Although I made aliyah to Israel many years ago and speak a fair Hebrew, I was excited when I heard about the Association of Israeli English Speaking Friends of Tel Aviv University. The association offers its members cultural enrichment and the opportunity to open their horizons through participation in a stimulating series of lectures, seminars and other events given in English by senior academicians of the university. 

When I joined the English Speaking Friends 13 years ago I was still juggling a demanding full time job and family commitments but I would look forward to the monthly Friday morning lectures on the university campus. There, after meeting new and old friends over cookies and coffee, I would enjoy concentrating on the content of the lecture without having to translate from Hebrew to English.

 Years later when I retired and had more time, I had the pleasure of perusing the newsy monthly newsletter and email updates and choosing a rich monthly program of lectures, seminars, concerts exhibitions and other activities.

 The monthly Friday lectures take place eight times in the academic year and cover a wide range of academic subjects taught and researched on the campus. There have been lectures on literature, politics, science, medicine, law and even the Jewish Mafia.

 I attended Women’s Ways of Thinking, a six-part seminar which fascinated both men and women, and the popular Mini Law and Mini Medical seminars.  The latter didn’t enable me to practice law or medicine but certainly helped me to understand basic concepts. A full day seminar on the Human Genome and another on Global Warming were held to celebrate the 10^th and the 15^th anniversaries of the Israeli English Speaking Friends; there were master classes in the Buchman-Mehta School of Music, a lecture series on the Bible, theater performances like the recent Laundry on the Roof and countless other events.

My membership in the association was the key to the campus and the numerous members’ privileges enabled me to enjoy quality time to the full. Discounts offered to members include participation fees for: conferences of the Dayan Center for National Security; the Rector’s seminars; personal enrichment programs given by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities; subscriptions to lecture series and to concert series and performances in the Academy of Music and Faculty of Arts; participation in the International Forum which hosts monthly lectures on current world affairs by a senior foreign diplomat, and members receive a free subscription to the Tel Aviv University magazine.

You can find out more by contacting Idit Moskovitz at 03 640 5808, or email: iditmosk@tauex.tau.ac.il

Footnote: The 2013 program is richer than ever, including lectures such as "Opera in Disguise - Mozart's Instrumental Music Reconsidered " by   Dr. Uri Rom of The Buchmann-Mehta School of Music; "The Cyber Age: Are we facing the end of Human Age?" by Professor Isaac Ben-Israel, Head of the Tel Aviv University Workshop for Science, Technology and Security.

There is free parking on campus for attendees.