Rank and File

S LET'S GET TOGETHER: Fifty years after they met at the Jewish Agency's Institute for Youth Leaders from Abroad, an educational program for Zionist youth movement leaders, about 25 alumni mainly from North America and Europe met this week for a week long, anniversary reunion tour of Israel. "The graduates of that program have become community leaders in Israel and around the Jewish world," said Hillel Shenker, the New York-born vice chair of Democrats Abroad Israel, who participated in the tour. "One of them, Prof. Emanuel Tov from Holland, won the Israel Prize this year for his research into the Dead Sea Scrolls." Another noted participant was Peter Layton, of London, who owns one of Europe's leading glassmaking galleries. "I am a professional tour guide, but this is not the same," said London native Yehuda Guy, who organized the reunion. "Many people who joined the trip live in Israel, so most of the time the microphone in the bus is open, and everybody fills us in on what they have been up to." (Raphael Ahren)

S BOYCOTTING THE BOYCOTT: British ambassador in Israel, Tom Phillips, said this week his government opposes "any type of boycott against Israel." Speaking on Sunday at Bar Ilan University's "British Day," Phillips pointed out that the university "was unfortunately among those Israeli institutions singled out in an attempt by a minority of British academics to boycott Israeli institutions a few years ago. That attempt - and the ones that followed - all failed and it is important to stress that there is no academic boycott in the U.K." Phillips also cited the Britain-Israel Research and Academic Exchange Partnership as well as the U.K.-Israel Collaboration Development Award program for stem cell research as examples of cooperation. The ambassador was the guest of honor at the inaugural ceremony of the Katz Family Research Grant Incentive Program, which was established by Smadar and Arnon Katz, who recently replaced Conrad Morris as chairman of the British Friends of Bar-Ilan. (Raphael Ahren)

S TORAH FOR FEMINISTS: A new bible study project will strive to look at Scripture "through a feminist lens," according to one of its organizers. The Bea Zucker Online Bible Study Program, to be launched next week during the International Council of Jewish Women's quadrennial education seminar in Jerusalem, will be directed by Dr. Bonna Haberman, a Hebrew University scholar who grew up in Canada and studied in North America and England. The three-year course will uploading each study unit once a month. "Our faces and voices contribute to the richness of Torah study," Haberman explained. "We are not expecting to resolve contradictions or achieve true meanings. As feminist readers, we are sensitive to power relationships. Sacred texts influence our attitudes and behavior, and how we organize society." All presentations of the four-day seminar will be held in English. For more information, visit www.icjw.org. (Raphael Ahren)

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