Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem

LBI Jerusalem, in cooperation with Koret Center for Jewish Civilization, and the Shalom Rosenfeld Institute for the Research of Jewish Journalism and Press at Tel Aviv University, will hold a workshop on Tuesday, November 5th, dedicated to the history and methodology of research about the Jewish press. This event concludes the workshop for research students titled "Jewish Press: History and Methodology." Professor Guy Miron and David Witzthum, in conversation with Dr. Meirav Reuveny, will discuss the history of Jewish media in Germany and Israel, the democratization of Jewish discourse, the role of the German-language press in Israel, the impact of the digitization of historical newspapers on research, and more. 📅 Don’t miss this insightful event – sign up here (The event will be held in Hebrew): https://bit.ly/3AkVWFW

📢 You’re Invited! Join us for the first event in our series next Wednesday, November 6th, featuring Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer on the evolution of Israeli law. Professor Kremnitzer, a leading scholar and Professor Emeritus at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, will explore the impact of British, German, and Continental law on Israel’s legal framework—from the British Mandate to today’s Basic Laws on human rights. 🔑 Topics Include: - Defensive Democracy and freedom of expression - Proportionality and human dignity - The reasonable risk doctrine and more - Gain insights into how these laws shaped and continue to shape Israeli society. The event will be held in Hebrew. 🔗 Sign up here: https://bit.ly/3U8IL1g #IsraeliLaw #LegalStudies

Earlier this month we launched the Jewish Almanach “7. Oktober. Stimmen aus Israel” (7th of October. Voices from Israel) in Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt and Leipzig. We discussed this collection of articles in very different contexts. One aspect was how writers and thinkers dealt with October 7th and its aftermath in their work. Another one was connected to the impact of October 7th on life in Israel but also on the Jewish and Israeli community in Germany. When the Almanach, edited by Professor gisela dachs was planned, we were confident that the war would end once the book came out. Since we are still in the middle of it, the political implications of October 7th and the war were raised at the various events, too. This Almanch intended to bring various voices and experiences of October 7th to a German-speaking audience. We would like to thank the authors who contributed to the book, everyone who came and participated in the events, and our cooperation partners: - Jüdisches Museum Frankfurt / Museum Judengasse - Stiftung Neue Synagoge Berlin - Centrum Judaicum - Simon Dubnow Institute for Jewish History and Culture - Ariowitsch Haus, Leipzig - Deutsch-Israelische Gesellschaft e.V. Munich - Dr. Ludwig Spaenle and Dr. Julie Grimmeisen - Bayerischer Landtag - Institut für Neue Soziale Plastik, Hannah Dannel - Israelitische Kultusgemeinde Munich, Steven Guttmann In addition,we would like to thank Dr. Ludwig Spaenle MdL for his hospitality, support, and interest in the situation in Israel and for his generous invitation to join the Bavarian parliament's discussion of the resolution in solidarity with Israel and the support of Jewish Life in Bavaria. Wishing for better times to come soon! The Jewish Almanach is published annually by LBI Jerusalem in cooperation with Suhrkamp Verlag AG.

The Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem is saddened to announce the death of Professor Paul Mendes Flohr (1941-2024) who died on the morning of Simchat Torah last week. Born in Brooklyn in 1941, a graduate of Brandeis University, Mendes Flohr became one of the most important scholars of German-Jewish Thought and is known for his scholarship on Franz Rosenzweig, Gershom Scholem, Leo Strauss and especially Martin Buber. Buber - himself one of the founders of the Leo Baeck Institute in Jerusalem – and especially his theory on the importance and the potential of a true dialogue inspired Paul Mendes-Flohr deeply and was a source for his social and political engagement among others for Arab-Jewish dialogue and peace. Professor Paul Mendes-Flohr, who taught both at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the University of Chicago was the most senior board member of the Leo Baeck Institute in Jerusalem – since 1999. During these years, Mendes Flohr supported the work and mission of the institute in many ways. Not only through his scholarly and ethical connection to the founding generation of the institute, also as committed mentor for young scholars. We were grateful to be able to celebrate his scholarship with the publication of his Festschrift “Is Tikkun Olam still possible?”, edited by Orr Scharf, Benjamin Pollok and Sharon Livne (published in 2024 by Carmel Publishing House - הוצאת ספרים כרמל in Jerusalem) at a little ceremony in August 2024 at the institute. In the legacy of his work and in cooperation with the Adam institute for Democracy and Peace, we will continue to work on the realization of a workshop program for educators with which we want to offer knowledge, tools and guidance in the urgent need to improve our skills in dialogue.

