeli
society.”
Sense of place
In interviews conducted among the
settlers about the impending
withdrawal, the researchers found that
the vast majority was most concerned
about existential questions to do with
loss of livelihood, land and personal
survival. Surrounded by one and a half
million Palestinians, the Gaza settlers
formed an enclave that was united
around isolation and the need for
security, say Schnell and Mishal.
The researchers found that the Gaza
settlers’ attachment to the land
stemmed more from love of its pastoral
atmosphere and coastal scenery than
from the messianic belief in settling the
Land of Israel that drives their
counterparts in Judea and Samaria.
“Whereas the ideology of Yesha (The
Council of Jewish Settlements in Judea,
Samaria and the Gaza Strip)
emphasizes the sacredness of settling
the land above all else, the Gaza
settlers are
motivated by
connection to
home and
community,” say
the researchers.
The study
found that the
Gaza settlers
Prof. Itzhak Schnell
form a distinct
sub-group within
the larger settlement movement as
represented by the Yesha Council.
Although the majority are religious,
they are not part of the predominantly
Ashkenazi elite of the settlement
establishment.
Different discourses
This distinction has been evident in the
anti-withdrawal rhetoric emerging from
both groups note the researchers. While
the Yesha rabbis’ rulings on
disengagement frequently step outside
the boundaries of law and democracy –
such as advocating the use of violent
means of protest and refusal to obey
IDF orders to evacuate settlers — the
Gaza rabbis have been careful to
oppose the withdrawal by democratic
means. “The Gaza settlers wish to
remain within the mainstream
consensus,” say Schnell and Mishal.
“They seek sympathy and legitimacy
from the public and speak of preserving
the unity of the nation.”
“When resettling these people,”
conclude Schnell and Mishal, “it is
extremely important to preserve their
sense of community, keep them
together, and provide them with an
alternative pioneering challenge within
Israeli society. It is not good enough to
return them to development towns. The
government must enable them to leave
the Gaza Strip honorably,” they believe.
The research, commissioned by the
Floersheimer Institute of Policy
Research, was carried out with TAU
graduate students Netta Slavi and
Noa Gempel.
Courtesy of Yad Vashem – The
Holocaust Martyrs’ and Heroes’
Remembrance Authority
Women as Keepers of Memory
Fiction written by second-generation Holocaust
survivors uses the female voice to pass on
remembrance to the next generation, finds a
TAU study
The literature of second-generation Holocaust survivors in Israel, among
them Michal Govrin, Savion Liebrecht and David Grossman,
Talila Kosh-Zohar
perpetuates the traumatic memory through the female voice as a way of
overcoming the masculine tendency to repress the past, suggests a TAU study. The study,
conducted by Talila Kosh-Zohar, a doctoral student in Hebrew literature, is the first of its kind to
examine Holocaust remembrance in Israeli literature employing gender-based distinctions.
In most of the works Kosh examined, she found clear differences between the female and
male survivors’ ways of coping with the past and perceiving the present. While male survivors
consciously decide to remain silent about the past and create new lives for themselves, female
survivors assume the role of the “keepers of memories,” says Kosh.
“The male characters in the works perceive the passing on of memory as ‘unmanly’ and at
odds with masculine norms of rationalism, restraint and self-control,” she says. The women, on
the other hand, object to this approach and prefer to pick up their lives from the moment of
disaster, rather begin anew.
Kosh believes that the feminine characters in the works are presented as “moral witnesses,”
driven by a need to describe the evil and the suffering so as to provide better insight into the
past, present and future. “By assigning the role of keeper of memories to the female or maternal
voice,” says Kosh, “the authors aim to enhance moral sensitivity in Israeli society, to help heal
the trauma and to pave the way for recuperation and redemption.”
NEWS 16
Summer 2005

Placing Violence in the National Spotlight
A new TAU project seeks solutions for the growing
violence in Israeli society
Increasing violent behavior in schools, the family, the political arena and among
ethnic and religious groups is the issue of utmost concern to the Israeli public,
surpassing even the economic crisis and the security situation, according to a
survey conducted by TAU’s Hartog School of Government and Policy. Moreover,
the public expects the government to take effective action to combat the
phenomenon, finds the survey.
