scholarly journals COVID-19 crisis response at the National Library of Israel: Confronting challenges and maximising opportunities

Author(s):  
Zack Rothbart

Founded in 1892, the National Library of Israel (NLI) serves as the vibrant institution of national memory for the Jewish people worldwide and Israelis of all backgrounds and faiths. Its four core collections – Israel, Judaica, Islam and Middle East, and the Humanities – tell the historical, cultural and intellectual story of the Jewish people, the State of Israel and the Land of Israel and its region throughout the ages. The NLI’s current transformative renewal aims to encourage diverse audiences in Israel and across the globe to engage with these treasures in meaningful ways through a range of innovative educational, cultural and digital initiatives. The most tangible manifestation of this transformation is the new NLI campus, now under construction adjacent to the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in Jerusalem, and on schedule to open its doors in 2022. NLI’s renewal and dual mandate requiring it to engage diverse domestic and international audiences, as well as the massive construction project underway, have in many ways magnified the challenges posed by this difficult period, as well as – and perhaps even more so – the opportunities it presents. While the response to these unprecedented and unforeseen circumstances has largely been ad hoc, the NLI approach has been guided by the goal of protecting the health and welfare of its staff and users, and identifying strategic opportunities to not only make the most of the difficulties presented by this complex new reality but also build programs and initiatives to help achieve strategic goals. Following a brief summary of the crisis in Israel, this article presents a number of examples of the physical, logistical and programmatic adaptations NLI has implemented in attempting to maximise potential opportunities in best fulfilling its mission during this time.

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (01) ◽  
pp. 59-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy Kargon

AbstractA new building for the National Library of Israel (NLI), scheduled for completion in 2021, is the culmination of a two-decade process of institutional transformation. Formerly known as the Jewish National and University Library, the NLI has historically served simultaneously as Israel's official state repository, as the Hebrew University's central library, and as a “library of the Jewish people.” Like other national libraries around the world, including elsewhere in the Middle East, the National Library of Israel has had to grapple with accelerated changes in management of library collections due to the proliferation of digital media. More fundamental, however, have been changes in the cultural expectations about how libraries should function. Since 1998, the NLI has sought to expand its mission to promote not only scholarship but also cultural “discourse” among Israel's diverse constituencies. The architectural design of NLI's new edifice was intended, therefore, to do more than house the functional requirements of a modern library. It was commissioned to express through its design the significance of the transformed institution for the Israeli public. Towards that goal, a highly publicized competition for the NLI's design was held in 2012. The original two-stage competition ended in controversy after the architect endorsed by the jurors was dismissed. Yet a review of designs submitted by four Israeli architects in that first competition shows how public spaces, affiliated with public institutions, are expected to foster public discourse in Israel. Whether that discourse is cultural or political, contentious or contradictory, these alternative designs for the NLI illustrate common themes based upon specific environmental tropes, familiar across a broad spectrum of Israeli society.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1955 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 479-487
Author(s):  
John A. Askin ◽  
Kurt Glaser

IN SPITE of a short period of sovereignty— less than 7 years—the State of Israel is playing an important role in matters pertaining not only to the Middle East but, in some respects, in matters of importance to the whole world. In medicine the advances in Israel have been no less striking than the progress made in other fields. It is felt that the pediatricians of our country might be interested to learn about Israel's medical status, particularly pertaining to pediatrics. Palestine, of which the present Israel is a part, was in Old Testament times known as Canaan or Philistia because of the tribes which lived there. Palestine was the home of the Jewish people from the time Joshua conquered the land, about 1400 B.C., until the Romans destroyed the Jewish State in the year 70 A.D. Around 630 A.D. the country came under Moslem power. From 1516 to the end of World War I Palestine was a part of the Turkish Empire. In 1917, the British Government issued the famous Balfour Declaration which promised the Jews of the world that they could build a national homeland in Palestine. The League of Nations made the land a British mandate in 1920. From then until World War II Palestine was at several occasions plunged into violent civil war between the Jews and the Arabs. After World War II in 1947 Great Britain announced a decision to give up the Mandate.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (66) ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Butler

Judith Butler: “Who Owns Kafka?”The legal battle between the state of Israel and the German literary archive over the question of who owns Kafka’s work has prompted Israeli lawyers to argue that Kafka is an asset of the Jewish people and hence, of Israel. At stake is Kafka’s own complex cultural formation as a Prague Jew writing in German who alternately praised and disavowed Zionism. Equally troubling is the assumption that Israel represents the Jewish people and that Kafka might be conceived as an asset. Judith Butler proposes a reading of Kafka’s parables that quarrels with both sides of the legal case, seeking recourse to stories and fiction as a way of illuminating the limits of law and the diasporic (and messianic) alternative to Jewish nationalism.


