Noah Efron

Real Jews: Secular Versus Ultra-Orthodox: The Struggle for Jewish Identity in Israel – published by Basic Books in 2003, the book discusses and provides a detailed historical analysis of the divide and the hostilities between secular Jews and the ultra-orthodox in the Jewish state.

Judaism and Science: A Historical Introduction – published by the Greenwood Publishing Group in 2007, the book is an historical analysis and explanation of the relationship between the Jewish people and science.

A Chosen Calling: Jews in Science in the Twentieth Century – published by JHU Press in 2014, the book theorizes about the reason for Jews’ allegedly inherent affinity and aptitude for the sciences in the 20th century.

He was also a founding member of the "Green Movement" party (Hebrew – התנועה הירוקה).

• “Zionism and the Eros of Science and Technology,” Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, 46, 2, June 2011, pp. 413–428.

In 2011, Efron created and began hosting “the Promised Podcast”. The podcast is produced by the Tel Aviv radio station TLV1 and made in cooperation with the English language edition of the Haaretz newspaper. The podcast is dedicated to the discussion of topical issues in Israeli politics from a self-proclaimed leftist view. The "Promised Podcast" was chosen by Moment Magazine as one of the "Top Ten Jewish Podcasts" and by the Jewish Ledger as one of the "7 top Jewish podcasts".

Efron was a member of the Tel Aviv City Council, as a part of the Ir LeKulanu (Hebrew- עיר לכולנו) party, starting in 2008 and ending in 2011 when he was replaced by Sharon Luzon in accordance with the party's rotation agreement.

Efron essays have appeared in Foreign Policy, the Washington Post, Hadassah Magazine, Commentary, Moment, Midstream, the Boston Book Review, the Jewish Review of Books, Haaretz, Yediot Aharonot, Maariv, Le Monde, Tikkun, Jewish Action, the Jewish World Review, the Jerusalem Report, Zocalo Public Square, the Times of Israel and the Huffington Post. In 2006, he was awarded the Simon Rockower Award for best essay or commentary of 2006 on a Jewish theme.

Following his doctoral studies (see below) He first began working in Bar Ilan University in 1999 as a lecturer on the history and philosophy of science, in a graduate program for interdisciplinary studies. In 2000, he founded the interdisciplinary program on Science, Technology and Society, which he chaired until 2010, and where he continues to teach to this day (he was tenured in 2005).

• “Diagnosis, Dogmatism and Rationality,” Journal of Mental Health Counseling, 19:1, January, 1997, pp. 40–56. (with Jonathan Rabinowitz)

In 1983 Efron moved to Israel with his girlfriend Susan Warchaizer (whom he married 1986), as part of a gar'in aliyah. They lived on Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel for the next four years. While living on the kibbutz he served in the Israeli Defense Forces as an infantry soldier and squad commander in the Nahal Division. He moved to Tel Aviv to attend graduate school in 1987.

Following his graduation from Swarthmore College in 1982, he was awarded a fellowship by the Watson Foundation which funded a year-long independent research of his choosing. Efron spent the following year traveling throughout Northern Africa researching its Jewish communities.

Efron received his B.A from Swarthmore College, where he graduated with high honors (in psychology, philosophy and political science) and was named Valedictorian, Class of 1982. He later received his Ph.D. at the Institute for the History & Philosophy of Science & Ideas of Tel Aviv University in 1996. He was a post-doctoral fellow of the Department of History of Science of Harvard University between 1995 and 1997, and later a post-doctoral fellow of the Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology between 1997 and 1999.

Noah Jonathan Efron (born December 16, 1959) is a professor at Bar-Ilan University, where he was the founding chairperson of the interdisciplinary program on Science, Technology and Society.

Efron was born on December 16, 1959, to Herman and Rosalyn Efron in Plainfield, New Jersey. He grew up in a religious Jewish home, learning in a yeshiva and adhering to the rules of kashrut and Shabbat. In his youth he was a member of the Young Judaea youth movement as well as being the bass player for the now defunct band Liquid Plumr.