Daniel Hershkowitz (; born 2 January 1953 in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, Israel) is an Israeli politician,

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

, and

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

. Since 2018, he has headed the . He is

professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

the Technion ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

, and is also rabbi of the Ahuza neighborhood in

. He was president of

Bar-Ilan University Bar-Ilan University (BIU, , ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic university institution. It has 20,000 ...

from 2013-17.

Early life

Hershkowitz was born in

. His parents were

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no universall ...

from

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, and his father was wounded in the

1948 Arab-Israeli War Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

. Hershkowitz studied at a religious high school, and graduated at age 16. He served for five years in the Intelligence Corps of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

, reaching the rank of Major. Hershkowitz earned his BSc in mathematics in 1973, MSc in 1976, and DSc in 1982, all from the

Technion – Israel Institute of Technology The Technion – Israel Institute of Technology is a public university, public research university located in Haifa, Israel. Established in 1912 by Jews under the dominion of the Ottoman Empire, the Technion is the oldest university in the coun ...

. His

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

studies Study or studies may refer to: General * Education **Higher education * Clinical trial * Experiment * Field of study * Observational study * Scientific study * Research * Study skills, abilities and approaches applied to learning Other * Study ...

were conducted at

Mercaz HaRav Mercaz HaRav (officially, , "The Center of Rabbi ook- the Central Universal Yeshiva") is a national-religious ( Hardal) yeshiva in Jerusalem, founded in 1924 by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. Located in the city's Kiryat Moshe neighbo ...

; he received his ''

Semikha ''Semikhah'' () is the traditional term for rabbiinic ordination in Judaism. The original ''semikhah'' was the formal "transmission of authority" from Moses through the generations. This form of ''semikhah'' ceased between 360 and 425 CE. Si ...

'' (ordination) in 1995 from Rabbis She'ar Yashuv Cohen, Shlomo Chelouche, and Nehemyah Roth, as well as an additional ordination "Rabbi of the City" from the

Chief Rabbinate of Israel The Chief Rabbinate of Israel (, ''Ha-Rabbanut Ha-Rashit Li-Yisra'el'') is recognized by law as the supreme rabbinic authority for Judaism in Israel. It was established in 1921 under the British Mandate, and today operates on the basis of the ...

(2001).

Academia

He has published over 80 mathematics articles in

academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as permanent and transparent forums for the ...

s. He was President of the ''

International Linear Algebra Society The International Linear Algebra Society (ILAS) is a professional mathematical society organized to promote research and education in linear algebra, matrix theory and matrix computation. It serves the international community through conferences ...

'' (2002-2008), and was previously a Professor of Mathematics at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

.daniel-h.co.il
In 1982, he was awarded the Landau Research Prize in Mathematics; in 1990, the New England Academic Award for Excellence in Research; in 1990, the Technion's Award for Excellence in Teaching; and in 1991, the Henri Gutwirth Award for Promotion of Research.

Political career

In 2009, he was elected to the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

as the leader of

the Jewish Home The Jewish Home () was an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox Jewish, Religious Zionism, religious Zionist and Far-right politics in Israel, far-right political party in Israel. It was originally formed by a merger of the National Religious Party, Mole ...

, and was appointed Minister of Science and Technology after joining

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

.Biography
, borhatorah.org He did not contest the 2013 elections, and subsequently left the Knesset. Since September 2018, he is the Head of the Civil Service Commission under the office of the Prime Minister of Israel.

Bar-Ilan University

He was president of

from 2013 to 2017, succeeding

Moshe Kaveh Moshe Kaveh (; born 1943) is an Israeli physicist and former President of Bar-Ilan University. Biography Kaveh was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, Soviet Union where his parents sought safety after fleeing from Poland. All of his father (Rabbi Davi ...

and followed by Arie Zaban.Board of Trustees Approves Appointment of Rabbi Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz as Next President of Bar-Ilan University
/ref>

References

External links

Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs (; ) is one of the most important Cabinet of Israel, ministries in the Government of Israel, Israeli government. The ministry's role is to implement Israel's foreign policy, and promote economic, cultural ...

Daniel Hershkowitz's homepage
at the Technion Mathematics Department *
Rabbinic homepageBiography
borhatorah.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Hershkowitz, Daniel 1953 births Living people Government ministers of Israel Ministers of science of Israel Algebraists Israeli mathematicians Israeli Orthodox rabbis Mercaz HaRav alumni Jewish scientists The Jewish Home leaders Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Politicians from Haifa Technion – Israel Institute of Technology alumni Academic staff of Technion – Israel Institute of Technology University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty Academic staff of Bar-Ilan University Presidents of universities in Israel Israeli people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Electronic Journal of Linear Algebra editors Rabbinic members of the Knesset