Israel Belfer
Dr Israel Belfer's field of research is the history of Science and Ideas, as well as the ramifications in the realm of theosophy, mysticism and religion. Israel teaches at Bar-Ilan Universitys’ STS (Science, Technology and Society) program, Hadassah Medical School and Machon Magid at Hebrew University Jerusalem. Key points of interests are transitions in styles of reasoning and paradigmatic structures. One such emerging style is the Information-age and its influence on science and society
Academic Affiliation
2016-present Lecturer, Bar Ilan University Science, Technology and Society Graduate Program (STS)
2014-present Academic Coordinator, The J. R. Elyachar Center, Ben-Gurion University.
2013-present Adjunct Lecturer, Hebrew University's Magid Institute, HUJI; Hadassa medical school, HUJI.
Academic Education
2009 – 2012 Bar Ilan University
PhD in the Science, Technology and Society Graduate Program (STS)
Advisors: Raz Chen-Morris (BIU), Silvan Schweber (Brandeis, Harvard)
Dissertation Title: Absent Knowledge: The Impact of Information Theory on 20th Century Physics
2007 – 2008 Bar Ilan Univesity
M.A. in History and Philosophy of Science. Advisor: Raz Chen-Morris.
2003 – 2006 Hebrew University, Jerusalem
BSc Physics (major), Chemistry (minor), Philosophy of Science (minor).
Areas of Specialty and Competence
AOS Philosophy of Science, History of Ideas.
AOC Jewish Thought, Talmudic Logic, Jewish Medical Ethics.
Fellowships and Awards
2016 Matanel Fellowship, Ben-Gurion University
2014 – 2015 Postdoctoral Research Fellow: The J. R Elyachar Center for Studies in Sepharadi Heritage at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva.
Supervisor: Prof. Haviva Pedaya
2013 – 2014 Postdoctoral Research Fellow: Jacques Loeb Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva.
Supervisor: Prof. Ute Deichmann
2012 – 2013 Postdoctoral Research Fellow: Edelstein Center for History and Philosophy of Science, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
2010 – 2013 Bar Ilan MGL Outstanding PhD Candidate Scholarship.
2009 – 2012 Bar Ilan PhD President's Scholarship.
2008 – 2009 Evergreen Fellow, Evergreen Venture Partners, Tel Aviv - technology and philosophy.
Supervisor: Dr Doron Avital
2007 Shalem Graduate Fellow - Shalem Center, Jerusalem.
2005 – 2006 Rabbi Dr. Isaac Breuer Memoriam Fellow - Bina L’itim : Judaism, Modernity and Israeli life.
Symposia
2016 "The Trolley Problem at a Crossroads: Halacha and Neuro-Ethics", JLA (the Jewish Law Association) 19th International Conference, Impact of Technology, Science and Knowledge on Jewish Law and Ethics, Tuesday, July 12th.
2016 ‘ “That Power Which Eternally Wills Evil and Eternally Works Good" - Demons and Science in Early Modern Europe’, Scientiae
2016, University of Oxford, Thursday, July 7th 2016
2016 “Bit by Bit: The Role of Information in Physics”, Information and Information− Processing in Science, The 30th Annual International Workshop on the History and Philosophy of Science Research Workshop of the Israel Science Foundation, Tuesday 31 May 2016
2016 "The Evolving Character of Objectivity in the Exact Sciences", Reality and Imagination: On Objectivity and Subjectivity in Philosophy, Psychology, Psychotherapy Halacha and Law, Bar-Ilan University Department of Psychology, January 1st, 2016
2015 “Daat Hamakom - On the Map” Panel, I-CORE annual conference, July 2nd, Yad HaShmona, Jerusalem
2015 "From Mathesis Universalis to Universal Information or: Universal Computation in the Information age", ICOHTEC (The International Committee for the History of Technology 42nd Annual meeting, IEEE-HISTELCON 4th meeting) August 20th 2015
2015 The Map is Not (Just) The Territory”, Elyachar Center Summer Workshop, Beer Sheva, August 31st 2015 "המפה היא לא )רק( הטריטוריה", סדנת קיץ של מרכז אליישר, בינת המרחב: וְ אֵ י זֶה מְ קוֹם, מרכז הצעירים, עיר עתיקה באר שבע, 13.80..518 "לבי במזרח ואנכי בסוף מערב – מפה וטריטוריה, כיוון ומשמעות בהיסטוריה של הרעיונות
2014 ובמחשבה היהודית", כנס icore' דעת המקום', יד השמונה 12.028280
2014 "World-Information-Man: Breaking and Fixing the Human and Physical Information Space" , Oh-Man Oh-Machine: The Politics and Aesthetics of Posthumanism, Tel Aviv University, May 20th, 2014
2013 “My Friend, Let Us Calculate – From Leibniz to the Informational Turn”, ISHPS Annual Conference, Bloomfield Science Museum, Jerusalem, December 23rd, 2013.
