IDI's Human Rights and Judaism program is designed to strengthen Israel's Jewish and democratic identity by training the next generation of thought-leaders and educators in a new field of knowledge—Human Rights and Judaism. The centerpiece of this initiative is a prestigious fellowship program for Israel’s brightest Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences.
Professor Shahar Lifshitz, dean of the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University, is considered a leading scholar of family law and responsible for shaping civil law theory in that field. He is the author of the Partnership Covenant, which he wrote as part of the IDI’s Constitution by Consensus Project.
Family law; contract law; multiculturalism; human rights and Judaism.
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.
Written By: Yohanan Plesner
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must charge forward and turn his words into action. Only then will he be able to guarantee his vision of Israel as “a source of unity for our people.” (This article was first published by JNS.org.)
Written By: Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern
IDI Vice President Prof. Yedidia Stern reflects on the privilege of sacrifice and the necessity to maintain a Jewish Israel in order to justify that sacrifice, in an article written for Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel's Wars and Victims of Terrorism.
Written By: Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern
Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern asserts that if we see ourselves as "other" and identify with the stranger, the poor, and people with disabilities, historic redemption of our ancestors from Egypt will be an ongoing redemption for our generation.
Written By: Benjamin (Benny) Lau, Shira Ruderman, Admiral (Res.) Amichay (Ami) Ayalon
An op-ed by IDI Senior Fellow Admiral Ami Ayalon, Project Head Rabbi Dr. Benny Lau, and Shira Ruderman of the Ruderman Foundation, stressing the need to dispel the fear of the Other and the Different.
Written By: Prof. Shahar Lifshitz
Prof. Shahar Lifshitz explains why IDI's proposal for civil unions, which was first presented in his IDI policy paper The Spousal Registry, is the best solution possible today for alleviating the distress of couples who cannot or do not want to marry in a religious ceremony in Israel.
Written By: Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern
How should Jews in Israel feel about the mass slaughter of Arabs by Arabs just a few miles away? IDI Vice President Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern shares thoughts in this article, which was originally published in The Jewish Week.
Written By: Prof. Shahar Lifshitz
Prof. Shahar Lifshitz, author of an IDI policy paper proposing a spousal registry as a framework for civil unions in Israel, welcomes the reintroduction of this issue to the public agenda but expresses some concern about the formulation of the current bill.
Written By: Prof. Shahar Lifshitz
Why didn't the religious community in Israel participate in the socio-economic protest of the summer of 2011? IDI Senior Fellow Prof. Shahar Lifshitz reflects on this question and discusses the need to develop a pluralistic language that includes both particularistic Jewish values and universal democratic values.
This conference will examine the Israeli public intellectual’s place in public discourse, from a historical and contemporary perspective as well as various ways of cultivating public intellectuals.
In light of the proposed amendment to the law on the Council for Higher Education
The book launch for "Both Jewish and Democratic: A Handbook for Israeli Teachers" by Prof. Adar Cohen.
A conference on the status of people with disabilities in Israel hosted by IDI and the Ruderman Family Foundation
A joint event of IDI's Human Rights and Judaism project and Princeton University’s Law and Public Affairs Program
How do Jewish sources—both religious and national—relate to citizens who are not Jewish, whether as individuals or members of a group? This question was explored at a unique conference at the Israel Democracy Institute that examined and evaluated the way Jewish thinkers saw this issue throughout the generations.
An evening of study dedicated to the integration of people with intellectual disabilities in the family, the community, and Jewish life.
A joint initiative of IDI, the Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Law, the Tikvah Center for Law & Jewish Civilization, and JOFA
A conference on responsibility for people with disabilities in cooperation with Bizchut – The Israel Human Rights Center for People with Disabilities
A conference that explored whether it is possible to engage traditional Jewish sources in the contemporary debate on the nature of distributive justice and to involve them as active participants in shaping Israeli society today.
The last lecture in a series of four lectures by Rabbi Dr. Benjamin (Benny) Lau
The third lecture in a series of four lectures by Rabbi Dr. Benjamin (Benny) Lau
The second in a series of four lectures by Rabbi Dr. Benjamin (Benny) Lau at the Ramban Synagogue
The first in a series of four lectures by Rabbi Dr. Benjamin (Benny) Lau at the Ramban Synagogue
A special pre-Passover event at the Ramban Synagogue
On Wednesday and Thursday, May 16-17, 2012, IDI hosted an international conference on the Role of Religion in Human Rights Discourse as part of the activities of its Human Rights and Judaism project. Topics discussed at the conference included Freedom of Religion, Freedom from Religion, Religion as a Source of Human Rights, and Religion and Human Rights on the Ground.
On Wednesday, March 21, 2012, IDI hosted a conference on poverty in the Jewish and democratic state as part of the activities of its Human Rights and Judaism project. The conference explored the definition of poverty from a Jewish perspective, from a socio-economic perspective, and from a moral perspective. In addition, it explored the rights and obligations of the middle class, and the responsibility of the community, civil society, and state.