The Hartog School, headed by Prof. Yossi Shain, has established a committee to
study the issue of violence in Israeli society and to recommend solutions for
reducing it. In the latest survey, conducted during November 2004, 65% of
respondents found the government’s handling of the problem to be unsatisfactory,
and pointed to the lack of moral education in schools and homes as the main
reason for its spread. The bodies perceived as most effective in dealing with the
issue were youth movements, non-profit organizations and the IDF.
The data was presented at a conference held by the school that brought
together representatives of the legal, political, educational and media
establishments.
The committee is chaired by former police commissioner Shlomo Aharonishki,
and comprises legal professionals, police personnel, community leaders and
researchers in criminology, education, psychology, social work and medicine.
The Violence Index is supported by the Stanley and Marion Bergman Charitable
Trust of the USA and Moshe Gerstenhaber of the UK.
Name Your Hero
Israeli high school pupils take part in the selection process
for the International Dan David Prize
High school pupils from throughout
Israel will now have a say in
choosing the fields of specialization
and nominees for the annual Dan
David Prize administered by TAU
through an essay competition, “Name
Your Hero.” The competition was
initiated by the Dan David Foundation
in cooperation with the Philippe Wahl
Fund for Young Scientists and the Unit
for Science Oriented Youth of TAU’s
Constantiner School of Education.
Student competitors at TAU
The competition is aimed at students
who “wish to make a difference” and
whose suggestions can be backed by
detailed supporting arguments.
Winning proposals will be announced
during this year’s Dan David Prize
Award Ceremony and will be taken into
consideration by the prize committee
when selecting fields and nominees for
the year 2006.
This year, 500 proposals were
submitted, of which 50 were selected
for the final stage of the
competition at the
university. The fields
proposed by the students
include green energy and
ecology; architecture; video
and computer games;
genetic aspects of
embryology; social justice;
and Holocaust
Remembrance.
TAU Hosts Development
Town Children
About 500 kindergarten children from
the southern development town of
Sderot visited TAU as part of a fun day
in science and technology organized by
the Center for Science and Technology
Education of TAU’s Constantiner School
of Education. The tiny visitors were
given guided tours of TAU’s Botanic
Gardens and I. Meier Segals Garden for
Zoological Research, lunch, and
surprise party bags containing
educational material.
Prof. Jacob Garty, Director of the Botanic
Gardens, reveals the secrets of pollination to
the kindergarten children.
The visit was initiated by Dr. Ruth
Strul-Novik, Director of Scientific and
Technological Literacy at the center
after one of the many missile attacks on
Sderot. The visit was funded by leading
Israeli companies.
Free Parents Hotline for
the Community
The Psychological Services Unit of the
Ruth and Allen Ziegler Student
Services Division has launched a new
Parents Hotline – a free telephone
counseling service for parents of
preschool children. The hotline was
established with the generous help of
a donor from Australia who is deeply
committed to the welfare of children.
Callers can receive discreet and
professional help by experts in mental
health and child development who
are under the supervision of the
Department of Psychology. The
hotline is part of the unit’s campaign
to extend its services beyond the
university to the wider community.
Summer 2005
17
NEWS

As a TAU master’s student
specializing in the teaching of
English as a foreign language,
Sobhi Bahloul has to engage
in some mental gymnastics while taking
notes in class. The language of
instruction is Hebrew, the subject being
taught is English, but Bahloul’s native
language is Arabic. Moreover, for
Bahloul, there is the added challenge of
being the only Palestinian student to
attend TAU from the Gaza Strip.
His enrollment in the university’s
Constantiner School of Education was
made possible due to the dedication of
a group of faculty members, and
Sobhi Bahloul
through scholarships granted by the
TAU President’s Office and the Dean of
Humanities.
Three days a week Bahloul makes
the arduous journey from his hometown
of Rafiah to Tel Aviv. Even though he
has the required permits to enter Israel,
arranged for him by the university, the
checkpoint crossing can take hours. It
all depends on the situation that day, he
says.
Bahloul is not complaining, however.
He savors every minute of his time
studying at TAU. He does not worry
what people might say about him either
in Gaza or in Israel. Bahloul is a wellknown
Hebrew teacher in Gaza and
one of only five authorized notaries in
Hebrew in the entire Strip. “People
know me as the ‘Hebrew expert,’” he
says. “They recognize my special status
as a teacher and educator and respect
me for it.”
