The prestigious Dan David Prize for the Study of History was awarded to nine scholars from around the world. The prize amounts to $300,000USD and is awarded for the second year in its new format by the Dan David Foundation at Tel Aviv University.

Among the winners of the distinguished Prize for 2023 is Dr. Karma Ben Johanan of the החוג למדע הדתות באוניברסיטה העברית - The Department of Comparative Religion whose groundbreaking research in the field of relations between religions advances historical research and sheds light on the past. She is the first Israeli woman to receive the prize since it was founded in 2001.

Dr. Ben-Johanan is a scholar of contemporary theology and Jewish-Christian relations. Her dissertation focused on mutual theological views of Catholic and Orthodox Jews in recent decades. She was awarded the Dan David Prize for her research on the relationships between different religious traditions, the Catholic Church's reconciliation initiative with Jews after the Second Vatican Council and the reactions of Orthodox Jewish thinkers and rabbis to these developments. This May, a special ceremony will be held in Tel Aviv where the Dan David Awards will be presented to the nine new winners.

The Dan David Prize was first awarded in 2001 by the late entrepreneur and philanthropist Dan David, with the aim of rewarding innovative and interdisciplinary research work that contributed to humanity. Starting in 2021, the award has been relaunched and focuses on significant and groundbreaking historical research. Today, the prize rewards leading historians, with the aim of helping them realize their research potential at a time when support for the humanities is diminishing.

Photo: Avigail Piperno-Beer