Sunday, April 25, 2010

28 Days

As anyone who has ever taken public transportation in Jerusalem knows, familiarity with the bus map is key to getting around. An earlier post mentioned some of the most useful lines for tourists; one of the most important lines for students is the 28/28a, which takes you to Mt. Scopus to see Israel's first university - the Hebrew University ("Hebrew U").

Hebrew U is quite an impressive institution. Its first Board of Governors included Albert Einstein (a major Zionist and fundraiser for Israel, who was also asked to be Israel's first president), Chaim Weizmann (another brilliant scientist, Zionist, and friend of Einstein, and who actually became Israel's first president), Martin Buber (a great Jewish philosopher) and Sigmund Freud (a psychologist who couldn't get his mind out of the gutter - serious, Dr. Freud, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar...).

Four of Israel's prime ministers are alumni of Hebrew U. Most impressively, in the last decade, six graduates of the University received the Nobel Prize.

Hebrew U is one of the true symbols of Zionist achievement. A Jewish university in the Land of Israel was always one of the goals of forward-thinking Jews of the world, and indeed Einstein was so dedicated to the idea, he left his entire literary estate to the university. The university opened in 1925 to great acclaim, and it has been going strong ever since, with a brief hiatus during the War of Independence.

Some notable faculty:

Robert Aumann, game theorist and 2005 Nobel Prize laureate for Economics, sharing it with Thomas Schelling.

Aharon Barak, Defense Minster Ehud Barak's brother and the former President of the Israeli Supreme Court; an internationally admired jurist.

Martin Buber, great Jewish philosopher and theologian.

Ephraim Halevy, the former Mossad Chief who now comments on politics in the Financial Times.

Yeshayahu Liebowicz, brilliant professor of biochemistry and Jewish Philosophy who is known for his left-wing politics as well as his logical positivism (not usually what you expect from a Jewish philosopher!). He is the brother of the famoous Hebrew Bible scholar Nechama Liebowicz.

Amihai Mazar and Benjamin Mazar, famous archaeoligist who won Israel prizes.

Gershom Scholem, great scholar of Jewish mysticism.

Zeev Sternhell, political scientist and historian.

Amos Tversky, psycholigist who pioneered much of rational-choice theory.

Now, that was just faculty! Conclusion: The Hebrew University is a pretty awesome place. Oh, and did I mention that it houses Israel's biggest library at its Giv'at Ram campus?

___

Come to the Parade, text a vote for your favorite float, and you will be entered to win a round-trip ticket to Israel on El Al Israel Airlines! More information coming soon, please keep visiting our website for details....

0 Comments:

Post a Comment