Language
as a Means to Peace
TAU’s first ever Palestinian student from the Gaza Strip
hopes to become an official emissary to Israel
By Louise Shalev
Required permits
Bahloul’s enrollment at TAU was
initiated by Professors Anat Biletzki
and Anat Matar of the Department of
Philosophy, well-known peace and
human rights activists, as well as
Prof. Elana Shohamy of the
Constantiner School. Once accepted
at the school, it took nearly a year to
obtain the required permits from the
Israel Defense Forces for him to
study in Israel.
Bahloul’s love of foreign
languages comes from his home. He
began learning English as a young
child and has always been curious
about foreign cultures and
languages. His sister is an English
teacher and one of his five children
is studying to become an English
teacher at Khan Yunis University in
Gaza.
Balhoul first met Biletzki and Matar
in the late 1990s when a delegation of
students and faculty from TAU and
other universities traveled to Gaza to
engage in joint encounters. He used to
teach the group Arabic. He is a strong
supporter of inter-group dialogue and
teaches Arabic and Hebrew at the
Ibrahim Center in Gaza – an institution
that aims to promote Palestinian-Israeli
understanding. “I believe that language
learning is a tool for strengthening ties
between the two peoples and spreading
peace,” says Bahloul.
Prof. Anat Biletzki says the
“importance and value of Sobhi’s
studies at TAU cannot be overstated –
for both partners. He is a teacher,
student and a colleague, but more
importantly, he is a friend. Such unique
friendships and collaborations can only
multiply with progress in the peace
process.”
Between two worlds
Bahloul feels completely at home in Tel
Aviv. He fondly remembers bringing his
family to Tel Aviv for a three-day
holiday by the beach in 1997. “I am
attracted to Israelis and have a lot of
friends here. I understand the language,
culture and mentality,” he says. “We
have much more in common than not.”
Of course switching back and forth
between both worlds – Gaza and Israel
– is not easy. “I have to constantly make
an instant adjustment to two completely
different worlds,” he says.
With Israel’s disengagement from
Gaza slated for this year, Bahloul is
optimistic for the future of Gaza and the
peace process. “The situation has
calmed down; people are now
breathing a sigh of relief on both sides,”
he says.
“Whatever happens we will remain
economically dependent on Israel so we
need to maintain good relations. There
must be cooperation. We will need a lot
of help to stand on our own feet.”
Bahloul believes that he has a major
part to play in the future scheme of
things. “Here at the university they call
me ‘the Palestinian Ambassador,’” he
says. The label has stuck and even the
soldiers at the checkpoint jokingly call
him the “The Ambassador” he says.
Joking aside, Bahloul’s ambitions for
the future include becoming the first
Palestinian Ambassador to Israel. Until
then, he is concentrating on finishing
his master’s degree and then wants to
move straight on to his PhD studies.
NEWS 18
Summer 2005

Exploring Beyond
the Stars
A prize-winning undergraduate student at TAU’s
School of Physics and Astronomy is already
penning his name to important research articles
By Louise Shalev
Omer Tamuz, 26, a thirdyear
undergraduate student
at TAU, always knew he
wanted to be an
astrophysicist. Even at a young age, he
was fascinated by how the universe
works and the idea that there could be
other solar systems.
Omer is one of 35 outstanding
undergraduate students selected
annually for recognition by the TAU
Rector’s Office from all departments on
campus. He also made the Dean’s List
Prof. Tsevi Mazeh (left) with Omer Tamuz
of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler
Faculty of Exact Sciences and is
enrolled in the faculty’s Program for
Outstanding Students.
Omer is studying the field of extrasolar
planets at the School of Physics
and Astronomy. His intense curiosity,
dedication and originality have already
led to the discovery, together with TAU
physicists Prof. Tsevi Mazeh and Dr.
Shay Zucker, of a mathematical
algorithm that could help scientists
confirm the existence of extra-solar
planets that are not normally visible by
telescope or other means.
The research has resulted in the
publication of a joint research article,
together with Prof. Mazeh and Dr.
Zucker, in the Monthly Notices of the
Royal Astronomical Society, in which
Omer is cited as principal investigator.
