Divine Justice and Human Creativity in Jewish Literature August 3, 2014 August 8, 2014

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1 Divine Justice and Human Creativity in Jewish Literature August 3, 2014 August 8, 2014 Naama Cohen, Tikvah Summer Fellow Participant Biographies Naama Cohen is finishing her first year at the Hebrew University. After high school, she was a young shlicha, or emissary, to the Jewish community in MetroWest, New Jersey. In the army she served as an operations staff officer in the paratroopers. She worked as a counselor for high school groups traveling in and in the last two summers volunteered in a Jewish summer camp for families in Ukraine. She is currently working to prepare next year's emissaries for their trip to the Jewish community of New Jersey. She studies philosophy, economics and political science and is in Amirim, the honors program in the humanities, where she studied Talmud for the first time. She has a cat. David Feuchtwanger, Advanced Institute Participant David Feuchtwanger has taught for 12 years at Hartman High School in Jerusalem. In 2008 he received his Ph.D., summa cum laude, from the department of political science at the Hebrew University. Dr. Feuchtwanger s particular areas of interest are Jewish political thought and the interaction between politics and theology in the Bible, the Sages literature, and modern Jewish thought and halakhic literature. He also teaches these subjects in several other institutions, including the Hebrew University and Yeshivat Hesder Machanayim near Efrat. For the past two years David has been engaged in establishing the department of civic education (and political science) at the Herzog Teachers College. He views this program as an important opportunity to broaden religious students awareness of the complex i discourse and encourage them to take part in this evolving discourse. Amira Gabriel, Tikvah Summer Fellow Canada Amy Gabriel completed a Bachelor s degree in philosophy (Hon.) and English at Tyndale University in Toronto, Canada and a Master s degree in political theory at the University of Toronto. She has conducted research and writing for a diverse spectrum of organizations, including Canada s Department of National Defence, the Centre for and Jewish Affairs in Toronto, and the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. She is actively involved in her church and has coordinated and participated in volunteer projects both nationally and internationally, including teaching English as a second language, developing curricula for children s programs, and conducting research and letterwriting campaigns for the cause of human rights and religious freedom. In her spare time she can be found at home baking cheesecake.

2 Nadine Grzeszick, Tikvah Summer Fellow Germany Nadine Ayelet Grzeszick was born and raised in Germany. She currently works as a freelance journalist and public relations officer. Ms. Grzeszick coordinates the media team of the Jewish Agency in Germany. She has written for Germany's largest Jewish newspaper, among other publications, and is a freelance blogger for the Times of. After studying at the Hebrew University for a year, Nadine graduated from Heidelberg University in Germany. She holds an M.A. in English literature, Jewish studies, and religious studies and a B.A. in Islamic studies. Her area of specialization is American Jewish culture and literature. Rita Koganzon, Advanced Institute Participant Rita Koganzon is a graduate student in government at Harvard University, where she is working on a dissertation about authority and the family in early modern political thought. She is also a freelance writer, and her articles have appeared in National Affairs, the Claremont Review of Books, Policy Review, and the New Atlantis. Before graduate school, she received a B.A. in history from the University of Chicago and worked as an editorial assistant at the New York Times. Tal Kra-Oz, Advanced Institute Participant Tal Kra-Oz is a writer based in Jerusalem. His articles, in both English and Hebrew, have appeared in publications including Haaretz, the Jewish Daily Forward, Segula, Liberal, and Tablet magazine, to which he contributes regularly. Having left the Defense Forces with the rank of Captain, Mr. Kra-Oz is now nearing the end of his law studies at the Hebrew University. Erica Lyons, Advanced Institute Participant Hong Kong Erica Lyons is the founder and editor-in-chief of Asian Jewish Life, a journal of spirit, society, and culture; she won the 2012 Bechol Lashon New Media Award for the journal s coverage of Jewish diversity. Ms. Lyons is also a regular columnist for the Jewish Press and a freelance writer for publications including the Times of, London's Jewish Chronicle, and the South China Post, usually writing about Jewish Asia. She is a frequent speaker on this topic in forums as diverse as TEDx Hong Kong, the Sefer Judaic Studies Conference in Moscow, Limmud China in Beijing, RTHK Radio, and the Joint Distribution Committee s Day of Global Responsibility in Shanghai s historic Ohel Moshe Synagogue. She is Hong Kong's representative to the World Jewish Congress, a board member of the Hong Kong Jewish Historical Society, and a member of the management council of Hong Kong's Ohel Leah Synagogue.

