A lunch meeting of the BOT with Chinese students at Bar Ilan University marked the 10th anniversary of the activities of Sir Naim Dangoor’s Universal Monotheism Program and its upcoming expansion from Program to Centre during the 2019 academic year.
Amos Lim is no ordinary Bar-Ilan University student. Neither is Yuval Wu. Amos hails from Singapore and is currently studying for his MA in the Faculty of Humanities. Yuval Wu, from China, is a student in Bar-Ilan’s Multidisciplinary BA Program in the Humanities. She’s one of several Chinese students now at Bar-Ilan through an exchange program with Sichuan International Studies University.
This week, international members of the University’s Board of Trustees were introduced to a dozen of Bar-Ilan’s many Asian students at a special luncheon in their honor. The meeting marked the 10th anniversary of the activities of the Sir Naim Dangoor Program for Universal Monotheism, which is now being expanded into a full-fledged centre. The luncheon was held under the auspices of the Sir Naim Dangoor Centre for Universal Monotheism.
Roi, for instance, is studying physics and is thinking of staying an additional two years in Israel because he is “very happy in Israel. What you can learn from the Jewish people is beyond expectations,” he said.
One by one the students, all of whom adopted Hebrew names, stood up to introduce themselves. Roi, for instance, is studying physics and is thinking of staying an additional two years in Israel because he is “very happy in Israel. What you can learn from the Jewish people is beyond expectations,” he said. Many of the students shared their desire to serve as a social bridge in strengthening Israel-Asia relations.
“Our aim is to act as a cultural agent and mediator in a variety of fields of knowledge and interest shared by all peoples, religions, traditions, and heritage from West and East”
Danielle Gurevitch
Dr. Danielle Gurevitch, Director of Global Affairs-Asia Division, was the first academic in Israel to recognize the potential of Sino-Israel academic collaboration. Over the past decade she has led the university’s Asian exchange program and has also overseen the development of the Dangoor program. She outlined the program’s activities and vision for the future, which focus on publishing, initiating and developing programs embracing universal cultural values based on tolerance, mutual respect, and a comprehensive and respectful intellectual worldview. “Our aim is to act as a cultural agent and mediator in a variety of fields of knowledge and interest shared by all peoples, religions, traditions, and heritage from West and East,” she said.
Amos Lim, who will soon begin his PhD studies in Israel, is not only gaining an education at Bar-Ilan University. He is also giving back to the community by volunteering at soup kitchens, with refugees in south Tel Aviv, Holocaust survivors, and the needy. Perhaps Yuval Wu best summed it up on behalf of all the students when she completed her presentation by asking “why Israel?” and answering “why not?”
