For the 30th year in a row, Herzog College hosted its annual pre-Tisha Be’av Bible Conference.

The college, founded in 1973, has over 3,500 students and is considered one of the largest teacher training centers in Israel.

In addition to being approved to award bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education, it provides guidance to Jewish schools in many parts of the world. Originally from Alon Shvut, it merged with the Jerusalem-based Lifshitz College of Education in 2013. It also has a women’s campus in Migdal Oz.

The Bible lecture was held online and in person, with 77 lectures recorded for worldwide distribution and access, plus 80 lectures given to a live audience at Alon Shvut.

According to the rector of Herzog College, Dr Ezra Kahalani, the college offers online training for teachers in North and South America, France and Australia, in collaboration with the Department of Diaspora Affairs and the Department of ‘Education. If distance education is not new and existed even in the pre-computer era, when it was done by radio, it has taken on a greater boom in recent years, especially during the pandemic.

“This accelerated development of distance education has allowed us to share our passion for Torah, our pedagogical expertise and our love of the Land of Israel with teachers and students in Jewish schools, and with Jews around the world. whole. Kahalani said. “Perhaps in hindsight, we will appreciate this as a small benefit from the very difficult experience of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

■ IN AN ERA where public health is constantly in the news, Dr. Kenneth Collins has chosen the right time to launch his latest book, Biblical Canaan Medicine for Modern Israel.

The book is rich in history, detail, and diversity, which is not surprising as Collins is not only a physician, but also a historian.

Former chairman of the Glasgow Jewish Representative Council and former chairman of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, he was a general practitioner in Glasgow for over 30 years. Collins edited the medical history journal Vasalius from 2009 to 2017, and is a senior research fellow at the University of Glasgow and a visiting professor in the history of medicine at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The book launch will take place on Wednesday, July 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Hazvi Yisrael Synagogue, 14 Hovevei Zion Street, where Collins is a member of the synagogue committee as well as one of its past presidents.

■ The communications group B’SHEVA, which holds an annual conference in Jerusalem, also organizes a summer conference with the participation of President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu and many others political, media and religious figures. The two-day conference will open at the Begin Heritage Center on Sunday August 1. Topics to be discussed include Judeo-Arab relations following the recent riots, the future of Jewish settlement in the West Bank, and possible changes to the status quo.

■ TAKING INTO ACCOUNT that the conference is being held in Jerusalem, Mayor Moshe Lion will also be among the keynote speakers, as will his incumbent predecessor Nir Barkat, who visited the United States last week with the aim of prevent the reopening in Agron Street, of the American consulate general, which served the Palestinian population before the transfer of the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Lion should take note of an article in the Jerusalem Post last Friday signed by editor-in-chief David Brinn.

In a conversation with a seasoned restaurateur in the Old Town Christian Quarter, Brinn learned that unlike Teddy Kollek, who regularly visits residents and business people and asks them about their issues, one of his assistants wrote down what he was told, and then did something to change the situation, Lion never looks left or right when he arrives in the old town, but heads straight for the wall of Lamentations. From what Brinn was told, Lion never visited the Christian Quarter. The people who live and work there also pay taxes and deserve the mayor’s attention.

■ As guests choked in the damp garden of French Ambassador Eric Danon during the National Day celebrations last week, the weather was fine in Jerusalem and tables laden with kosher delicacies dotted the expansive garden of the Consulate. France in the capital, a factor much appreciated by those Jewish guests who are religiously observant.

Addressing his guests, Troccaz made an effort to avoid sensitive issues and referred to the work his team has done to help French citizens in need of consular services, adding that the assistance given was the second highest of all French representations in the world. He was warmly applauded at the sound of popping champagne corks.

The Consulate General of France in Jerusalem dates back to well before the creation of the state during the time of Ottoman rule. The First Consul was appointed by King Louis XIII in 1623 to help Christian pilgrims who came to pray in the Holy Places, especially those which were French possessions. In 1893, the rank of consul was raised to that of consul general.

Located opposite the side entrance of the King David Hotel in Emil Botta Street, the French Consulate in Jerusalem operates independently from the French Embassy in Tel Aviv and is the French representative to the Palestinian National Authority.

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