Author(s):  
William J. Abraham

This chapter probes the relationship of divine action to historical processes by looking at the creation of the modern state of Israel and its relationship to the Jewish people. The establishment of Israel has been described by many writers as a miracle of God. It argues particularistic claims like these should be taken seriously. It also suggests that these kinds of public claims about divine action are not going away, and we ought to reckon with them; if we do not, it is to our detriment for public understanding. It suggests the crucial link between history and theology is the nature of causation—it draws on Ernst Troeltsch’s work to bring out this point.


Author(s):  
Simone Wurster ◽  
Michael Klafft ◽  
Frank Fiedrich ◽  
Andreas Bohn

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is among the three most prominent causes of death in industrialized nations. Therefore, experts are calling for solutions, including IT-systems to mobilize volunteers. SCA emergencies require immediate action and advanced first aid skills. As of today, emergency services are often unable to arrive at the victim in time, and laypeople on the scene frequently fail to conduct resuscitation properly. One approach to solve this problem is to rely on skilled volunteers, who are alerted by smartphone apps. Among others, German researchers are currently developing a crisis response system with a crowd tasking app. It aims to help reduce the effects of large-scale events, but also of ad-hoc incidents including SCA. This paper describes an approach to determine the potential of the system to increase the survival rate of SCA illustrated based upon data from Germany. Its concept was analyzed by experts and benefited from their feedback.


2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-79
Author(s):  
Rachel Misrati

The fascinating story of the creation and development of this unique collection is matched only by the collection's importance as a resource of primary material for research in the social sciences, the humanities, and even the exact sciences. With over five and a half thousand leading Jewish personalities represented in their original handwriting, Abraham Schwadron's autograph collection is more than just the first Jewish Who's Who. The inscribed visiting cards, literary manuscripts, handwritten letters, and even musical scores are all evidence of a Jewish social milieu and cultural enterprise that stretches from the sixteenth century to the present day. The collection is a written record of the history of the Jewish people as it unfolded. No less dramatic is the man behind the collection, who from his youth in Galicia decided he would build a national Jewish autograph collection for the Jewish people and bring it to Jerusalem. The National Library of Israel is presently working to make this whole collection accessible to the public, first by rendering the collection searchable through the Library's online catalogue and then by digitizing the entire collection of autographs. This article traces the history of the collection, introduces the intriguing figure of Abraham Schwadron and his rationale for building the collection, and reveals the many ways that the collection's rich and fascinating potential can be used as a resource of original source material. At the end of the article there is brief reference to the National Library of Israel's project for digitizing the collection.


1994 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 166-174
Author(s):  
Libby Kahane

The directories, encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries, and bibliographies listed below are part of the collection of the Jewish National and University Library. Most were published in Israel, but some of them are in the Library because it is the Library's aim, as the National Library of the Jewish people, to collect Judaica from all over the world. Some non-Israeli publications that may not have come to the attention of U.S. librarians are therefore included in this list.


2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-242
Author(s):  
Ari Sulistyanto ◽  
Usmar Usmar ◽  
Hermiyetti Hermiyetti

Rapid disaster response is necessary since it involves various stakeholders in disaster. However, rapid response is difficult to implement due to structural constraints and organizational hierarchy.  This research aims to reveal structural constraints to crisis communication management in the internal organization of the Transportation Ministry. Situational Crisis Communication Theory (SCCT) approaches offer a framework to understand management in general in responding to crisis situation.  This research uses a qualitative method with case study approaches. The results of this research show that in the pre-crisis phase the organization serves as media for sections at the Transportation Ministry to interact in monitoring potential crisis.  In the crisis and post-crisis response phases, the establishment of an Ad Hoc Crisis Communication Team (TKK) has changed the organization from being under stringent hierarchic structure to being more flexible and responsive in crisis response. This research gives contributions to more dynamic crisis communication management, recommends the formulation of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in crisis communication management, starting from pre-crisis, crisis to post-crisis response phases, and gives guidance to government and non-government organizations in crisis communication management.


1975 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-426 ◽  
Author(s):  

It is a great pleasure and honour for us to present to Professor Nathan Feinberg on his 80th birthday, as a token of admiration and affection, this issue of the Israel Law Review, which marks the conclusion of the first ten years of publication.As teachers and students of the Law Faculty of the Hebrew University, we are grateful to him for the leading role he played in the creation of that Faculty. As jurists we admire his undisputed mastery of international law, and as Jews and Israelis we are indebted to him for the service he has rendered to the entire Jewish people, to the Zionist cause and to the State of Israel.Nathan Feinberg was born in Kovno on June 6, 1895. His aptitude for learning was such that the severe numerus clausus did not prevent his admission to the Russian high school, from which he graduated with distinction in 1914. At the same time he was given a Jewish and Hebrew education privately. He then proceeded to the Faculty of Law of the University of Zurich, from which he graduatedmagna cum laudein 1918.


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