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The Canadian Friends of Bar-Ilan University |
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E-Focus on Bar-Ilan
A Tradition of Excellence at a Glance | |
Rosh Hashanah Greetings
from Prof. Moshe Kaveh, President of Bar-Ilan University
As we approach the beginning of the Jewish year 5769, the world faces many challenges. Shifts in international relations, the global economy, and the quality of the very environment in which we live are all cause for deep pondering. This adds to the magnitude of the Heshbon Nefesh (accounting of our own deeds) that we undertake during the High Holy Days.
Jewish tradition gives us much inspiration and energy for this introspective time. We are promised that by carefully examining our thoughts and actions, correcting our misdoings, and having faith in Heavenly forgiveness, we will find the proper path for moving ahead into a better future.
In keeping with Jewish wisdom, before we look to the future, we must examine our past. I am delighted to share with you just a few of BIU's major achievements over the past year which gave me particular pleasure.
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Jewish Ecology by Prof. Rabbi Daniel Sperber
There is a basic notion expressed in many texts from rabbinic literature, which illustrates that the responsibility to care for the earth is not the responsibility of one particular elitist nation; it is not a mitzvah, commandment, for Jews alone; it is for every human being to do all within our abilities to restore an ecological balance to the planet on which we live.
Mankind has been given a mandate, which is also a privilege, to tend the Garden of Eden - the world - and to guard over it for future generations. That is our mandate, one which actually presents us with an awesome responsibility.
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| Plants Talk to Bar-Ilan Scientists
 The old saying goes that "if you talk to your plants, they will grow strong and healthy". But what if you listened to your plants? What would they tell you? A team of Bar-Ilan University scientists discovered that, amazingly, plants could tell them if bodies of water are safe or contaminated - a discovery with applications as far-reaching as the early detection of contaminants and toxins in drinking water. |
| Social Action Unit Supports Students
At Bar-Ilan University we believe that education in general, and academic education in particular, is a tool for social leadership that can close societal gaps and empower weaker sectors in society. This is why we created the Social Action Unit - an organization within the University that enables thousands of students to express their hidden learning potential, despite their physical, emotional or socio-economic limitations. The SAU gives them the necessary tools to fully integrate into Israeli society.
In the coming months the Canadian Friends of Bar-Ilan University will bring you an on-going series of student success stories in our monthly E-Focus as part of our mission to support the Social Action Unit.
We begin this month with the story of Raviv, a student completing his BA in Education despite suffering from severe learning disabilities and neurological complications.
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| Shanah Tova!
From all of us across the country, we want to wish you and your families all the best for a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.
The Canadian Friends of Bar-Ilan University Family | |
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Invading Georgia
The Opening Shot in a Grand Russian Strategy to Challenge the West Through Control of the Energy Market
by Prof. Efraim Inbar
Moscow's military intervention in Georgia must be understood through the prism of global strategy and energy politics.
The Russian state seeks to intimidate energy producing countries once part of the Soviet Union, such as Azerbaijan & Turkmenistan, and to develop a grand anti-American energy coalition that spans from Iran to Venezuela. This poses a significant challenge to the West, and may yet require muscular Western counter-action.
Russian Oil Ambitions & Implications
The small state of Georgia is a fledgling pro-Western democracy that seeks to join NATO and other Western political structures.
Georgia, located next to powerful Russia, committed a grave mistake in its foreign policy this August 2008.
Tbilisi ignored the main virtue advocated by the great practitioners of international relations from Niccolo Machiavelli to Henry Kissinger - prudence - by attempting to regain military control of a seceding region which was supported by Moscow.
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