2013 “Information-Laden science, a Hacking-Type Revolution”, International Conference on Philosophy of Information (ICPI 2013), Xian Jiaotong University International Center for Philosophy of Information(XJTU-ICPI), October 19-21, 2013.
2012 “Exploring the Edges of Info-Computational Science”, AISB/IACAP World Congress, Birmingham, UK (Symposium: Information Quality), July 3rd, 2012. 2012 “The Info-Computation Turn in Physics”, The Turing Centenary Conference, Manchester, UK, June 22-25, 2012.
2012 “The Transformation of Thought Experiments: From Scientific Demons to Network Daemons”, ISHPS annual conference, Bloomfield Science Museum March 11th, 2012.
2011 “Pondering Nature: Science and Halacha”, BIU Nitzotzot conference (Particle Physics Session), November 11th , 2011.
2011 "Redemption in the Information Age : Tumultuous Swells in the Sea of Wisdom", Collective Redemption and Individual Redemption : Contemporary Developments in Jewish Thought and Imagination (Workshop), Thursday, September 22nd 2011, Van Leer Jerusalem Institute.
2011 “Information-Laden Science - a Hacking-type Revolution”, 2011 IACAP, Aarhus University Denmark, celebrating the Computational Turn, July 4th, 2011.
2011 “A Short History of Quantum Computation”, 2011 ISHPS annual conference, Bloomfield Science Museum March 6th, 2011.
2010 "The Advent of Nothing - Information-Laden Science in the 20th Century ", Nothing in Art and Science Bezalel Conference, Bloomfield Science Museum, June 10th, 2010.
2010 "Towards a Modern Golem, Artificiality in an Artificial World", The Power to Detect and Create: Ethical Challenges Emerging from DNA Technology and Genetics, Bar-Ilan University, June 8th, 2010.
2010 "Information-Laden Science - a quiet scientific revolution of the 20th century ", 2010 ISHPS annual conference, Bloomfield Science Museum, May 30th, 2010.
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals
2016 The Trolley Problem at a Crossroads: Halacha and NeuroEthics, JME Vol VIII no 2. October 2016, pp. 61-70.
2016 M. Abraham, I. Belfer, D. M. Gabbay, U. Schild, “Identity Merging and Identity Revision in Talmudic Logic: An Outline Paper”, Computational Models of Rationality 2016: 195-209.
2014 “Informing Physics: Jacob Bekestein - A Chapter in the History of Information-Laden Physics”, Physics in Perspective, Vol. 16 Issue 1: 69-97.
2012 M. Abraham, I. Belfer, D. M. Gabbay, U. Schild, "Future Determination of Entities in Talmudic Public Announcement Logic", Journal of Applied Logic , 2013;11(1):63-90.
2012 “The Secret of Union and Communion” [Heb], Daat: a Journal of Jewish Philosophy & Kabbalah, Bar Ilan University Press, Ramat Gan, Issue 72, pp. 143-174.
2012 “The Advent of Nothing - Information-Laden Science in the 20th Century” (Heb. מותר 61ה במאה אינפורמציה רווי מדע: חסר וידע האין ,(Protocols: History and Theory, Issue No. 23, Void, Information and Uncertainty, February 2012.
2009 “Steroid Use and Special Prosthetics: Evaluation of Two Issues in Sports, Medicine and Technology”, JME Vol. VII no. 1, June 2009, pp.43-49.
2008 “Brain-Machine Interfaces” (Heb.), Assia Volume 83-84, 2008, pp. 67-90.
Chapters in Books
2015 “Human Action and Body-Computer Interface” (Heb.), Assia Book Series, Vol. XV., Schlesinger Institute, Jerusalem 2015: pp. 15-38
2012 “The Information-Computational Turn in Physics”, In: Vornokov Andrei (Ed.), Alan Turing Centenary, EPiC Vol. 10, pp. 20-34.
2011 “Information-Laden Science : a Hacking-Type Revolution”, In: Ess Charles, Hagengruber, Ruth (Eds.), The Computational Turn: Past, Presents, Futures?, Münster, Germany: Verlagshaus Monsenstein & Vannerdat OHG, 2011, pp. 237-241.
2011 Abraham M., Belfer I., Gabbay D., Schild U., “Delegation, Count As and Security in Talmudic Logic, a Preliminary Study”, Jean-Yves Béziau and Marcelo Esteban Coniglio (eds.), Logic without Frontiers: Festschrift for Walter Alexandre Carnielli on the occasion of his 60th Birthday. Volume 17 of Tribute Series, College Publications. London, 2011, pp. 73-96.
2007 Steinberg Avraham, Belfer Israel (2007), “The Moment of Death and Heart Transplantation – Bibliographic Review” (Heb.), In: Halperin M., Moshe E., L. (Editors), Establishing the Moment of Death, Jerusalem : Schlesinger Institute 2007, pp. 349-356.
