September 2012
To:
Prof. Yeshayahu Arkin
Vice President and Chairman of the
Authority of Research and Development
The Hebrew University
Re: Report of academic activity of the Liwerant Center for the period 09/11-09/12
I hereby present the report of the academic activity of the Liwerant Center for the Study
of Latin America, Spain, Portugal and their Jewish communities, from September 2011
to September 2012:
 Seminar of Interdisciplinary Study:
Principal subject of the interdisciplinary seminar:
"Trans-nationalism and Latin American Jews"
The seminar was organized by Dr. Leonardo Senkman and attended by around
30 young and veteran investigators from Social Sciences and Humanities from
the Hebrew University and from other universities around the country. The
seminar was held once every two weeks throughout the year and at every meeting
one investigator presented his field of research. The goal was to consolidate a
dynamic and interactive forum in order to promote the principal research project
of the Center, and broaden the diverse aspects of the question of transnationalism of Latin American Jews. Moreover, the seminar provided an
opportunity for group debate of the subject.
Seminars held during the academic year:
First semester:
1. 3 November, 2011: Prof. Mario Sznajder
Protest and democratization
phenomenon?
in
Latin
America:
a
transnational
Discussant: Daniel Schwarts.
2. 17 Novembre, 2011 : Prof. Arie Kacowicz
Latin American recognition in a palestinien state : first assomptions
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Discussant: Prof. Mario Sznajder.
3. 1 December, 2011: Prof. Raanan Rein
Jewish defense organization in Argentina of the sixties: a mirror image of
anti-Semitic violence?
Discussant: Prof. Haim Avni.
4. 11 December, 2011: Visiting Professor, Dr. Vicente Palermo
(In collaboration with Truman Institute- The Latin American Unit):
Argentina post electoral: la política de las encrucijadas
5. 5 January, 2012: Martina Weisz (The Vidal Sassoon International Center for
the Study of Anti-Semitism)
Constructing identities: Jews and Muslims in contemporary Spain
Discussant: Prof. Robert Wistrich.
6. 19 January, 2012: The Center’s fellows presented their projects as part of the
preparation towards the Center’s Workshop that took place on the 6 th of
March 2012. Participants: Dr. Yosi Goldstein, Dr. Margalit Bejarano, Dr. Batia
Siebzehner, Dr. Marta Topel, Dr. Silvia Schenkolewski-Kroll, Florinda F.
Goldberg, Dr. Efraim Zadoff, Dr. Silvina Schammah-Gesser.
Discussant: Prof. Mario Sznajder, Prof. Sergio DellaPergola, Dr. Leonardo
Senkman.
Second semester:
* This semester lectures were considered as a 2 point course under the
Department of Romance and Latin American Studies. Five students attended the
course, and at the end of it each one of them had to submit a final paper.
7. 15 March, 2012: Prof. David Sheinin- Trent University
Saving Jorge Omar Merengo: Continuities and Cynicism in Argentine
Human Rights Policies after 1983
Discussant: Prof. Mario Sznajder.
8. 22 March, 2012: Dr. Avraham Milgram- Yad Vashem
The ambivalence of the Portuguese authoritarian regime of Salazar towards
the Jews
Discussant: Prof. Haim Avni.
9. 3 May, 2012: Dr. Yosi Goldstein
Transnationalism and Jewish Education: educators, Rabbis and Jewish
professional community workers in a globalized world- between academic
studies and community policy
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Discussant: Prof. Zvi Bekerman.
10. 17 May, 2012: Orly Haimovich
Representations of Israel and Diaspora Jews during the Gaza War
Discourse analysis of the Venezuelan newspapers Vea and El Nacional
Discussant: Prof. Dov Shinar.
11. 24 May, 2012: Dr. Silvia Schenkolewski-Kroll
Transnational Zionist organizations in Latin America- the FACMA case
Discussant: Prof. Sergio DellaPergola.
