The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society

Joan and Irwin Jacobs Distinguished Fellow: Former President Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin

 

The Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society is a new IDI initiative focused on strengthening social solidarity and fostering commitment to democratic values in Israel. The establishment of the Center was made possible by a landmark gift from Irwin and Joan Jacobs, who have endowed it in perpetuity.

The Center, established in 2021, is dedicated to carrying on the important work Rivlin launched as President under the banner of the “Israeli Hope Initiative.”

As President Rivlin remarked in his historic speech from 2015: “I have identified a very real threat in our collective suppression of the transformations that Israeli society has been undergoing in recent decades… it is the distribution into four principal tribes that make up Israeli society, that reveals its basic structure; a structure that we shall never have the ability or the power to blur or erase…the ‘new Israeli order’ now requires us to abandon the accepted view of a majority and minorities and move to a new concept of partnership between the various population sectors in our society.”

The creation of the new Center will enable placement of the Institute’s key social integration initiatives and its focus on meeting the unique challenges arising from Israel's dual identity as a Jewish nation-state and a liberal democracy, under a single organizational framework, creating cross-disciplinary synergies and fostering respectful dialogue between representatives of the various “tribes” that make up contemporary Israeli society. The Center’s initial focus will be on efforts to integrate Israel’s Arab citizens and its ultra-Orthodox population into society and the economy as it seeks to attenuate the inherent tensions between religion and state. It will also promote religious pluralism, efforts to reduce tensions between secular and religious Israelis and build bridges between Israel and the Diaspora. The programmatic initiatives undertaken by the Center will combine applied research with public outreach, and showcase the Institute’s growing commitment to the inculcation of a common ethos of democratic citizenship across all sectors of Israel’s diverse society.

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    Prof. Suzie Navot

    Vice President, Research

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    Suzie Navot is a full professor of constitutional and parliamentary law and, prior to her appointment, was a member of the faculty of the Striks School of Law at the College of Management Academic Studies. She earned a bachelor's degree in law from Tel Aviv University, an M.A in public policy from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Tel Aviv University and holds a doctorate in law from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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    Adv. Shlomit Ravitsky Tur-Paz

    Director of the Center and Head of the Religion and State Program at the Center

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    Co-founded and co-directed Itim – the Jewish Life Advocacy Center– an organization that committed to increasing participation in Jewish life by making Israel’s religious establishment respectful of and responsive to the diverse Jewish needs of the Jewish people. In this capacity, she has appeared before the Rabbinic Courts on issues of conversion, marriage, and divorce.

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    Ronny Barboy

    Head, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program

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    [email protected]

    Ronny holds a bachelor's degree in Community Social Work and a Master's in Public Administration and Policy from the Hebrew University. She specializes in research, policy analysis, and implementation. Previously, she coordinated training programs for senior civil service personnel at Mandel Institute and served as CEO and partner at Agora policy Institute, as well as being a senior researcher at the Haredi Institute for Policy Research.

    In addition, Ronny has acted as an advisor to government ministries, foundations, and third-sector organizations, specializing in guiding policy design and implementation processes related to Haredi society.

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    Prof. Daniel Statman

    Senior Fellow, Religion and State Program

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    Prof. Daniel Statman is a lecturer at the Philosophy department of the University of Haifa and specializes in ethics and political philosophy. He has served on several public committees, including the committee that revised the ethical code for the IDF, the committee that is responsible for decisions on new medicines to be covered by the national medical insurance, and the ethical committee of Ha-Emek hospital.

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    Prof. Benjamin Porat

    Senior Fellow, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program, Religion and State Program

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    A senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the director of the Matz Institute for Jewish Law. After completing his doctorate at the Hebrew University, he was hosted as a post-doctoral fellow by the University of Toronto

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    Dr. Gilad Malach

    Research Fellow, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program

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    [email protected]

    Dr. Gilad Malach is a research fellow at IDI's Ultra-Orthodox in Israel program. He co-authored the Master Plan for Ultra-Orthodox Employment (along with Doron Cohen and Haim Zicherman) and was editor of the Statistical Report on Ultra-Orthodox Society in Israel (in cooperation with Dr. Lee Cahaner).

    He was director of implementation of the Gavison-Medan Covenant Project at the Avi Chai Foundation and content manager of the Committee on Sharing the Security Burden in the Eighteenth Knesset.

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    Adv. Edna Harel Fisher

    Research Fellow, Religion and State Program

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    Edna Harel Fisher leads policy research at the institute on the topic of funding for culture, ‘Mamlachtiyut’, and freedom of speech.

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    Dr. Lee Cahaner

    Research Fellow, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program

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    Dr. Lee Cahaner, a social geographer, is a senior lecturer and head of the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Oranim Academic College of Education. Cahaner is also a research associate in the Israel Democracy Institute's Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program.