3 Tuvya Miller, Tikvah Summer Fellow THE TIKVAH FUND Tuvy Miller is a rising senior at Yeshiva University majoring in English and Jewish studies. He hails from Baltimore, Maryland and spent two years studying in at Yeshivat Har Etzion. In the fall he will begin course work toward an M.A. in Jewish studies at the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies. Mr. Miller works as a peer advisor for first year students at YU and looks forward to serving on SOY-JSC, an undergraduate student council, during the coming academic year. He enjoys reading classical Jewish texts and contemporary ethnographies while keeping a close eye on national and i politics. He looks forward to having intensive and rewarding conversations this summer with an interesting and diverse group of people. Eliezer Mischel, Advanced Institute Participant Elie Mischel recently finished his first year as rabbi of the Synagogue of the Suburban Torah Center in Livingston, New Jersey. He has also served as assistant rabbi of Young of Staten Island and assistant director of community initiatives at Yeshiva University s Center for the Jewish Future. Rabbi Mischel is also an attorney and previously worked as a corporate associate at Day Pitney, LLP. Yitzhak Mor, Advanced Institute Participant Yitzhak Mor is a student in the new academic program of Shalem College, which combines core studies in a variety of fields with specialization in Middle Eastern and Islamic history. Mr. Mor studied for four years in a yeshiva in Beit El and served for several years as a Research Officer in the Defense Forces. He graduated from the Jewish Statesmanship Center in Jerusalem and has been volunteering as a medic in the Mobile Intensive Care Units of Magen David Adom for a decade. Alon Naveh, Tikvah Summer Fellow Alon Naveh comes from a progressive Judaism background. He was active in Noam Youth Movement of the Conservative Judaism Movement in and studied at the Leo Baeck Education Center in Haifa. After graduation from high school Alon studied at the Upper Galilee Institute for Leadership in Kibbutz Maayan-Baruch; he was then recruited to the IDF Intelligence Corps, in which he served for nearly six years, three of them as an officer. This year Alon was among the first students of the new Shalem College in Jerusalem.

4 Leah Rahmani, Tikvah Summer Fellow THE TIKVAH FUND Leah Rahmani recently graduated with a Bachelor s degree in English literature from Touro College. Originally from Boston, she is currently working for the non-for-profit activist organization Americans for Peace and Tolerance as program coordinator. APT is committed to educating the public about the anti- bias that exists within college campuses, public elementary and high schools, and existing Jewish organizations. Most recently, she has been involved with the documentary The J Street Challenge, the first film to confront J Street with the question of whether it is truly pro-peace and pro-. Adi Sherzer, Tikvah Summer Fellow Adi Sherzer is a research associate in the department of Jewish history at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Last year he was a teaching assistant for Professor Hanna Yablonka, head of the Studies department at the university. Mr. Sherzer s work concentrates on Jewish traditions and the creation of new i narratives; his research combines studies, cultural history, and theory of nationalism. He is a member of the editorial board of im magazine. He is also the main education officer at the Magal Formation Center for the Training of Combat Support Recruits in the IDF. He was formerly head of research and development at the Education and Hasbara Branch of the Chief Education Officer Headquarters. Benjamin Silver, Tikvah Summer Fellow Benjamin Silver just graduated from the University of Chicago with an A.B. in philosophy and political science. His academic interests include political philosophy and moral education, especially in ancient Greek thought. He is a former Hertog Fellow and was once an intern at the Weekly Standard. His writing, which includes work on contemporary issues facing American Jews and American politics, has appeared in Counterpoint, Makom, the Weekly Standard, and Mosaic magazine. Daniela Traub, Tikvah Summer Fellow Daniela Traub is co-founder and director of the Center for New Diplomacy. She was head of the Hebrew University hasbara war room during the Pillar of Defense operation and served as assistant to i Military Attaché in Rome. She is a published author; her works include Idisina the Black Rider. She was an officer in the combat intelligence unit of the Defense Forces. She earned her B.A. in international relations and theater from the Hebrew University.

5 Lily Wilf, Tikvah Summer Fellow Lily Wilf is a rising junior, majoring in history, at Barnard College, where she also spends a lot of time studying French. Hailing from New Haven, Connecticut, she attended Maimonides High School in Boston, then traveled to for a year of Jewish study at Migdal Oz before Barnard. On campus she is an active member of the Columbia/Barnard Hillel and an editor and writer for the Columbia Current, a journal of contemporary politics, culture, and Jewish affairs. This past semester, she worked at Tablet magazine. After her participation in the fellowship, she will remain in Manhattan this summer for a job with Macmillan Publishers. Joe Wolfson, Advanced Institute Participant Joe Wolfson is a Modern Orthodox educator and rabbi, originally from London and now resident in. He holds the Aria Fellowship of the Office of the Chief Rabbi (UK). His academic background is in political philosophy, and he holds degrees from Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and UCL s School of Public Policy; his Jewish studies have been undertaken at Bet Morasha in Jerusalem and Yeshivat Har Etzion, where he is a member of the Kollel Halakha. He has worked and taught in New York, London, and Sydney, Australia, and is on the faculty of the London School of Jewish Studies. In parallel with his studies, he has developed an online Jewish education business, giving weekly classes to groups and individuals from London to Mumbai. His writings and classes are available at