12. 31 May, 2012: Florinda Goldberg
Pertenencias multiplicadas: escritores judeo-latinos en los Estados Unidos
Discussant: Edna Aizenberg- Marymount Manhattan College, visiting
professor, Cathedra San Martin.
13. 14 June, 2012: Workshop in order to present selected chapters of the doctoral
papers of the Liwerant Center’s scholars:
Fabian Galgovsky: Cambios curriculares y atomización de la red educativa
judía en la Argentina. Estudio de caso: la red Zwischo/Escuelas Scholem
Aleijem 1992-2004
Discussant: Dr. Yosi Goldstein, Dr. Efraim Zadoff.
Eduardo Torres: ¿Retorno o entrada primordial de/al judaísmo?
Identidades de frontera entre inmigrantes latinos en Israel (1990-2008)
Discussant: Dr. Margalit Bejarano, Prof. Sergio DellaPergola, prof. Yohanan
Bar-Yafe.
Oshrit Zmora: Narrative space: Towards a theoretical model based on the
work of Marco Denevi
Discussant: Dr. Daniel Blaustein, Dr. Leonardo Senkman.
* Seminar invitations appended herewith.
 Principal Research Project:
"Latin American Jews in a Transnational World: Redefinition and
Relocation of Jewish Experiences and Identities on four Continents"
Globalization processes have brought to the creation of a new reality in the IberoAmerican region. However, the impact of these changes on Jewish life and
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migration has yet to be profoundly assessed. Therefore, the objective of this
project will be to examine the immigration of Latin American Jews to the four
continents in the context of a trans-national world.
* Project abstract and full version appended herewith.
 Scholarships of the Center:
During the last academic year, the Liwerant Center granted 10 scholarships to
advanced students of the Hebrew University, who focused their investigation on
disciplinary fields related to the academic interests of the Center. The scholarship
recipients of the Center study different disciplines such as- Communications,
Education, Romance and Latin American Studies and Contemporary Jewryforming a first generation of young investigators.
Scholars' names and their research proposals:
1. Fabian Galgovsky (Full Ph.D scholarship to the total of 10,000$, last year to
the scholarship), research subject: New identities, new curriculum:
The case of the Scholem Aleijem School and Argentine Jewry after
globalization.
2. Oshrit Zmora (Full Ph.D scholarship to the total of 10,000$, last year to the
scholarship), research subject: Narrative space: Towards a theoretical model
based on the work of Marco Denevi.
3. Eduardo Torres (Full Ph.D scholarship to the total of 10,000$, last year to the
scholarship), research subject: Return or primordial entrance to Judaism:
frontier identities between Latin American immigrants in Israel (19902008).
4. Orly Haimovich (Full Ph.D scholarship to the total of 10,000$, last year to the
scholarship), research subject: Between local and global presentations Israel
and Diaspora Jewish communities in Argentina’s, Mexico’s and Venezuela’s
newspapers during the 2000′s.
5. Bat Ami Artzi (Presidential Ph.D scholarship to the total of 10,000$ third out
of four years to the scholarship), research subject: How can we interpret
feminine imagery in Pre-Colombian Art from the southern part of the
Central Andes, 800 BC-1500 AD.
6. Maya Shorer-Kaplan (Full Ph.D scholarship to the total of 10000$, first year
to the scholarship), research subject: Jewish identity between native lands:
Uruguayan Jews in Uruguay, Israel and the world.
7. Amit Avigur (Half Ph.D scholarship to the total of 5,000$, first year to the
scholarship), research subject: The Middle Classes and the Politics of
Neoliberalism: Chile and Israel.
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8. Liliana Lara-Singer (Half Ph.D scholarship to the total of 5,000$,) first year to
the scholarship, research subject: Dislocations- space and discourse in the
work of three contemporary Latin American immigrant writers (Mario
Bellatin, Krina Ber and Marcelo Cohen).
