Dr. ShinAe Kim, Adjunct Professor at the Methodist Theological University in Seoul, South Korea, hosted a special three-part Bible Studies lecture series in collaboration with Bar-Ilan University’s Bible Department and the International School last month. Dr. Kim is one of Bar-Ilan University’s successful alumni who earned her doctorate in Biblical Studies in 2015. A summary of each lecture has been provided by Dr. Kim and her colleague, Dr. Kyung Sick Kim. The lectures were in English with simultaneous translation into Korean. A link to each recording is below the summary. Prof. Ed Greenstein, “Job, A New Translation” Translated and reported...

Yakir Elazari is a graduate student in a special program for IDF reserve officers in Political Studies, and Military and Security Studies at Bar-Ilan University. Since his high school days, Yakir has been interested in politics and the military, and immediately following his IDF service, he realized that this was the field that he wanted to study. Yakir’s Bachelor’s degree is also in the field of government and politics. Read More.

Although climate change will certainly bring warmer conditions, it will also bring greater shifts in global weather patterns – and the Red Sea may be cooling unlike other coral reef habitats around the world. This phenomenon led scientists from the Interuniversity Institute for Marine Science in Eilat and Bar-Ilan University to study the effects of cooling on corals in the Gulf of Aqaba. The researchers found that winters even 1°C cooler than the current average could be stressful for corals. Read More.

The accumulation of the amyloid-beta protein in the brain leads to the type of cognitive impairment observed in people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or Down Syndrome. A study conducted by Prof. Eitan Okun’s group at the Paul Feder Alzheimer’s Disease Research Laboratory in BIU’s Gonda (Goldschmied) Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center found that immunity transmitted from the mother to the fetus may lead to a significant reduction in the accumulation of the amyloid-beta protein and less damage. Read More.

What’s the likely identity of the “forbidden fruit” described in the Bible’s Garden of Eden, which Eve is said to have eaten and then shared with Adam? If your guess is “an apple,” you’re probably wrong. The Hebrew Bible doesn’t actually specify what type of fruit Adam and Eve ate. “We don’t know what it was. There’s no indication it was an apple,” Rabbi Ari Zivotofsky, a professor of Brain Science at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, told Live Science. Read More.

Pesach is chag hageulah, when we remember our deliverance from slavery in Egypt. For my father, Yechezkel (Chaskel) Tydor, it was also a reminder of his personal slavery, his five and a half years in the Nazi camps of Buchenwald and Auschwitz. Read More.

Israel has made efforts to ensure all international students have access to the vaccine. This vaccination drive is indicative of Israel’s commitment to internationalization in higher education. Bar-Ilan University is one of the universities that is committed to taking care of its international students. Read more.

Message from Ofer Dahan, Executive Director, International School March was a busy month for Bar-Ilan University faculty and staff as we prepared for the next phase of learning on campus that will take place this month. On Monday, April 5, after the Passover holidays, we will welcome students once again for face-to-face, in-person learning in classrooms and laboratories combined with virtual lectures for those who can’t return to the university. Attendance on campus will now be possible for students with a Green Pass, which shows proof of vaccination, or a certificate proving recovery from the virus. You can read more...

Jewish Studies encompasses a diverse range of disciplines, which combines aspects of Jewish history from ancient to modern times; Jewish literature and linguistics in Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, and the other Judaic languages; Judaism, the religion; Jewish thought, theology, philosophy, and mysticism; Bible and biblical interpretation, rabbinic literature and culture, Sephardic and Mizrachi Jews, Holocaust Studies, Israel Studies; Jewish politics; the Jewish arts; archaeology; sociology; and more. However, when it comes to choosing what to study as an undergraduate student from this vast range of choices, most programs are limited to specific departments and one or two majors, and very few...

Bar-Ilan University’s International School hosted its second annual Attachés’ Conference in March. The event focused on Israel’s experience with, and response to, COVID-19, an unwavering vaccination strategy and its implementation, and a look at what lies ahead. Prof. Moshe Lewenstein, BIU’s Deputy President, was MC of the conference and moderator of the panel discussion. He first welcomed all delegates, gave a summary of the program, and then introduced Prof. Arie Zaban, BIU’s President, who provided an overview of the university and its main activities during these challenging times. You can listen to Prof. Zaban’s interesting 20-minute presentation here. After Prof. Zaban’s...