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Bernie Steinberg, 78, a Harvard Hillel director who promoted pluralism, and courted controversy, to the end
(JTA) — “My goal,” wrote Bernie Steinberg when he won the prestigious Covenant Award for Jewish educators in 2010, “is to motivate the most energetic, talented, and idealistic young Jews to assume responsibility for the future.”
As the director of Harvard Hillel from 1993 to 2010, the campus organization became “known for the scope and depth of its programs, as a model pluralistic community, as a voice for Israel, and as a leader in interfaith work,” the Covenant Foundation, which presented the award, explained.
Steinberg, who was remembered by former colleagues and students as a master teacher and attentive mentor, died Sunday at age 78. Steinberg was also a faculty member at the Pardes Institute of Jerusalem — a pluralistic yeshiva — and a founding fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute think tank in Jerusalem.
“I have rarely if ever met anyone so committed to the sacred art of nurturing young adults and encouraging them to blossom,” wrote his friend and former colleague, Rabbi Shai Held of the Hadar Institute, in a Facebook tribute.
Steinberg came to Harvard Hillel after 13 years living in Israel, where he directed the Wesleyan University Israel Program and taught at the Hebrew University. Harvard Hillel had just completed Rosovsky Hall, a 19,500-square-foot building designed by the Israeli architect Moshe Safdie that was intended to place Jewish life squarely at the center of a campus that in a previous era had restricted its Jewish enrollment.
During Steinberg’s tenure, he helped create a new leadership education program to foster interaction between diverse communities within the Ivy League university. He also created Netivot (Pathways), an intensive, year-long program in Israel for undergraduates at Harvard, Yale and New York University.
His time at Harvard was marked by a commitment to welcoming Jewish voices from across the political and religious spectrum, courting controversy on the right when Hillel hosted a photo exhibit by the far-left Israeli group Breaking the Silence, and criticism from the left when he included the hawkish Yiddish professor Ruth Wisse on a panel commemorating the 10th anniversary of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
“I see pluralism as a value rooted in Jewish ideas,” he said in 2010. “Every person is unique in an absolute and precious sense, as testimony to God’s greatness. Every person experienced the revelation of Torah in his or her own way. Every Jewish movement and individual is part of a truth whose totality is beyond our grasp.”
In one of his last public acts, this past December Steinberg wrote an op-ed for the Harvard Crimson that some Jewish critics said pushed this pluralism beyond acceptable limits. In the weeks before the oped, the campus had been riled by accusations by Jewish groups and others saying the school’s handling of the fallout of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks — especially a statement by campus groups holding “the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence” — failed to protect Jews from a hostile environment. Steinberg countered that critics of the administration and those calling for the ouster of then president Claudine Gay were “manufacturing an antisemitism scare, which, in effect, turns the very real issue of Jewish safety into a pawn in a cynical political game.” He encouraged Jewish students to be “boldly critical of Israel.” (Gay later stepped down amid the criticism and plagiarism charges.)
Harvard Hillel, Rosovsky Hall, on Mt. Auburn Street in Harvard Square, designed by Moshe Safdie. (Courtesy of Safdie Architects)
Some called the essay courageous, while others, including Harvard Hillel’s current campus rabbi, called it out of touch and said it failed to grapple with the antisemitic intent and effect of anti-Israel speech on campus.
Hillel also drew unwelcome controversy in 2008 when an accounting contractor hired by Hillel was charged and later pleaded guilty to stealing nearly $78,000 from the nonprofit. Steinberg wasn’t implicated in the affair.
Bernard Steinberg was born March 10, 1945, and grew up in St. Louis. After receiving a B.A. from Wesleyan University and an M.A. from Brandeis University, he taught at the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies and Case Western Reserve University and founded the department of Jewish Education at the Jewish Community Centers of Cleveland. He wrote his doctoral dissertation at the Hebrew University on the Jewish philosophers Hermann Cohen and Nahman Krochmal.
“He was a true lamdan [scholar], a superb director, a mentsch, and a deeply passionate lover of Torah,” wrote the Dartmouth University Jewish studies professor Shaul Magid, whom Steinberg hired in 1993 as the rabbi of the egalitarian minyan at Harvard Harvard.
Michael Simon, the Hillel executive director at Northwestern University, was associate director at Harvard under Steinberg, who officiated his wedding.
“Early on in my time at Harvard Hillel, I asked Bernie what traits we should look for when hiring people to work there. He said, simply, we should look for candidates who love people and love Torah,” Simon recalled on Facebook. “I don’t know of anyone else who epitomized that combination quite like Bernie.”
After leaving Harvard, Steinberg moved in 2012 to Berkeley, California, where he served as vice president of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and later a visiting scholar at the Center for Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He was a member of Congregation Beth Israel, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Berkeley. Most recently, he lived in Chicago, where his son Avi is an author and lecturer in nonfiction writing at the University of Chicago. He is also survived by his wife, Roz; a daughter, Adena; and a granddaughter.
“I miss an Abba with whom I communicated in a short-hand very few but we could understand, whose greatness, humbleness, goodness, sharpness, optimism, moral clarity, and unconditional love were integrated truths which he wielded with fluency and flexibility,” Adena, a clinical psychologist, wrote on Facebook. “I hope that different parts of him continue to live on in the many many people he loved so much, especially his granddaughter, nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, grand-nephews, dear friends, colleagues and students.”
