Manfred Gerstenfeld

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Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld (1937 - ) is currently (since 2000) the Chairman of the Board of Fellows at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, a Jerusalem based think tank. He is the director of the Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism project, and the Changing Jewish Communities project. He is the editor of the Jewish Political Studies Review, Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism as well as Changing Jewish Communities. He has an extensive background in Jewish public affairs.

In his professional career he was an International business strategist for 40 years, advising corporations and governments at the highest level in 20 countries. He is a chemist and economist by training, holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies, all at Amsterdam University, and has a high school teacher degree in Judaism from the Dutch Jewish Seminary. Dr. Gerstenfeld has authored ten books which have been published in five languages. He speaks fluent Dutch (mother tongue), English, French, Hebrew, German, Italian and Yiddish.

Manfred Gerstenfeld was born in 1937 in Vienna, grew up in Amsterdam and moved to Israel in 1968 from Paris.

1 Work
2 Public Affairs
3 Books
4 Other Publications
5 External links

[edit] Work

In the past forty years he has been an international consultant specializing in business strategy. He has worked in twenty countries and his clients have included the boards of several of the world’s largest multinational companies, as well as governments.

[edit] Public Affairs

Dr. Gerstenfeld has been a non-executive board member of the Israel Corporation (one of Israel’s largest investment companies) and various other Israeli public companies. He is now, inter alia, Chairman of the Board of Fellows of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs; an editor of the The Jewish Political Studies Review, co-publisher of the Jerusalem Letter/Viewpoints, Post-Holocaust and Anti-Semitism and Changing Jewish Communities and a member of the council of the Foundation for Research of Dutch Jewry, of which he was formerly the vice-chairman.

His past public affairs activities include:

Chairman, World Union of Jewish Students (1963-1967)
Member, European Executive of World Jewish Congress (1964-1967)
Trustee, Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture (1964-1967)
Council Member, World University Service (1964-1968)
Vice-chairman of the Dutch Immigrants’ Association, Jerusalem branch (1974-1975)
Member of the Executive of the Democratic Movement for Change (1976-1980) – at the time, Israel’s third largest party
Member of the Council of the World Zionist Organization (1977-1981)
Member of Israel Government Committee for appointing auditors to public companies (1978-1988)
Member of the national executive of the Dutch Immigrant’s Association (1990-1992)

[edit] Books

Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld has written on subjects including:

[edit] Environment (General)

[edit] Environment and Confusion: Searching for a Balanced View

Environment and Confusion: Searching for a Balanced View (2002) is published in English, Hebrew, Italian and Greek. This book "separates genuine environmental problems from anti-economic policies. [It] explains how political psychological, economic, scientific, and religious considerations as well as those from many other disciplines interact to create the present confusion. [It] draws from many countries and diverse subcultures demonstrate the environmental issues are not the private domain of any segment of society."

[edit] Judaism and Environment

The interaction of Judaism with environmental issues is multi-faceted. It includes many religious, philosophical, sociological, political, economic and cultural aspects. What we now call "environmental" themes abound in classical Jewish sources. Many core elements of contemporary environmental concern were already expressed in the wisdom of the Torah and its legal and narrative texts. The Talmud, the Midrash literature and the rabbinical responsa contain many tens of thousands of environmental references.

The interrelation between Judaism and environmental issues is, as yet, poorly understood, however. The development of the emerging discipline of Jewish Environmental Studies can contribute to much more than scientific progress alone. It can stimulate and enrich environmental activism and discourse in Israel and amongst world Jewry. It will also enable Judaism to participate as a more articulate partner in the developing inter-faith discussion.

[edit] Judaism, Environmentalism and the Environment

Judaism, Environmentalism and the Environment (1998) is one of Dr. Gerstenfeld's most important books. In it he examines the interaction between Judaism and nature. More specifically, how Judaism interacts with modern environmentalism. It examines how Jewish literature including the Bible, Talmud, Midrash literature and Responsa affect the Jewish relationship with nature in dealing with use of natural resources, dealing with animals, pollution and the allocation of space.

[edit] Echut ha Sviva ba Masoret ha Yehudit: Olam Bar Kayma (The Environment in the Jewish Tradition: A Sustainable World)

Echut ha Sviva ba Masoret ha Yehudit: Olam Bar Kayma (The Environment in the Jewish Tradition: A Sustainable World) (2002) reviews how the various elements of sustainable development have been viewed over the centuries by classic Jewish sources.

[edit] Public Policy (General)

[edit] Revaluing Italy: A Project for the Future of Europe and Italy

Revaluing Italy: A Project for the Future of Europe and Italy (1992) with A.L. Necci. Public discussions on the book were held with Italy’s then Prime Minister Giuliano Amato, the President of the Senate and former Prime MinisterGiovanni Spadolini and other leading Italian personalities such as Romano Prodi, later Chairman of the European Commission. This best selling book was published in Italian.

[edit] The State as a Business: Do-It-Yourself Political Forecasting

The State as a Business: Do-It-Yourself Political Forecasting (1994) was published in Italian. Using methods from the business world, this book presented a new approach to political forecasting.

[edit] Public Policy (Israel)

[edit] Israel’s New Future Interviews

Israel’s New Future Interviews (1994) explores the views of sixteen leading Israelis on Israel's political, economic, social and religious future after the 1993 Oslo Agreements. Also published in Italian: Il Nuovo Futuro Di Israele.

[edit] Israeli-European Relations

[edit] Israel and Europe: An Expanding Abyss?

Israel and Europe: An Expanding Abyss? (2005) explores the complex, tense, and historically loaded relationship between Europe and Israel. Over the years a fissure has developed between their political views. Many believe that it continues to widen and has become an abyss.

[edit] Anti-Semitism

[edit] Europe’s Crumbling Myths: The Post-Holocaust Origins of Today’s Anti-Semitism

Europe’s Crumbling Myths: The Post-Holocaust Origins of Today’s Anti-Semitism (2003) explores how developments in post-Holocaust Europe already prefigured the adversities Israel and the Jews face there today. It argues that new anti-Semitism is more a continuation and development than an innovation. Few people realize how rampant anti-Semitism and discrimination of the Jews were in post-Holocaust Europe, and how the legacy of that period laid the basis for today's resurgence of European anti-Semitism. When exposing the persistent anti-Semitic character of many current European attacks on Israel, examples taken from Europe's recent history must play a major role.

[edit] The New Clothing of European Anti-Semitism

The New Clothing of European Anti-Semitism (2004) was edited jointly with Shmuel Trigano and published in French. It reviews the various aspects of Anti-Semitism in a number of European countries.

[edit] Jewish Communities (United States)

[edit] American Jewry's Challenge: Conversations Confronting the Twenty-first Century

American Jewry's Challenge: Conversations Confronting the Twenty-first Century (2005) - Watershed events including the second Palestinian uprising in 2000, September 11, 2001, and the Iraq war are explored in a lengthy introductory essay and in interviews with 17 prominent American Jews. The great majority of those who identify most with the Jewish community have become more supportive due to these events. Attitudes toward Evangelical Christians and Muslims as well as increased anxiety about anti-Zionism on campuses and anti-Semitism are also explored. Structural problems of American Jewry are discussed as well, including the high rate of intermarriage, low fertility, assimilation, reduced voluntarism, the high cost of Jewish living, and a declining percentage of Jewish philanthropy for Jewish causes.

[edit] Other Publications

He has also published many articles in leading papers and journals in various countries on political, economic, environmental, religious and historical subjects. He has given invited lectures at a number of universities, international symposia and congresses.

He has published many articles at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Among them: