The sophomore and junior beit midrash classes were privileged to have Dov Zakheim address the students about Sefer Nechemia, which the students are studying and linking with their learning in Humanities on democracy, government and citizenship. Students read essays by Zakheim on the Sefer and got to submit questions beforehand which Zakheim addressed in his talk. Some major points he made were: Today, the role of cupbearer that Nechemia filled can be likened to the U.S. president’s national security advisor: someone close to the powerful ruler who would be giving him advice about keeping himself and his country/empire safe. Nechemia is a paradigm of how a Jew can interact in the world: out in it, getting educated and mingling with diverse peoples, taking part and effecting change in it. At the same time, Nechemia is deeply committed to his Judaism, his yiddishkeit, and the centrality of the role Israel plays as the home of the Jewish people. Zakheim added that Nechemia is a great book to be taught in Jewish schools, as Rabbi Koslowe and Rabbi Rothblatt are doing, because we have in Nechemia a model for how to succeed in both worlds.