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:

Mr. Alex Friedman (Thurs pm)
Rabbi Sholom D. Lipskar (Thurs pm)
Professor Joseph Bodenheimer (Fri am)
Professor Chaim Sukenik (Fri am)
Professor Avraham Steinberg (Sat pm)
Rabbi Simon Jacobson (Sun am)
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