We are proud to announce that our project “Library of Lost Books” won the important Grimme-Institut Online Award 2024 in the category “Culture and Entertainment”! The online exhibition and citizen science project “The Library of Lost Books” tells the story of the Berlin based Higher Institute for Jewish Studies and its library which was closed and looted by the Nazis in 1942. Today we invite the audience to search these books with us. “The Library of Lost Books” is the result of an extensive international collaboration. Bettina Farack envisioned this project and serves as curator. The LBI in London has been our main collaborator, with the magnificent job done by its deputy director Kinga Bloch. The support from the team of our Freunde und Förderer des Leo Baeck Instituts e.V. in Berlin was an enormous administrative and organizational help. Without the creativity, commitment, and professionalism of the navos create team, we would not have won this prize. We also would like to thank Bleech for building the website of the exhibition including the complex database. For their trust, support, and guidance, we would like to thank the Stiftung Erinnerung, Verantwortung und Zukunft (EVZ) and the team of its Educational Agenda on Nazi injustice, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Finance..

#Sukkot is around the corner and the Annual Report is on its way to LBI Jerusalem partners and supporters. Have a quiet holiday, and stay tuned for intensive programming to start right after the holidays! 

If you had to guess, which legal system has had the most significant influence in shaping Israel's legal framework? We all remember a few Ottoman laws that have survived here, including the law stating that landowners cannot demolish buildings constructed by squatters. British laws also still exist in abundance. But in terms of shaping the system, the separation of religion and state, and particularly how the legal system and democracy influence each other—you guessed it, the German-speaking world. Hans Kelsen, a Jewish philosopher born in Prague who moved to Vienna with his family when he was two, was born this week in 1881. He later immigrated to the United States in 1940. His book *On the Essence and Value of Democracy*, which addresses the philosophical foundation of the rule of law and popular sovereignty, was translated into Hebrew by Israeli Supreme Court Justice Yitzhak Englard in 2005. Kelsen’s project was to philosophically demonstrate that democracy is the best guarantee for preserving human freedoms. It’s no coincidence that his translator noted that “the issues discussed in the book are consistently on Israel’s agenda: parliamentary immunity, political referendums, parliamentary defections, revocation of a member’s mandate for deviating from party lines, the status of the opposition, and the constitutional entrenchment of political parties, etc.” In times like these, "philosophical foundations" might seem abstract, distant, or non-urgent. But perhaps within them lies one of the keys to repair and rebuilding. A year and a half ago, we hosted an event in his honor at the institute, and we invite you to watch it. https://lnkd.in/gZ9hwMj3 Furthermore, this year we will be hosting a series of meetings on Jewish law, and we invite you to register now for the first session, which will feature Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer. Sign up here: https://bit.ly/3U8IL1g

It is never too late nor too early to read more from Martin Buber! Have a look at our new edition of “A Land of Two Peoples.” Written between 1918 and 1965, this collection concerns a topic that affects us today as much as it did when it was written: the Jewish-Arabic question in Israel. The book has been published in several different languages, the first dating back to 1983. The latest edition will be published in 2025. We also exhibit an Arabic translation of the book. The book contains open and private letters, addresses, and essays by Martin Buber advocating bi-nationalism as a solution to the conflict in the Middle East. It also includes a preface and comments by Paul Mendes-Flohr, a leading scholar of modern Jewish thought specializing in 19th and 20th-century Jewish thinkers. He is a Professor Emeritus of Jewish Thought at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. And if we are already speaking, come visit our reading room and see our Martin Buber collection! You can view our Martin Buber collection in the reading room of our Institute & online. https://bit.ly/4f1DZLf

Charlotte Salomon was born in 1917 in Berlin to a prosperous Jewish family. As a teenager, she witnessed the rise of Nazism and the devastation it brought to her family, including her father's brief internment and multiple family suicides. By 1939, she fled to southern France to escape persecution, joining her grandparents in hiding. In this tumultuous period, she began creating her magnum opus, “Life? or Theater?”, an autobiographical series of over 1,300 gouaches. Through vivid, colorful paintings, Charlotte transformed her trauma, addressing family secrets like her grandfather’s abuse—an ordeal she ended by poisoning him, as revealed in a 35-page confession published decades later. Tragically, in 1943, at 26 and pregnant, Charlotte was captured and murdered in Auschwitz. Despite this, her art survives as a powerful testament to resilience, documenting her life with raw emotion and courageous creativity.

Since October 7th, 2023, our region has been far from quiet. Our captives remain in Gaza, facing daily life-threatening danger. The country is grappling with internal and external turmoil. Tens of thousands of citizens have been displaced from their homes, and some may have no homes to return to. Our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones this past year. As we celebrate the new year, we remind ourselves that the holiday cannot be complete without the return of the hostages. Our prayers are with them, for their safe return home. Despite the challenges, we wish you all a good and peaceful new year. Shana Tova from all of us at LBI! 🍎 May 5785 bring only good tidings.