9. Mara List-Avner (Ph.D scholarship to the total of 2,500$, one-time
encouragement scholarship), research subject: The relations between Peru,
Chile and their Jewish communities and the Israeli state, from the period of
the Six-Day War to Yom Kippur War.
10. Daniel Wajner-Adler (MA scholarship to the total of 1,250$, one-time
encouragement scholarship), research subject: Legitimidad y
Transnacionalidad en América Latina: Red Transnacional de Apoyo ante la
propuesta palestina de reconocimiento en la ONU.
* Abstracts and interim reports of the grantees appended herewith.
 Visitors of the Hebrew University and the Liwerant Center (in
cooperation with the Department of Romance and Latin American
Studies):
1. 24 November, 2011: Dr. Silvina Schammah-Gesser (Truman Institute,
Liwerant Center’s fellow)
Consuming history, consuming culture in the 21st century Spain
The Case of Gernika/Guernica
Discussant: Dr. Leonardo Senkman.
2. 9 January, 2012: Prof. Andrés Malamud- Lisbon University
The Brazilian emergence Argentine decline? Prospects for South American
Regionalism in the 21st century
Discussant: Prof. Arie Kacowicz.
3. 16 January, 2012: Dr. Susana Brauner- UADE university
Comparative identity of Halabies in Argentina and Mexico in the second half
of the 20th century
Discussant: Dr. Margalit Bejarano.
4. 19 January, 2012: Dr. Marta Topel- São Paulo University, Brazil
Myths of origin, the Promised Land: The space and process in the three
trans-nationalization Jewish religious communities of Saint Paul
Discussant: Prof. Mario Sznajder, Prof. Sergio DellaPergola and Dr. Leonardo
Senkman.
5. 19 April, 2012: Dr. Debi Babis- Truman Institute
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Governmental license lacking certificate, the Indian medicine in Bolivia of
the 21st century
Discussant: Prof. Arie Kacowicz.
6. 1 May, 2012: Alejandro Higashi Díaz -Universidad Autónoma MetropolitanaIztapalapa
Multiculturalismo contra nacionalismo: Recepción de Aura de Carlos
Fuentes
Discussant: Dr. Daniel Blaustein.
7. 17 May, 2012: Prof. Alan Astro- Trinity University, Texas
Persistencia del Idish en Argentina: reflexiones comparativas con EE.UU y
Canadá
8. 6 June, 2012: Prof. Edna Aizenberg- Marymount Manhattan College, NY
El Borges vedado o that's no way to read Borges
Discussant: Florinda Goldberg.
* The Center hosted the student Ariel Tcach as an intern between the months of
February to July. During that period, Ariel was involved in the ongoing research
conducted by the center on the subject of Transnationalism.
* Events invitations appended herewith.
 Book launch events (US)- “Belonging and Otherness. Jews in Latin
America/ forty years of change”:
1. 27 October, 2011: The event took place at the University of Miami. It was cosponsored by The Sue and Leonard Miller Center for Contemporary Judaic
Studies, The Liwerant Center, UM's Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American
Studies and UM's Center for Latin American Studies. The shared conference
was led by Prof. Judit Bokser Liwerant, Prof. Sergio DellaPergola and Dr.
Margalit Bejarano.
 Conferences in collaboration with or under the auspices of the
Liwerant Center:
1. 11-13 December, 2011: International conference- The emergence of Brazil as a
global player. The conference was organized in collaboration with the
Department of Romance and Latin American Studies and was led by Prof.