“Omer is one of the best students I
ever met and it is a pleasure to work
with him,” says Prof. Mazeh, Head of
TAU’s Raymond
and Beverly Sackler
Institute of
Astronomy. “He
represents the
caliber of student
that we want to see
going on to pursue
advanced degrees
at the university.”
Prof. Mazeh has
been researching
extra-solar planets
and objects for
years and was part
of a team that
identified a brown
dwarf in 1989 – a small star that does
not emit light and that could have been
a planet.
Hard to detect
The first extra-solar planet was only
discovered in 1995, and since then
about 100 more have been added to
the list. “When you look at the stars in
the sky, you see either planets in our
solar system like Mars, Venus and
Jupiter, or stars like our sun,” says
Omer. “However, the problem with
identifying planets around other stars is
that they are not visible by any means
since the little light they emit is lost in
the light of the much brighter star they
orbit,” he says.
One method of determining the
existence of the planet is known as the
transit method and involves observing
the decrease in the apparent brightness
of the host star that occurs when the
planet passes in front of it.
Eliminating noise
The transit method allows scientists to
monitor changes in stars’ brightness in
search of those that periodically
become slightly dimmer. However,
detecting periodic dimming in a star is
very difficult, notes Omer, since its
apparent brightness can change due to
other factors such as atmospheric
effects or passing clouds. “The
algorithm we developed eliminates
many of these tiny discrepancies –
known as noise – so that the variation
stemming from planetary transits
becomes easier to detect,” he says.
Omer says he was lucky to have
been inspired both by his physics high
school teacher while attending school
in Vienna where his father served in the
Foreign Ministry, and by Prof. Mazeh
at TAU, who invited him, while still a
first year student, to participate in a
special research project. He hopes to
go on to pursue doctoral studies at TAU
together with Prof. Mazeh and his
team, and then, “who knows? The sky’s
the limit!”
Summer 2005
19
NEWS

2005 Wallenberg Prize
Lior Ben David, a master’s student in
history and a graduate of TAU’s
Buchmann Faculty of Law, was awarded
the Raoul Wallenberg Prize for his thesis,
“Civilized, Semi-Civilized and Savages:
Indians in the Criminal Law of Peru,
1924-1950.” At the award ceremony,
Prof. Raanan Rein, Director of TAU’s S.
Daniel Abraham Center for International
and Regional Studies, said Lior had
completed a “unique study that combines
history, criminal law, and a deep concern
for the rights of the indigenous
populations of Latin
America.” Natan Eilenberg,
Chairman of the Israel-
Sweden Friendship League;
Mr. Robert Rydberg,
Ambassador of Sweden;
and Prof. Dina Porat, Head
of the Rosenberg School of
Jewish Studies and Roth Institute for the
Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and
Racism, attended the ceremony. The
prize, which is donated by the Swedish
Friends of TAU, is awarded annually to
young researchers in contemporary anti-
Semitism or human rights.
Ambassador Rydberg
(left) and Lior Ben David
Legal largesse
TAU’s Buchmann Faculty of Law awarded
scholarships for the second year running
to 60 students requiring financial aid that
were donated by several leading Israeli
law firms. The scholarships were
presented by Law Dean Ariel Porat at a
ceremony attended by representatives of
the firms.
Gutwirth Scholarships in diabetes
Hendrik and
Irene Gutwirth
Scholarships in
Diabetes
Research were
From left: Yehiel Ben-Zvi, Prof. Dov awarded to six
Lichtenberg and Vivien Zimmet students of the
Sackler Faculty of Medicine at a
ceremony held in the presence of Mrs.
Vivien Zimmet of Melbourne, Australia,
daughter of the late Gutwirths and a TAU
Governor. Greetings at the ceremony
were given by Vice President Yehiel Ben-
Zvi; Dean of Medicine Prof. Dov
Lichtenberg; and Vice Dean of Clinical
Affairs, Prof. Abraham Karasik.
TAU HOSTS JEWISH STUDENT FAIR
Some 1,200 Jewish students from around the world gathered at TAU for a
“Global Israel Showcase” sponsored by the Jewish Agency. The event launched
Project Masa (“Journey”), a joint initiative of the government and the Jewish
Agency that aims to bring thousands of young Jews from around the world to
study in Israel for long-term periods. The students were addressed by TAU
President Itamar Rabinovich; Director-General of the Jewish Agency’s Jewish-
Zionist Education Department, Alan Hoffman; and President of the Hillel
Foundation, Avraham Infeld.