Book Reviews
2013 Review of “Einstein’s Jewish Science: Physics at The Intersection of Politics and Religion” by Steven Gimbel (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012), H-Net Book Reviews (TBP).
2011 אבירם רביצקי, לוגיקה אריסטוטלית ומתודולוגיה תלמודית: יישומה של הלוגיקה האריסטוטלית בפירושים למידות שהתורה נדרשת בהן, הוצאת ספרים ע״ש יʺל מאגנס, האוניברסיטה העברית, תש"ע
2011 אליעזר חדד, התורה והטבע בכתבי הרמב"ם, הוצאת ספרים ע"ש מאגנס - האוניברסיטה העברית (מחקר ועיון – יהדות), תשע"א 2011
2010 Review of "The Language of Tradition" by Meir Buzaglo (Mandel Foundation and Keter Books, 2009), Jewish Review of Books, Number 4, Winter 2011, pp. 32-33.
Joint publications: Books
2010 M. Abraham, I. Belfer, D. M. Gabbay , and U. Schild, Temporal Logic in the Talmud, Studies in Talmudic Logic Series Vol. 4, College Publications, London England, 2010.
2012 M. Abraham, I. Belfer, D. M. Gabbay , and U. Schild, Logic of Delegation in the Talmud, Studies in Talmudic Logic Series Vol. 6, College Publications, 2012.
2013 M. Abraham, I. Belfer, D. M. Gabbay , and U. Schild, Synthesis of Concepts in the Talmud. College Publications, 2013.
2014 M. Abraham, I. Belfer, D. M. Gabbay , and U. Schild, Analysis of Concepts and States in Talmudic Reasoning. College Publications, 2014.
2014 M. Abraham, I. Belfer, D. M. Gabbay , and U. Schild, Platonic Realism and Talmudic Reasoning. College Publications, 2014.
2015 M. Abraham, I. Belfer, D. M. Gabbay , and U. Schild, and U. Schild. Fuzzy Logic and Quantum States in Talmudic Reasoning. College Publications, 2015.
2016 M. Abraham, I. Belfer, D. M. Gabbay , and U. Schild , and U. Schild. Partition Problems in Talmudic Reasoning. College Publications, 2012.
Research Experience
2015-Present Research coordinator for prof. Haviva Pedaya, Ben-Gurion University.
2011-2012 Research Assistant, Dr. Orly Shenker & Dr. Meir Hemo, the Edelstein Center for History and Philosophy of Science. Project: Philosophical foundations of physics – statistical measures and physics.
2010-2011 Research Assistant to Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Brandes, the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI). Project: Aspects of Human Rights in Judaism - Particularism and Universalism (IDI Judaism & Human Rights initiative).
2006 Applied Physics research under Prof. Aaron Lewis, (Nanophotonics & Nanochemistry Lab, The Krueger Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Department of Applied Physics), Hebrew University Jerusalem Project: Fountain-pen nanolithography - HPLC fed hollow-tipped AFM
2006-Present Research Fellow: The Schlesinger Institute for Jewish Medical Ethics, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Jerusalem. Recent Project: Partial color blindness – Statistical Social and Jurisprudential analysis.
2005-2006 Junior Research fellow – Prof. Lewis Nano-Photonics Lab, Hebrew Uinversity Physics Department
Teaching Experience (updated to academic year 2015-2016)
2016 Utopias – a look Beyond the Veil, Ben-Gurion University (With Professor Haviva Pedaya).
2016 History and philosophy of Modern Science, Bar Ilan University STS Program.
2012-2016 History of Medicine in Judaism, Course #94813, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
2013-2016 History of science, Ancient to Medieval, Course #27825, Bar Ilan University
Interdisciplinary seminar - current scientific research #9100101, Bar Ilan University
History of Medicine , Course #94813, Hebrew University.
2014-2015 Together with Prof. Pedaya - "Spaces – Between Naked and Blind Spaces in the History of Ideas and Judaism" Course no. #125-2-0215, Ben Gurion University.
2013-2015 Interdisciplinary Graduate Seminar - Current Scientific Research and Judaism, Course no. #9100101, Bar Ilan University.
Patents
WO/2009/083981 - A METHOD AND A SYSTEM FOR RAPID AWARENESS, RECOGNITION, AND RESPONSE TO DIGITAL MESSAGES
International Application No.: PCT/IL2008/001699
Publication Date: 09.07.2009
International Filing Date: 30.12.2008
Professional Experience
2010 – 2016 Director, Bar Ilan University Interdisciplinary President’s Forum Nitzotzot – Cutting Edge Science and Judaism conference series. Conferences planning and execution, scientific research vetting, interviews.
2009 – 2012 Coordinator and Editor, Galileo Online Science Forum.
2008 – 2010 R&D team leader, BKLK Communication Solutions LTD. Specialties: NLP product design, communication solution analysis.