Shining Lights

The 17^th Colloquium of Orot Israel College

Rabbi Dr. Yechiel Lash

Colloquium Coordinator

On Wednesday, the 19^th of Shvat, 5777 (February 15, 2017) the annual College Colloquium of the College’s lecturers was held at the Elkana Campus.

An assortment of content was offered at the colloquium. During the first session, the participants heard a lecture from Prof. Yuval Sinai, President of the College, on the topic “A modern look at Maimonides’s theory of damages,” the theme of his forthcoming book.

During the second session, the participants were exposed to some of the innovations of the Bet Midrash (Academy) for New Pedagogy, which is taking place this year at the Elkana Campus, with the participation of approximately 20 lectures from the College. The unique methods of teaching and assessment were presented by Mr. Elad Hamiel, Dr. Penina Steinberger, Dr. Yael Segev, and Dr. Haim Elbaum.

During the last session, lectures were given on assorted topics: Dr. Adina Sternberg addressed the topic, “Whoever says that ‘So-and-so sinned’ is in error,” interpretive and educational perspectives on the Rabbinic traditions which exonerate certain Biblical figures of apparent sins; Dr. Yosi Ziv drew a comparison between certain practices of the Ethiopian Beita Yisrael community and the records of the Dead Sea Scrolls; and Dr. Zeev Kaim presented research on the topic of “Drinking alcohol in the company of at-risk adolescents, in contrast to standard adolescents.” One of the notable findings of the latter study was that religious adolescents consume less alcohol than adolescents who are not religious.
As opposed to previous years, b’ezrat Hashem, an additional colloquium is planned for the end of the second semester. We are already looking forward to hear the various lectures and studies which will be presented by College faculty.