Not every ambassador to Israel – not even those of the Jewish faith – comes sufficiently prepared. Paraguayan Ambassador Alejandro Rubin Cymerman, meanwhile, is one of just over a handful of ambassadors whose embassies are located in Jerusalem.
The embassies of the US, Guatemala, Honduras, Kosovo, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji are located in the capital, with at least two others on the way.
A lawyer by profession, and before that an academic, Cymerman, who later this month will celebrate his country’s 215th anniversary of independence, has served as honorary consul for Israel in Paraguay and also as president of the Paraguay-Israel Chamber of Commerce.
He said that while every nation can decide which of its cities will be its capital, for Israelis there is no option. For both historic and religious reasons, Jerusalem must remain Israel’s capital, he said.
Hebrew University, Harvard expand NeuroAI collaboration
Despite media reports of academic boycotts of Israeli institutions of higher education, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem continues to cement ties with overseas institutions, and members of its faculty are appointed or elected to international bodies and receive prizes and awards from international foundations and organizations.
Among the more recent developments in international cooperation is a collaborative agreement between Harvard University’s Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence and the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) at the Hebrew University.
The collaboration between the two research entities will, for the most part, be in NeuroAI.
NeuroAI seeks to understand intelligence across biological and artificial systems. Researchers in this field study how systems learn from experience, form internal representations, and use them to make predictions and guide behavior in complex environments.
The collaboration will leverage modern AI tools to deepen our understanding of how brains, human and animal, learn, compute, and adapt, while drawing inspiration from biology to design more efficient, robust, and reliable AI systems.
The partnership between the two institutions will enable both to move forward at a more rapid pace. The strengthening of ties between the two research communities will help to lay the groundwork for future joint initiatives, with a shared goal of advancing innovative, interdisciplinary research in NeuroAI.
The Kempner Institute is an interdisciplinary research institute focused on understanding intelligence in natural and artificial systems, bringing together researchers across machine learning, neuroscience, cognitive science, and related fields.
ELSC is a leading hub for computational neuroscience at Hebrew University and is part of a broader research ecosystem with strengths in artificial intelligence, computer science, and cognitive science.
The collaboration builds on existing ties between the two communities. Notable connections include Haim Sompolinsky, Kempner associate faculty member and professor of molecular and cellular biology and of physics (in residence) at Harvard University, who is also professor emeritus at ELSC; Daphna Weinshall, Kempner visiting scholar and professor of computer science at Hebrew University; and Jonathan Kadmon, assistant professor at ELSC and former visiting scholar at Harvard University.
Herzog praises Torah, science integration
Education is very much in the news these days, with parental uncertainties in the North as to whether or not to send their children to school when Hezbollah continues to attack northern communities. In Jerusalem and elsewhere in the country, principals of haredi schools are criticized for not teaching core subjects such as math and English to their students.
On a visit to the Jerusalem College of Technology, a Religious-Zionist facility originally known as Machon Lev, or the Lev Institute, President Isaac Herzog discussed the absence of conflict and contradiction between Torah study and science, and pointed out that his paternal grandfather, who was chief rabbi of Ireland and later the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the State of Israel, was both a noted Torah scholar and a scientific researcher, with neither interfering with or detracting from the other
College CEO Ohev Zion told the president that JCT represents a unique integration of Torah and science. He added that many of the graduates hold senior ranks in the IDF.
Herzog responded that there has been a significant shift in Israeli society across all of its segments with regard to respecting different lifestyles and beliefs. “Despite the differences, today’s environment is more accommodating,” he said.
There is a strong desire within the IDF to integrate members of the haredi community while ensuring adherence to guidelines developed in coordination with rabbinic leadership, he said.
To the students, he said: You also have a mission: “to share your story, to explain your way of life, and to show that it can be preserved with confidence.”
Apropos Torah and science, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, so widely respected in the Torah world, was a student at the University of Berlin and at the Sorbonne in Paris.
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