Rosenfeld Prize
Lev Drucker, a doctoral student from the former Soviet Union at TAU’s Berglas
School of Economics, received the annual Yoram Rosenfeld Prize for Innovation
and Entrepreneurship granted by TAU’s Faculty of Management—Leon Recanati
Graduate School of Business Administration. He won the prize for his research on
“Funding Research and Development in Israel: A Source of Inspiration?”
Information wizard
Lior Fink, a doctoral student in
information systems at TAU’s Faculty
of Management—Leon Recanati
Graduate School of Business
Administration, was one of 40
students selected from around the
world to participate in the Doctoral
Consortium of the International
Conference on Information Systems
(ICIS), which took place in
Washington, DC. The consortium
provides students with an opportunity
to share and develop their research
ideas, to explore issues related to
academic careers in the field, and to
build relationships with PhD students
from other countries. Lior’s supervisor
at TAU is Prof. Seev Neumann.
Yellin Scholarships
Thirty TAU students were awarded
scholarships by the Solly Yellin Fund,
which supports 180 scholarships
annually to gifted but needy students at
all of Israel’s institutions of higher
learning, with preference to new
immigrants and students in the northern
border settlements.
Solly Yellin was born in Vilna in 1911.
After his family was almost completely
annihilated in the Holocaust, he went to
South Africa and led a successful life
there as a businessman and Jewish
community leader. He immigrated to
Israel in 1999 at the age of 88 and
established the fund in 2002. The fund
requires the universities to match half the
amount of each scholarship granted.
NEWS 20
Summer 2005

Four TAU Professors Receive
2005 Israel Prize
Prof. Aron Dotan, Humanities – Israel Prize for Hebrew Linguistics
Among the Israel Prize Committee considerations:
• Prof. Dotan’s scientific work – exceptional in its quality, scope, and impact on Hebrew linguistics and
Jewish studies – has made an important contribution to the understanding of Hebrew culture.
• His fields of research include medieval Hebrew linguistics; the Masora, a field in which his works have
become classics; the beginning of grammatical and lexicographical theory and practice; and biblical
accentuation, a field which he transformed into an academic discipline.
• Prof. Dotan is an outstanding teacher, and serves as a member of the Hebrew Language Academy.
• Prof. Dotan has contributed to the community as founding director of the Cymbalista Jewish Heritage
Center at TAU.
Prof. Ben-Ami Scharfstein, Humanities – Israel Prize for Philosophy
Among the Israel Prize Committee considerations:
• Prof. Scharfstein’s scholarship journeys through different philosophical cultures and investigates the
entire range of viewpoints. The scope and clarity of his work have earned him renown both nationally
and internationally.
• His studies elucidate the deep structure of human thinking in all its facets, focusing on aesthetics, the
study of mysticism, comparative philosophy, and philosophy in psychological and social contexts.
• Prof. Scharfstein is being recognized for his profound and comprehensive philosophical writings, and
for his unique contribution to the teaching and research of philosophy in Israel.
Prof. Rina Zaizov Marx, Medicine – Israel Prize for Medicine
Among the Israel Prize Committee considerations:
• Prof. Zaizov is a pediatric hematology oncologist whose acclaimed research has raised international
standards of patient care.
• She pioneered the field of children’s oncology in Israel, including founding and directing the Oncology
Unit at the Schneider Children’s Medical Center.
• Prof. Zaizov has dedicated her life to promoting a comprehensive curative approach for children
suffering from cancer and to improving the quality of life of both patients and their families.
• Prof. Zaizov has nurtured a generation of excellent doctors and researchers who will continue her
work.
Prof. Sasson Somekh, Humanities – Israel Prize for Research of the Middle East
Among the Israel Prize Committee considerations:
• One of the greatest scholars of Arabic literature of our generation, Prof. Sasson Somekh is broadly
recognized for his academic study of Egyptian, Lebanese, Iraqi, Moroccan and Palestinian writers.
• Prof. Somekh believes it is vitally important to make Arabic prose and poetry available to Hebrew
readers, and his translations have earned extensive praise.