James Green- visiting professor from Brown University. At the conference
lectures:
a. Prof. Mario Sznajder
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Human Rights and the legacy of Authoritarian regimes
Discussant: Prof. Arie Kacowicz
b. Dr. Leonardo Senkman
Brazil in the Americas
Discussant: Dr. Claudia Kedar
c. Prof. Sergio DellaPergola
The Brazilian Jewish community and Brazil’s new international role
Discussant: Dr. Yosi Goldstein
2. 21-23 May, 2012: International research conference in collaboration with the
Department of Political science:
Protest Politics, Democratization, and Political Change: A Comparative
Perspective
The Workshop was organized by Prof. Mario Sznajder, Prof. Avraham Sela
and Dr. Eitan Alimi. In the workshop participated world renowned professors
such as Jack Goldstone- George Mason University, US.
3. 30 May, 2012: Conference in the collaboration with the Department of
Romance and Latin American Studies on the subject: Luso-Tropicalism and
the Portuguese world: origins, impacts and legacies. The conference was
organized by Prof. James Green.
4. 19 June, 2012: National conference for researchers and graduate students in
the field of Iberian and Latin American studies. The conference was
conducted by the Department of Romance and Latin American Studies under
the auspices of the "La Asociación de Hispanistas de Israel", the Liwerant
Center and the Truman Institute.
* Events invitations appended herewith
 Workshops in collaboration with or under the auspices of the
Liwerant Center:
1. 6 March, 2012: Workshop at the Rabin Building on the subject of: Latin
American Jews in a Transnational World: Identificational and Sociocultural Change
At the Workshop that was organized by Prof. Judit Bokser Liwerant, Prof.
Sergio DellaPergola and Dr. Leonardo Senkman, each of the Liwerant centers’
fellows had to present their research advancement.
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2. 10 May, 2012: Workshop in which was given a shared conference by Prof.
Mario Sznajder, Prof. Arie Kacowicz, Dr. Leonardo Senkman and the writer
Ioram Melcer on the subject:
Roundtable Discussion on Falklands or Malvinas? 30 Years After the War
Discussant: Dr. Batia Siebzehner.
* Events invitations appended herewith
 Congresses and seminars offered by the Department of Romance and
Latin American Studies in collaboration with or under the auspices of
the Liwerant Center:
1. 14 November, 2011: The Opening event for the exhibition marking 100 years
anniversary of the Peruvian author José María Arguedas. In the event lectured
Prof. Yohanan Bar-Yafe on the life and work of Arguedas. Special guests who
attended the event: Eliana Beraun- Counsellor of the Embassy of Peru in
Israel, and Graciela Dyzenchauz- representative of the foundation “Amigos de
la Universidad Hebrea de Jerusalén”.
2. 1 December, 2011: Brazil between tradition and modernity. An evening about
Brazil organized by the Liwerant Center in order to promote the international
conference on Brazil (see num. 3 below), and to provide a different point of
view of Brazil as a country. The evening included a lecture about Capoeira,
Brazilian music and tasting of the Brazilian cuisine.
3. 19 December, 2011: Discussion panel in honor of the translation of book "El
llano en llamas", written by the known Mexican writer Juan Rulfo.
4. 28 March, 2012: Latin America Day, in collaboration with The Students
Union and the Liwerant Center. The event included wide-ranging activities
based on the different Latin American countries, followed by meeting of
students with Latin American ambassadors.
5. 15 May, 2012: encounter with the international Portuguese Fado singer
Cristina Branco. In the encounter participated the Dean of the Faculty of
Humanities Reuven Amitai and Prof. Edwin Sarusi from the Department of
Musicology.
6. 30 May, 2012: Award ceremony Raul Kirtchuk for the year 2012 to Ph.D.
student Cynthia Gabbay. At the ceremony lectured Prof. Rubén Gallo (Rubén
Gallo- Princeton University, Cátedra Rosario Castellanos) on the subject:
Octavio Paz, Lector de Freud
Discussant: Dr. Daniel Blaustein.
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7. 3 June, 2012: Award ceremony Esther Seligson in which lectured Dr.
Leonardo Senkman on the subject: A campo traviesa: los ensayos poéticos de
Esther Seligson.
