On Shabbat, we remember that moments of rest and reflection are not a retreat from life: they lie at the essence of life. It was in this spirit that nearly thirty of us sat down to Shabbat dinner in Jerusalem this past Friday night. What connected us all — from artists to public servants, from faculty and staff to Israeli intellectuals, from alumni of Brandeis’ early classes to teenage prospective students — was a shared stake in the success of this unique university and a shared conviction that the already-deep bonds between Brandeis and Israel are only just beginning to grow.
The cornucopia of careers and interests around the table reflected the multi-faceted nature of Brandeis itself. Former Israeli Consul-General in Boston Nadav Tamir joined us, a longtime friend of Brandeis who is now an adviser to President Shimon Peres. We also hosted Mark Regev, spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who told the story of what inspired him to make aliyah from Australia as a young man. Acclaimed filmmaker Yael Hersonski described how Jerusalem has changed since she studied at the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School and discussed her Holocaust documentary A Film Unfinished, which she screened at Brandeis earlier this year as a Schusterman Fellow. We were delighted to welcome newly named editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post Steve Linde, along with Post reporter Tovah Lazaroff ’86.
Then, Professor Maurice Roumani from the Political Science Department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev recounted the story of how Brandeis’ Wien Scholarship rescued him from turmoil in Libya and forever changed his life and the lives of his family. Professor Fred Tauber of Tel Aviv University had a similar epic narrative to tell, describing how President Abram Sachar got American papers for numerous intellectuals among the survivors of the Holocaust — including Prof. Tauber’s father, who ultimately became a significant benefactor to the university whose founding president had transformed his life.
The rejuvenating spirit of Shabbat, and of the fellowship of the Brandeis family, continued on Saturday during the day as my family and I joined a discussion at the home of Rabbi Ron Kronish ’68 and his wife Amy. Ron is a founder and longtime director of the Interreligious Coordinating Council in Israel, which works for interfaith dialogue. Among Rabbi Kronish’s guests were Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman, arguably the most prominent reform rabbi in Israel; Dr. Mohammed Dajani, founder of Wasatia, a Palestinian group that highlights the roots of moderation within Islam; and the Rev. Timothy Lowe, rector of the Tantur Ecumenical Institute.
On Sunday, we visited the main campus of Al-Quds University, in Abu Dis. I had the chance to see in action the bridge-building exchanges of faculty, staff and students that have for years now characterized the partnership between Brandeis and Al-Quds, funded by the Ford Foundation. Brandeis professors Sue Lanser and Derek Isaacowitz and senior associate dean Elaine Wong teamed with Al-Quds colleagues in leading a discussion on the responsibilities of department chairs. In the new student center, two recent Brandeis alumni, along with assistant provost Alwina Bennett, introduced me to Palestinian students, who glowingly described how student exchanges in Waltham and Jerusalem had transformed their socio-political perspectives. I also discussed the future of our partnership with acting president Marwan Awartani and with Dr. Khuloud Khayyat Dajani, an energetic, innovative leader of the partnership from the Al-Quds side since the beginning.
The key to this partnership is that its roots are our institutions’ mutual commitments to excellence. The more discussions we held together on pedagogy, text study and best-practices administration, the more the spotlight shone on our common nature — as human beings and as members of academic communities.
Our incoming provost, Steve Goldstein, joined us today in Jerusalem. We were fortunate to benefit from his expertise, especially regarding our science collaborations. At Al-Quds, Steve met with the dean of the medical school, Dr. Hany Abdeen. In the coming days, Steve will spend considerable time at the Technion in Haifa, where he has forged in-depth collaborations as early as his days as a post-doc at Brandeis.
Later, we met with Professor Manuel Trajtenberg, chairman of the planning and budget committee for Israel’s Council of Higher Education. Professor Trajtenberg gave Steve, Dan Terris and me a bird’s-eye view of Israeli higher education, emphasizing the past two decades’ tremendous expansion of colleges, and describing the government’s renewed commitment to supporting research. I look forward to continuing to consult with him as Brandeis builds ever-deeper connections and collaborations here in the Holy Land.
The connection between Brandeis and Al-Quds University impresses me as a project with potentially constructive political implications. I am dismayed, however, that Fred Lawrence’s account of his trip does not seem to include even a smidgen of critical reflection on Israeli policies, on the occupation, on “social justice” as it pertains to the Palestinian people. Maybe I missed something, but I find no reference to any meeting with dissenting Israelis, with anyone from the Refusenik movement, with any members of Yesh Gvul or Courage to Refuse, for example, not to mention others on the political left. That the president of Brandeis, under the guise of intellectual openness and freedom, would be so seemingly oblivious to the narrowness of his political vision as reflected in what is omitted from his journey and his report is profoundly disappointing to this alumnus (’64).
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the visit I made to Israel with a contingent of Brandeis faculty and staff. I believe I can best answer you by restating our goals for the visit. This was an educational mission, not a political one. We met with leaders and faculty from a wide range of universities in Israel, as well as with other educational and academic leaders. As we hope to do with other countries in the near future, we are looking to engage with Israel on a number of academic levels that will include student exchanges and faculty collaborations. We expect that these exchanges and collaborations will include individuals with a wide range of backgrounds and interests. But again, this is not about politics; it is about research and education. Finally, I should add that a firm belief in social justice is a foundation of Brandeis and those values were reflected in our stop at Al-Quds and also at Yemin Orde, where there is intense focus on integrating Ethiopian children into Israeli society. Again, thank you for your sharing your concerns.
I appreciate Fred Lawrence’s reply and attempt to explain what I consider to be glaring omissions from his trip and from his report. I do not feel, however, that the claim that the trip was “not about politics” but about “research and education” holds water. In our time we have come increasingly to understand the way in which engaging in seemingly benign discourse (apple pie and the American flag) while Rome is burning can be deeply political, even perniciously so to the very extent that it disingenuously advertises itself as apolitical. The seemingly noncontroversial activity, beyond its happy dissociation from the horrific suffering in its immediate vicinity, can be resting on a foundation of unacknowledged, perhaps unrecognized, political, economic, and ideologically driven policies that are directly implicated in the egregious dehumanization of a huge sector of Israeli society. I believe Fred Lawrence’s journey and the proud, joyful report of it to the Brandeis community and to the world are thoroughly political. Beyond that, in my view, they collude, however inadvertently, with the wrong side.
I have no connection to Brandeis but would like to comment on the President’s trip to Israel. I was there a few days before he was and also met with Rabbi Levi. I was part of a tour group of Christians being led by a man who has lived in Israel (at Tantur) and knows well people from all sides of the political issues there. In meeting with Rabbi Levi he certainly was in the company of an amazing man, one of the founders of Rabbis for Human Rights – google him and you will see what I mean. (that’s how I ran across this page)