News

Friday 18 May 2012

New Archaeological Finidings at Khirbet Qeiyafa May 2012

Prof. Yossi Garfinkel, head of the Hebrew University expedition to Tel Qeiyafa and a member of the selection committee for the Yizhar Hirschfeld Memorial Fellowship in Archaeology, and Sa'ar Ganor of the Israel Antiquities Authority announced the discovery of what they believe to be evidence of Judean ritual dating from the time of David, c. 10th century B.C.E. at Khirbet Qeiyafa in the Elah Valley. Read more in Haaretz.

Four Architects Selected to Advance to Round II of National Library Competition May 2012

Four architects have been selected to advance to Round II of the Competition to Select and Architect for the National Library of Israel: Daniel Assayag, Gil Even-Tsur , Rafi Segal and David Zarhy.

In addition, four architects were cited for honorable mention: Meira Efrat-Kowalsky, Peter Keinan, Yuval Amitzi and Lichen Amitzi (with Dori Sadan and Ruti Orev), Yifat Rom (with Eran Chen), and Yishai Well.

A total of 81 designs were submitted. Professor Luis Fernandez-Galiano, Chair of the jury, which also included Professor Rafael Moneo, Professor Elinoar Komissar Barzachi, and Arch. Gaby Schwartz, stated that:

‘The jury was impressed by the wide variety of approaches tested by the participants, by the high-quality of many of the entries, and by the extreme professionalism of several. Most projects showed a painstaking awareness of the difficulty and relevance of the site, and attempted to express the significance of the institution with commendable effort. The task of selecting only four was not easy, and the jury decided unanimously to award the maximum number of honorable mentions allowed by the competition rules.’

In Round II of the competition, which is slated to begin in early May, up to 12 architects will participate: the four selected in Round I, together with as many as eight architects (up to four Israelis and up to four international), who were directly invited to participate in Round II. Round II is scheduled to conclude in October 2012.

In a message to the jury on the vision for the renewed Library, David Blumberg, Chair of the NLI Board of Directors said: ‘We believe that the time has come to unlock the treasures of the National Library and to make them accessible to as many people as possible, both physically and through technological means. This increased accessibility is, in essence, the heart of the Library’s renewal process.’

Tvuna Project – Registration is Closing April 2012

Subsidies for the Tvuna project, established as a joint initiative of the Office of the Prime Ministers, Sheatufim and Yad Hanadiv and operated by Kimron, will only be available until 17.5.12. This is the last chance for non-profit .organisations to register for the project. View the criteria and guidelines [Hebrew].

Rothschild Prizes 2012 April 2012

2012 Rothschild Prizes were awarded at a ceremony on the Knesset on 25 March 2012. View the 2012 brochure of the ceremony [Hebrew & English].

Agreement Signed to Renew Operations of Avney Rosha April 2012

In the presence of the Minister of Education and Lord Rothschild, the Ministry of Education, Yad Hanadiv and the Centre for Educational Technology signed an agreement to renew the operations of Avney Rosha – The Israel Institute for School Leadership for an additional period of five years (until 2017). The Institute, which was established in 2007 as a joint initiative of the Ministry of Education and Yad Hanadiv, identifies and trains promising school leaders, provides professional development for head masters and develops standards and knowledge resources for school management. Over the past five years Avney Rosha has earned a reputation for quality and unwavering commitment to teaching and learning.

Article about Yad Hanadiv Published in Alliance Magazine March 2012

An article about Yad Hanadiv, was published in the March 1st issue of Alliance - a Magazine For Philanthropy and Social Investment Worldwide.

The National Library Uploads Personal Correspondence of Jewish Writer Stefan Zweig February 2012

To mark the 70th anniversary of his death, the NLI has digitized and uploaded the personal correspondence of noted Jewish author Stefan Zweig – including his suicide note and letters exchanged with Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein. Read more in Haaretz and on the National Library website.

Jury Members for National Library Architectural Competition Announced February 2012

The National Library Construction Company today announced the composition of the Jury for the National Library Architectural Competition. They are Professor Luis Fernandez-Galiano (Chair), Professor at the School of Architecture, Madrid Polytechnic, Professor Rafael Moneo, former head of the Harvard School of Architecture, Professor Massimilano Fuksas who has served as an advisor to the French Institute for Architecture and to the city planning committees of Berlin and Salzburg, Professor Elinoar Komissar Barzachi, Professor Emeritus at Tel Aviv University, and Arch. Gaby Schwartz of the Technion.

Israel National Library Uploads Collection of Newton's Theological Tracts February 2012

A complete set of digitized copies of Sir Isaac Newton’s Theological tracts have been uploaded to the National Library of Israel’s website. The manuscripts include Biblical exegeses, writings on ancient history, alchemy and the Apocalypse. The collection was purchased by Jewish Orientalist and book collector Abraham Shalom Yahuda in 1936 and transferred to the National Library.

Archaeological Excavations at Ashkelon January 2012

The archaeological excavations at Ashkelon, co-directed by the Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science at Weizmann Institute was covered in an article in The New York Times. The site makes use of a new integrative approach - part of an emerging discipline that has been called microarchaeology by Steve Weiner, director of the Kimmel Center.