• Prof. Somekh labors to foster ties between Jewish and Arab academic figures and writers.
• Prof. Somekh is one of the founders of TAU’s Department of Arabic Language and Literature, and he has
nurtured many students who continue in his footsteps in research and teaching.
Summer 2005
21
NEWS

Prof. Mordechai
Tamarkin, Humanities,
has been elected
Director of the Tami
Steinmetz Center for
Peace Research.
Dr. Zvi Stauber,
Humanities, former
Israeli Ambassador to
the UK, has been
elected Director of
TAU’s Jaffee Center for
Strategic Studies.
Prof. Avraham
Weizman, Medicine,
incumbent of the Robert
and Martha Härdén
Chair in Mental and
Neurological Diseases,
has been elected Head
of TAU’s Felsenstein
Medical Research Center.
Prof. Leonard Bliden,
Medicine, has been
elected incumbent of
the Adler Chair for
Pediatric Cardiology.
Prof. Nadav Na’aman,
Humanities, has been
elected incumbent of
the Kaplan Chair in the
History of Egypt and
Israel.
Prof. Jacob Garty, Life
Sciences, has been
elected Head of the
Botanic Gardens.
Prof. Yosef Rosenwaks,
Engineering, has been
elected Director of the
Wolfson Center for
Applied Materials
Research.
Prof. Dov Lichtenberg
(left), Dean of the Sackler
Faculty of Medicine,
incumbent of the Lady Davis
Chair of Biochemistry, and
Prof. Yoel Kloog, Dean of
the Wise Faculty of Life
Sciences, incumbent of the
Jack H. Skirball Chair in
Applied Neurobiology, have
been elected joint Heads of
the Albert and Elba Cuenca
Institute for Anti-Aging
Therapy Research.
Prof. David Schmeidler,
Management, incumbent
of the Chair of Decisions
and Game Theory, has
been awarded an
honorary doctorate from
the University of Torino
in Italy.
Danny Shapiro has
been appointed
Director of TAU’s
Development and
Public Affairs Division.
A CHIEVEMENTS
2005 Ewald W. Busse Research Award in the Social Behavioral Sciences, Dr. Hava Golander, Medicine 2005 Robert
E. Horton Medalist of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), Prof. Gedeon Dagan, Engineering 2004 Prize for Best
Foreign Book on Cinema by the French Association of Cinema Critics, Prof. Shlomo Sand, Humanities Zalman Shazar
Award for Research of Jewish History, Prof. Anita Shapira, Humanities Erwin Plein Nemmers Prize in Economics, Prof.
Ariel Rubinstein, Social Sciences Goldstein-Goren Book Award of the Goldstein-Goren International Center for Jewish
Thought, Prof. Mordechai Akiva Friedman, Humanities Appointed Israeli representative to the Anna Lindh Euro-
Mediterranean Foundation for Dialogue between Cultures, Prof. Irad Malkin, Humanities Bahat Prize for 2005 for her
book, The Cognitive Turn: The Birth and Rise of New Semantics, Dr. Tamar Sovran, Humanities Marguerite Stolz
Research Fellowship for Junior Faculty in Medicine and Health Professions, Dr. Nir Osherov, Medicine
NEWS 22
Summer 2005

Melbourne
AUSTRALIA
• Over 160 people attended the 2005 Annual Oration organized by the Victoria
Chapter of the Australian Friends Association. This year’s oration, dedicated to the
late William (Bill) Boyar, founding member of the Friends and past Vice President,
was delivered by Prof. George Hampel QC, professor of law at Monash University
and a former Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, and Judge Felicity Hampel, a
barrister, part-time Law Reform
Commissioner, and an adjunct professor of
law at Monash University. They spoke on
“Prevention, Preemption and Protection –
Reflections on Domestic and International
Crime and Punishment.” Prof. (Emeritus)
Louis Waller introduced the guests of honor
and the participants included Sir Zelman
and Lady Anna Cowen, Mr. and Mrs.
From left: Judge Felicity Hampel, Sir
Zelman Cowen, Lady Anna Cowen and
Prof. the Hon. George Hampel QC
Walter Jona, Justice Howard Nathan, Mrs.
Bella Shannon, Mrs. Sara Weis, and Mr.
and Mrs. Alan Selwyn.