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The post Bernie Steinberg, 78, a Harvard Hillel director who promoted pluralism, and courted controversy, to the end appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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US Reportedly Shares Intelligence with New Syrian Leadership to Counter ISIS Threats
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, waits to welcome the senior Ukrainian delegation led by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Dec. 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
i24 News – The United States has begun sharing classified intelligence with Syria’s new leadership, led by Hayʼat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Islamist group formerly designated as a terrorist organization, reports the Washington Post.
This unexpected collaboration comes in the wake of HTS overthrowing the Assad regime last month and reflects heightened US concerns about a potential resurgence of the Islamic State (ISIS).
According to sources, US intelligence recently helped thwart a planned ISIS attack on a prominent Shiite shrine near Damascus.
Despite this cooperation, US officials stress that the intelligence-sharing arrangement does not signify full support for HTS, which has a controversial history of extremism.
HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, previously known by his militant alias Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, has made efforts to project a more moderate image, pledging to protect Syria’s religious minorities and stabilize the country.
However, skepticism remains about HTS’s ability to govern effectively and sustain efforts against ISIS.
The Biden administration, before leaving office, maintained HTS’s terrorist designation while easing sanctions on Syria to facilitate humanitarian aid. As the new US administration under President Donald Trump takes shape, questions loom about the future of American involvement in Syria and the ongoing military presence aimed at preventing an ISIS comeback.
The post US Reportedly Shares Intelligence with New Syrian Leadership to Counter ISIS Threats first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hostages Missing from Hamas’ Release List
A birthday cake for Kfir Bibas, who is a hostage in Hamas captivity. Thursday, January 18, 2024. (Photo: Debbie Weiss)
i24 News – The second phase of hostage releases between Israel and Hamas has sparked deep frustration and grief among the families of those still held captive.
Two hostages—Arbel Yahud and Agam Berger—were notably excluded from the list of those to be freed on Saturday, despite earlier agreements prioritizing the return of civilians.
Arbel Yahud, 29, and Agam Berger, 20, both captives since the October 7 attack, were not included in the list of four hostages expected to be released.
Yahud, from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was taken along with her partner, Ariel Cunio, whose family was freed in November. Yahud’s brother, Dolev, was later found dead in June after he was killed while trying to aid the wounded. Agam Berger, from Holon, was captured while stationed at Nahal Oz. Her family identified her in a video released by Hamas, showing her in pajamas being taken away in a vehicle after she called her father to alert him of the gunfire.
The omission of these two hostages has led to heightened concerns and calls for action from Israeli authorities, who are now exerting pressure on Hamas and mediators to honor the terms of the release agreement. Israeli officials reaffirmed their commitment to continue with the broader agreement, but warned that the failure to meet the agreed terms could harm future releases.
Adding to the grief, the Bibas family expressed their devastation when they learned that Shiri Bibas and her children, who were abducted from their Nir Oz home on October 7, were also absent from the second release list. In a heartfelt message shared on Saturday, the Bibas family shared their anguish: “Even though we were prepared for it, we were hoping to see Shiri and the children on the list that was supposed to be the civilian list.” The family voiced concerns over their loved one’s safety and questioned why, despite grave fears for their lives, their relatives were not included among the civilians due to be returned.
The Bibas family’s message emphasized their belief that the public must continue to demand answers, adding, “Thank you, dear supporters, for not giving up, for continuing to pray, to hope and to demand answers.
The post Hostages Missing from Hamas’ Release List first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Naama Levi, and Daniela Gilboa Return to Israel After 477 Days of Captivity
A combination picture shows Israeli hostages Karina Ariev, Naama Levy, Liri Albag, and Daniela Gilboa, soldiers who were seized from their army base in southern Israel during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, in these undated handout pictures. Photo: Courtesy of Bring Them Home Now/Handout via REUTERS
i24 News – After 477 harrowing days in captivity, four young Israeli women—Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Naama Levi, and Daniela Gilboa—have finally returned home.
The release took place Saturday morning in Gaza’s Palestine Square, under a carefully staged scene orchestrated by Hamas.
The four women, who served in a military observation unit in Nahal Oz, were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Before their release, they were made to wear uniforms provided by Hamas and were paraded on a platform in front of a crowd of activists. Forced to smile and wave, the women endured the ordeal under the watchful eyes of Hamas fighters.
Once the formalities concluded, the women walked to waiting ICRC vehicles, accompanied by representatives of the organization. Upon reaching Israeli forces, IDF medical teams immediately conducted examinations. At the meeting point, the first female officers who greeted them informed the women that their families were watching live. Overcome with emotion, the former hostages smiled at the cameras, sending heartfelt gestures to their loved ones.
Footage later released by the IDF captured a poignant moment: the four women removing the uniforms given to them by Hamas and embracing Israeli officers. These emotional scenes underscored the end of a long and grueling chapter in their lives.
The women were transported to the Reim reception center, where their families eagerly awaited them. After 477 days of separation, the reunions were deeply moving, marking a moment of relief and joy.
However, the release was not without complications. A fifth military observer, Agam Berger, remains in captivity, and Hamas failed to uphold its agreement to release civilian hostage Arbel Yahud, who was originally included in the liberation group. The breach of terms has drawn widespread condemnation, intensifying efforts to secure the release of those who remain captive.
This momentous event brings a mix of celebration and determination, as Israel continues to work tirelessly for the freedom of all hostages still held in Gaza.
The post Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Naama Levi, and Daniela Gilboa Return to Israel After 477 Days of Captivity first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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