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    Dr. Rivka Neriya Ben-Shahar

    Senior Researcher, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program

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    [email protected]

    Dr. Rivka Neriya Ben-Shahar is a senior lecturer at Sapir Academic College in Sderot, Israel, teaching courses in research methods, communication, religion, and gender. Her doctorate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was entitled "Ultra-Orthodox Women and Mass Media in Israel – Exposure Patterns and Reading Strategies."

    She was a Fulbright post-doctoral fellow and a Scholar in Residence at the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute at Brandeis University, and worked on a study of women's cultural-religious praxes.

    Dr. Neriya Ben-Shahar researches the mass media from the perspectives of religion and gender. Her most recent research project addresses the tension between religious values and new technologies among Old Order Amish women and Jewish ultra-Orthodox women.

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    Dr. Asaf Malchi

    Senior Researcher, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program

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    Dr. Asaf Malchi is a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, in the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel program. His research focuses on current social and economic trends  in the community, in the areas of employment,  higher education, military and Civilian National Service, and more. These studies provide important input to decision makers in crafting policy on the ultra-Orthodox.

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    Dr. Shlomit Shahino Kesler

    Senior Researcher, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program

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    Dr. Shlomit Shahino-Kesler is a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute in the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel program.

    Shlomit holds a PhD in Political Science and has 20 years of experience in research and policy.

    Over the past decade, she has specialized in studying Haredi society.

    At the Haredi Institute for Public Affairs, she served as a senior researcher, lead researcher, and Deputy Director for Policy. In these roles, she dealt with issues such as housing, employment, education, at-risk youth, and local authorities, and worked in partnership with senior officials in government ministries, local authorities, and philanthropy.

    She teaches courses on policy and Haredi society in Israel at Sapir Academic College.

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    Gabriel Gordon

    Researcher, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program

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    [email protected]

    He holds a Master's degree in Economics and Environmental studies.

    His research focuses on demographics and trends within the Israeli labor force.

     

     

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    Dr. Ariel Finkelstein

    Researcher, Religion and State Program and Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program

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    Dr. Ariel Finkelstein holds s bachelor's degree from the Integrated Program for Philosophy, Economics and Political Science at Hebrew University, and a Master's degree in Public Policy, with a specialization in local government administration and management from Haifa University, as part of the Ministry of Local Government's "Cadets for Local Government" program.

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    Tehila Gado

    Researcher, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program

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    Doctoral student in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Has an MA in Criminology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is a lecturer at the Ono Academic College.

    Her PhD thesis deals with religious violence between ultra-orthodox spouses. Her research in general deals with the study of the ultra-orthodox society in Israel: trends of change in this society, religious and cultural perceptions and ideology, Rabbinical leadership and interfaces between culture and religiosity.

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    Ayala Goldberg

    Research Assistant, Religion and State Program

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    Research assistant in the Religion and State program at the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society, and a local governance project within the Civil Service Reform program. Holds a Bachelor's degree in the PPE program from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Currently a Master's student in government and public policy at the Open University.

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    Eliyahu Berkovits

    Researcher, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program and Religion and State Program

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    Eliyahu is a PhD student in Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a graduate of ‘Ateret Israel’ and ‘Mir’ yeshivas.

    He has a Masters in Jewish Thought from the Hebrew University and a BA in Humanities from the Open University of Israel.

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    Adi Wiener

    Research Assistant in the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program

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    [email protected]

    Adi is researching trends of leaving the Haredi community, as part of the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program in the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for Shared Society, and is set to participate in additional research projects.

    She is a PhD candidate at the School of Jewish Studies at Tel Aviv University, holds an M.A. in Talmud from Tel Aviv University, and a B.A. in Political Science and Jewish History from the Hebrew University.

    Adi took part in various research projects, including discourse monitoring in international media project at the Hebrew University, media coverage of 2011 protest project at Hadassah Academic College, and Cairo Geniza Jewish texts project at Tel Aviv University.

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    Gilad Cohen Kovacs

    Researcher, Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program

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    [email protected]

    Gilad is an economist and a sociologist by training, a graduate of the PPE program (philosophy, economics, political science) for a bachelor's degree and the economics program for a master's degree (research track), both from the Hebrew University, and is currently a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Hebrew University.

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    Ya'ari Padan

    Research Assistant

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    Hodaya Ben Ari

    Research Assistant

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    Marianne Matyash

    Research Assistant

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    Marianne holds a Master's in International Public Policy from Queen Mary University in London. Her thesis focuses on the compatibility between Judaism and liberal democracy.
    She has advocated external voting rights for overseas Israelis and has organized and led networks of Israeli activists in Israel and around the world.

     

    E-mail: [email protected]

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    Naomi Turetzky

    Research Assistant in the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel Program

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