• TAU Prof. Dina Porat, Head of the Chaim Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies
and of the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and
Racism, was guest of honor at a boardroom luncheon at the law offices of Arnold
Bloch Leibler and afternoon tea organized by the Melbourne Friends at the home of
Ada and Jack Tenen.
ISRAEL
• The English Speaking Friends hosted
Prof. Asher Susser, Director of TAU’s
Moshe Dayan Center for Middle
Eastern and African Studies, who spoke
on “Between Iraq and the Palestinians –
Israel’s Fateful Choices”; Ruth
Abraham, a lecturer from Beit Berl
College, who discussed “When Words
Have Lost Their Meaning – Art and
Alzheimer’s”; and Prof. Linda Ben-Zvi
of TAU’s Department of Theater Arts
whose lecture was entitled “Pioneer
Spirit: Susan Glaspell – The First
American Avant-Garde.”
• Within the framework of the
International Forum, chaired by Prof.
Aharon Klieman, Ambassador of Japan
Mr. Jun Yokota lectured on “Japan’s
Middle East Policy”; and Ambassador of
Nigeria Dr. Manzo George Anthony
spoke on “Nigeria’s African Role and
Global Agenda.”
HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Uruguay and Argentina: The Argentinean Friends
Association headed by Mrs. Polly Deutsch, together with
the Friends in Uruguay led by Dr. Henri Cohen, organized
the traditional annual meeting in Punta del Este, which
was attended by more than 1,300 people.
The main academic event was an international
symposium entitled “Should We Abandon the Hope for
Peace in the Middle East?” Guest of honor was former US
Ambassador Martin Indyk, head of the Saban Center for
Middle Eastern Policy at the Brookings Institution, USA.
Members of the panel included TAU Honorary Doctor
Marcos Aguinis, an internationally renowned writer,
psychiatrist, and former Argentinean Minister of Culture.
Dr. Ramiro Rodriguez Villamir, journalist, political analyst
and director of the Uruguayan Television Authority,
moderated the event, and opening remarks were delivered
by Polly Deutsch; TAU Vice President for Latin America
and Spain Ilana Ben Ami; and Israeli Ambassadors Joel
Salpak (Uruguay) and Rafael Eldad (Argentina). Adolfo
Smolarz, Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors, and
his wife Miriam hosted a reception.
France: The TAU French Friends Association organized a
dinner hosted by new member Dominique Romano.
Proceeds of the event, which was attended by Vice
President Yehiel Ben Zvi and Dean of Students Prof.
Thalma Lobel, will benefit student scholarships at TAU.
From left (back row): Dominique Romano, Prof. Elie Barnavi,
François Heilbronn, and Prof. Jean Robert Pitte. From left (front
row): Yehiel Ben-Zvi, President of the French Friends Hugo
Ramniceanu; Prof. Thalma Lobel, and David Birène.
Summer 2005
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NEWS

USA
Northeast Region
• Stanley Bergman (pictured), a member
of the International Board of Trustees of
TAU’s Hartog School of Government and
Policy, and Dr. Marion Bergman hosted
an event in New York City in support of
the school. Ambassador Terje Roed-
Larsen, former UN Special Coordinator
for the Middle East Peace Process, was
the guest speaker for the evening. He
shared his perspective on the peace process since Oslo and
discussed the importance of a constructive relationship
between the United Nations and Israel. Prof. Yossi Shain,
Head of the school, attended the event.
Southeast Region
• Mel Taub, Vice
Chairman of the TAU
Board of Governors, and
his wife Carol, a TAU
Governor, hosted a group
of friends at their home in
Boca Raton, Florida, to
hear a talk by Prof.
Abraham Katzir,
incumbent of the Carol
and Melvin S. Taub Chair
in Applied Medical
Mel Taub (left) with Prof. Abraham
Katzir
Physics at TAU’s Raymond and Beverly Sackler Faculty of
Exact Sciences. Prof. Katzir discussed his research on lasers
and optic fibers.
included Dayan Center board members, TAU supporters and
friends.
• Prof. Susser also spoke at two events organized by
TAU:AC. More than 225 members of the Life Long Learning
Society of Florida Atlantic University, John D. MacArthur
Campus, Jupiter, Florida, heard Prof. Susser speak on the
Middle East in the post-Arafat and post-Saddam era. Prof.
