The Road to Jerusalem

The road to this Academia was not short, and I wanted to mention some of the people who made it come true. Special thanks are due to Ulrike Davy who, two years ago suggested “Human Dignity” as the focus of our IA. Together, we invested more than twelve months of intense planning, with face-to-face and endless Skype discussions. We worked as a team with our partners from ZIF and with Nadiv Mordechay, our project coordinator for Phase I, who quickly became a hub for every academic and organizational decision.

We were lucky to have a devoted Steering Committee comprised of Alon Harel, Hannah Lerner and Benny Porat. They shared with us their ideas and enthusiasm, and were active in shaping the academic aspects of our program. Mimi Ajzenstadt, Bernadette Brooten, Ruth Gavison, Daphna Golan, Miri Gur-Arye, Rami Reiner and Yedidia Stern were very helpful during the initial formative phases of the project. Menahem Ben- Sasson, David Enoch, Michael Karayanni, Avishai Margalit, Yuval Shany and Guy Stroumsa were instrumental in providing advice, direction and encouragement. The support of the IIAS Board of Directors was crucial in receiving a green light for this Academia as the IIAS Advanced School in the Humanities for 2016. Needless to say, such an event must rely on our dedicated and professional administrative team, and I am very grateful to them too.

Michal Linial