CONFERENCE PROGRAM
XIII International Torah & Science Conference
December 12 – 15, 2019
Sustainability, Resilience, and the Torah
IS THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT COMING TO AN END?
Keynotes:
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Mr. Alex Friedman (Thurs pm)
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Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar (Thurs pm)
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Professor Joseph Bodenheimer (Fri am)
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Professor Chaim Sukenik (Fri am)
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Professor Avraham Steinberg (Sat pm)
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Rabbi Simon Jacobson (Sun am)
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Professor Henry Abramson (Sun pm)
Thursday, December 12, Opening Night
7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Bridging Boundaries
7:30 PM ~ Professor Nathan Katz welcome (5 min)
7:40 PM ~ Keynote: Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar (35-40 min)
“Absolute Standards in a World of Relativity”: Bridging Limits and Boundaries with Infinity and Eternity (35-40 min)
8:30 PM ~ Professor Joseph Bodenheimer will introduce Mr. Alex Friedman (10 min)
8:40 PM ~ Keynote: Mr. Alex Friedman
From Small Dream to Brilliant Reality: a short history of the Israeli Space program (45 min + Q&A)
Friday Morning, December 13
9:00 am - 11:30 am
Sustainability vs. Plagues
9:00 AM ~ Professor Michael Kosoy
The Ten Plagues from the Point of Evolutionary Biology of Infectious Diseases (30 min + 15 min Q&A)
9:45 AM ~ Ms. Rina Krautwirth
Protecting against the Unseen: Rabbinic Approach to Chemical and Biological Hazards (30 min + 15 min Q&A)
10:45 AM ~ Keynote: Professor Joseph Bodenheimer
How Does the Torah View Sustainability? (45 min. + 15 min Q&A)
11:45 AM ~ Keynote: Professor Chaim Sukenik
The Interface of Halacha and Technology: Findings from the Torah and Technology Research Center (45 min + 15 min Q&A)
Motzei Shabbos, Saturday Night, December 14
8:00 pm - 10:45 pm
Rain, Brain, and Genetics & Halacha
8:00 PM ~ Keynote: Rabbi Professor Avraham Steinberg
Modern Genetics and Halachic Ramifications (45 min + 20 min Q&A)
8:55 PM ~ Professor Nathan Aviezer
How Science Deepens Our Understanding of Torah: (i) Rain and Chaos and (ii) The Rainbow and the Photon
(35 min + 20 min Q&A)
9:50 PM ~ Rabbi Professor Moshe Tendler
The Right to Try: Halacha and the Use of Experimental Drugs (35 min + 20 min Q&A)
Sunday Morning, December 15
9:30 am - 12:45 pm
Outer Space & Inner Space
9:30 AM ~ Keynote: Rabbi Simon Jacobson
Ecosystems: The Inside Story – The Torah Dynamics of Matter/Energy Fusion (30 min + 15 min Q&A)
10:15 AM ~ Dr. Shimon Lerner
Exoplanets, the James Webb Space Telescope and the Origin of Life in the Universe (30 min + 15 min Q&A)
11:15 AM ~ Dr. Daniel Turgeman
The Fullness Thereof: The Significance Higgs Mechanism in Jewish Thought and Theology (30 min + 15 min Q&A)
12:00 AM ~ Mr. Daniel Friedmann
Is there a Blueprint for the Universe? The Origins of the Universe and Life (30 mins + 15 min Q&A)
Sunday Afternoon, December 15
1:30 pm - 5:15 pm
Genetics
1:30 PM ~ Keynote: Professor Henry Abramson
Truth Will Spring from the Earth: Gutenberg, the Internet, and the New Uncertainty Principle (45 min + 15 min Q&A)
2:30 PM ~ Dr. Yonah Bardos
Genetics Testing in the Genomic Era (30 min + 15 min Q&A)
3:15 PM ~ Professor Joseph Jacobson
Recent Advances in CRISPR Technology for Human Genome Editing and Their Ethical/Halachic Implications
(30 min + 15 min Q&A)
4:00 PM ~ Mrs. Valeria Poltorak
Matrilineal Descent in Judaism and its Biological Basis (30 min + 15 min Q&A)
4:45 PM ~ Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar and Professor Nathan Katz
Closing Remarks