Susser also addressed 550 members of the Florida Society for
Middle East Studies at Florida Atlantic University in Boca
Raton. Paul Cutler, President of the Society, chaired the
lecture.
Western Region
• Ruth Singer (pictured) has been named
Chairperson of the Western Region of the
TAU American Council. A fervent
supporter of Israel, Ms. Singer has
traveled to Israel over 30 times and led
numerous missions to Israel as the
missions chairperson of the Jewish
Federation of Los Angeles. As a former
national officer of AIPAC, the pro-Israel
lobby, she worked directly with members of Congress and
their staff to ensure that US-Israel relations remain a top
priority. “Ruth Singer leads by example. Her national and
international work on behalf of Israel is phenomenal and we
are fortunate to welcome her into the leadership ranks of our
organization,” commented TAU:AC President, Sam Witkin.
• Prof. Yossi Shain, Head of the Hartog School of
Government and Policy, and Dr. Gary Sussman, Director of
Research and Program Development at the school, were
hosted by TAU Governor Dan Bochner and Dr. Zippi
Williams at their home in Los Angeles.
• Prof. Raanan Rein, Director of the S. Daniel Abraham
Center for International and Regional Studies, addressed the
Greater Miami Jewish Federation Division of Commerce and
Professions and International Division. He spoke on “Latin
America’s Incomplete Transition to Democracy: The Clash
between the Economic and Political Processes.” Ariel and
Daphna Bentata hosted an evening reception for many Latin
American friends at their home to hear an address by Prof.
Rein in Spanish and learn about Tel Aviv University.
Mark Tanenbaum (left) and
Prof. Asher Susser
• Mark Tanenbaum, member of
the Board of Directors of TAU:AC
and of the International Board of
Overseers of the Moshe Dayan
Center for Middle Eastern and
African Studies, hosted a dinner
and briefing by Prof. Asher
Susser, Director of the center, on
Fisher Island. Participants
Dr. Gary Sussman, Dan Bochner, Dr. Zippi Williams, and Prof. Yossi Shain
NEWS 24
Summer 2005

Sir Leslie Porter
Leader and magnanimous supporter
of countless university projects
Tel Aviv University deeply mourns the loss of Sir Leslie Porter (1921-2005), of the
UK and Israel, Chancellor of the university, Honorary Doctor, and former
Chairman of the TAU Board of Governors.
Sir Leslie Porter served as Chairman of the Board from 1985 to 1989, and as
Honorary Chairman from 1989 to 1993. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from
TAU in 1974 for his “munificent dedication to Jewish causes in Britain alongside his
wholehearted involvement with the life of Israel, and for his ardent and generous
support for higher education in Israel, especially for Tel Aviv University.” He was
elected Chancellor in 1993.
Sir Leslie and his wife, Dame Shirley, have played a top leadership role at TAU
over the years and have actively supported the university’s growth and development.
They have endowed diverse projects including the Cohen-Porter Family Swimming
Pool, the Cohen-Porter United Kingdom Building of Life Sciences, the Shirley and
Leslie Porter Chair in Literary Theory and Poetics, the Porter Institute of Poetics and
Semiotics, the Shirley and Leslie Porter School of Cultural Studies, the Sir Leslie and
Dame Shirley Porter Library Fund, and the Porter School of Environmental Studies.
“Sir Leslie will be remembered not only for his generosity and vision, but
also for his warmth, good humor and gentlemanly ways,” said TAU President Itamar
Rabinovich.
Born and raised in London, Sir Leslie served in the British army throughout World
War II, taking part in many key battles in Greece, Italy and North Africa, including El
Alamein. Despite being wounded several times, and being taken prisoner by the
Germans, Sir Leslie managed to rejoin his brothers-in-arms in the final assaults against
the Nazis.
Sir Leslie Porter was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1983, and awarded the
Order of St. John in 1992. He was the past President and Chairman of Tesco Plc.
A longstanding benefactor of the Council for a Beautiful Israel, the United Jewish
Appeal, and Boys’ Town, Jerusalem, Sir Leslie and his family also founded the Daniel
Amichai Center for Rowing and Nautical Studies Tel Aviv in commemoration of the
Porters’ late grandson.
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