Ms. Gali Levy-Shtal

Professional Background

Gali Levy-Shtal received an M.A. with excellence in Jewish history from Ben Gurion University of the Negev in Israel, and a B.A. suma cum laude in history from Haifa University in Israel. During her fellowship at the Museum she was a Ph.D. candidate in Jewish history at the Ben Gurion University. For her Phyllis Greenberg Heideman and Richard D. Heideman Fellowship, Ms. Levy-Shtal conducted research for her project, “Carry Their People on Shoulder: Ada Sereni and Ruth Kluger Aliav Activities in the Mosad Le-Aliya Bet (The Organization for ‘Illegal’ Immigration of Jews to Palestine).”

For several years Ms. Levy-Shtal was a middle- and high school history teacher. She is the recipient of a Yad Vashem research award named after Mela Zemtbaum and a scholarship from Ben Gurion University. She served as a research assistant for Ben Gurion University’s Department of History and the University’s magazine Iyunim Bitkumat Israel.

Fellowship Research

During her tenure at the Center, Ms. Levy-Shtal researched the work of Ada Sereni and Ruth Kluger Aliav, the two most senior women in the Mossad Le’Aliyah Bet—a branch of the Haganah (Jewish Defense Association in British Palestine) which aided Jewish immigration to Palestine despite British restrictions on Jewish immigration. She conducted a comparative study of the two women focusing on their activities, contributions to Jewish immigration to Palestine, and their leadership styles. Her research contributed to the understanding of Mossad Le’Aliyah Bet underground activities, female leadership, and the Zionist movement from 1938-1948. Ms. Levy-Shtal utilized Museum’s records from the British Colonial Office, personal papers of Hadassah and Josef Rosensaft, and oral histories as well as archival documents at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration to complete her research.

Ms. Levy-Shtal was in residence at the Mandel Center from July 1 to September 30, 2009.