$1.5 Million Koret Foundation Grant Establishes Program in Western Political Thought at Shalem

A consistent and visionary supporter of Shalem, the Koret Foundation has just made a $1.5 million grant to the college to establish the first Interdisciplinary Program in Western Political Thought and Engagement at an Israeli institute of higher education. The program will consist of two, complementary components: First, an array of courses taught as part of Shalem’s innovative Core Curriculum, which introduce students to the seminal works of Western civilization and the Jewish tradition; second, a series of encounters intended to bridge the divide between Israeli and North American Jews. Taken together, they will show “the varied ways in which the ideas that have shaped the great democracies of the West can play a vital role in the modern Zionist conversation, too,” states Dr. Daniel Gordis, Senior Vice President, Koret Distinguished Fellow, and Director of the Core Curriculum at Shalem College. “This program is our way of guarding against parochialism. Our students will emerge with an enlarged and enriched worldview, which in turn will enable them to provide the kind of visionary leadership the Jewish state needs.”

Leading the program on campus will be Dr. Assaf Malach. A scholar of political philosophy and nationalism, Malach is the co-founder of the Jewish Statesmanship Center, which offers top-performing Israeli college students extra-curricular courses in subjects of importance to the national agenda. Malach will direct a faculty seminar that will explore the subjects at the heart of the Koret program and ensure a vibrant dialogue between courses and among students; moreover, he will be tasked with making the program “three dimensional” by means of site visits and guest lectures on topics related to course material.

On the program’s goal of creating an intellectual dialogue between Israeli and North American Jews, Gordis explains that it “comes at a time when the two communities are drifting ever farther apart, and the need for open, honest, yet mutually respectful dialogue is ever more acute.” These Israel-Diaspora encounters—which will take place in the Bay Area, home to the Koret Foundation—include a scholar-in-residence program, which will bring Shalem faculty into conversation with their counterparts at elite Northern California universities, as well as with leading members of the Jewish community there, and Shalem student delegations to college campuses, where they will confront the unique set of characteristics and challenges that define the American-Jewish experience.

“The future of the Jewish People worldwide requires that our leaders have deep knowledge of the big ideas that have shaped our story, and given it meaning and purpose. Our future also depends on a robust partnership between the Israeli and American Jewish communities,” concludes Dr. Anita Friedman, President of the Board of the Koret Foundation. “The new Program in Western Political Thought at Shalem addresses both of these imperatives.  We at Koret are honored to be a partner with Shalem in this forward-thinking new venture.”