Identity, Israel, Justice, Mishegas, Politics

Insanity in the membranity

So the Israeli university strike ended at the 11th hour (or as they say in Israel, the 90th minute), and classes began on Sunday. So this is the first week of the semester for all the classes that have been on strike (i.e. classes taught by senior professors), and the last week of the semester for classes that haven’t been on strike (classes taught by junior faculty, everything at Rothberg and other special programs exempted from the strike, etc.).
The Hebrew University has announced the calendar for the rest of the year, and I assume the other universities are doing something similar. This is too insane to be believed.

  • The “fall” semester will be from January 20 to April 4.
  • Then there will be a long break for Pesach, exams, Yom Ha’atzma’aut, etc.
  • The “spring” semester will be from May 11 to August 1.
  • Exams will go through September, and the new school year will begin after the holidays. (Given that the academic year is somewhat tied to the Jewish calendar, i.e. classes begin in the fall after the holidays, they’re lucky that they have an extra Adar to play around with this year.)

5 thoughts on “Insanity in the membranity

  1. There was a minimal strike extension to Rothberg for a week, and the possibility that it could affect the school in a larger sense. (I complained about it / covered it, on my blog.) I’m also glad the strike is over!

  2. Oh, my friends at Hebrew University, I miss you all. While this may sound crazy for your early-ending American ears, it is remarkably well compressed. Keep in mind that last year (including a much smaller professor and student strike) finals went unitl the middle of August. The previous year (a normal one) finals covered most of July.
    Now of course the big elephant is that the deal has solved nothing, and both sides are still as far apart as ever. If the finance ministry goes ahead with its threats, then picket lines will replace library lines next year as well.
    As for 90th minute. It’s a common expression everywhere in the world, except US/Canada Soccer games are 90 minutes long, so the last opportunity is the 90th minute. Meanwhile, what does 11th hour mean?

  3. And so we see the hand of G-d in everything. Intercalation was not just created to help the pilgrims make it to Pesach on time, but also to help professors whose strikes lasted too long!

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