8. 10 June, 2012: Book donation of Benito Pérez Galdós in which lectured
Yolanda Arancibia (La Casa-Museo Pérez Galdós de las Palmas de Gran
Canarias), on the subject: El Galdós del siglo XX.
9. 21 June, 2012: An event in honor and memory of Dr. Bernardo Beiderman in
which lectured Prof. Mario Sznajder and Dr. Leonardo Senkman on the
subject: Perfil intelectual y comunitario del Dr. Bernardo Beiderman,
penalista judeo-argentino-israelí.
* Events invitations appended herewith.
* As indicated above, it’s important to mention that a great part of the last year
events were conducted under co-auspices of a number of bodies including: The
Department of Romance and Latin American Studies, The Truman Institute, The
Department of Political Science, The Department of International Relations, The
Institute for Contemporary Jewry, The Students Union etc.
 Research project supported by the Pincus Fund:
TNJE - Transnational Jewish Latin American Educator
The research constitutes a first phase in the implementation of the main research
project of the Liwerant Center"Latin American Jews in a Transnational World: Redefinition and
Relocation of Jewish Experiences and Identities on four Continents"
The TNJE research evolves three countries- Argentina, Mexico and Israel- and
focuses on the consequences of the globalization and the transnationalism on the
community life in Latin America and abroad. The research emphasis is the
Jewish educator- wide range point of view- his Jewish and professional identity
facing the globalization and the transnationalism. Moreover, the research
examines the impact of Technology, Information and Communication (TIC) on
the Jewish educators.
The three research teams are exploring the issue of transnationalism from a
perspective of the Jewish educator (teachers, Rabbis and adults educators in the
non-formal education system) in Mexico, Argentina and Israel and educators
who migrated to other countries including mostly the US, Europe and Israel.
Research paradigm is the perception of flow of people and knowledge in the 21st
century.
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The research is funded by the Pincus Fund (50%), Liwerant Center, AMIA and
the Hebraica University – Committee of Jewish Education in Mexico (Hebraica
University-Mexican board of Jewish Education) (together 50%).
31 August- 2 September, 2012: During the formation of the project’s research
teams from Mexico and Argentina, with the assistance of Dr. Yosi Goldstein (the
project coordinator) and in collaboration with AMIA, the Liwerant Center
organized a Workshop in Buenos Aires on the subject: Educadores judíos y la
educación en un mundo transnacional. In the Workshop participated
professional educators, the research teams from Mexico, Argentina and Israel;
and members of the Liwerant’s academic committee including Prof. Mario
Sznajder, Prof. Judit Boxer Liwerant and Dr. Leonardo Senkman.
* Interim report of the Pincus Project appended herewith.
 Support of the courses offered by the Department of Romance and
Latin American Studies:
1. Support of the course led by Dr. Margalit Bejarano:
Israel, Latin America and the Jewish communities (course num. 29836).
2. Support of the course led by Florinda Goldberg:
Thanks to themselves- women literature and Jewish women in Latin
America (course num. 29837).
 Other activities:
1. Throughout the last year, the Liwerant Center’s Academic Committee held a
number of meeting in which also participated Prof. Judit Bokser Liwerant
through the usage of Skype.
2. It’s important to mention that the Center has received a promise from the
university to obtain two extra rooms, as part of the desire to promote the
research that is being carried out by the center.
Conclusion:
The Liwerant Center put as its objective the creation of an academic community of
young and veteran investigators. In order to achieve this goal, the Center has been
collaborating with different departments and research units of the Hebrew University
with similar research fields; making possible the integration of disciplinary differences
and creating new courses of academic thought for the investigators. Our collaboration
with research institutes and units includes: the Department of Romance and Latin
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American Studies, S. Truman Institute, the Institute for Contemporary Jewry and
Leonard Davis Institute.
Presented by:
Prof. Mario Sznajder
Director
Liwerant Center
For the Study of Latin America, Spain, Portugal
And their Jewish Communities
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