Professor Shachar Lifshitz earned an undergraduate degree in law and psychology with honors and a Ph.D. in law summa cum laude from Bar-Ilan University.  Since completing his doctoral degree, Prof. Lifshitz has served as the dean of the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University, founded the Center for Jewish and Democratic Law (“CJDL”) as a branch of the faculty, and jointly established the Israeli Congress for Judaism and Democracy (“ICJD”) as a project within the CJDL for creating national consensuses.  His fields of research include Family Law, Contract Law, Jewish Inheritance Law, Multiculturalism, and Human Rights & Judaism. Prof. Lifshitz was a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute (“IDI”), was a partner in the IDI’s project for a “Constitution of Consensus”, and was the author of the Knesset Bill: Couple’s Covenant. Additionally, he’s been a major partner in the IDI’s project for “Human Rights & Judaism”.  

Prof. Lifshitz has been a visiting professor at various law faculties including at Columbia University, UPenn, University of Siena in Tuscany, YU, and Emory-Atlanta.  He has published three books, written numerous articles, and worked jointly on assorted books and journals within his fields of research (a full list is attached below).  Many of his ideas have even been adopted into legislation and caselaw. He has been a partner in assorted Knesset legislative committees in his areas of expertise, establishing jointly with retired Supreme Court justice, Dorit Beinish, a forum for cooperation between academia and the Israeli Supreme Court, and served as the president of the Israeli Society for Private Law.  

Prof. Lifshitz is a sought-after lecturer in Israel and abroad and has been a participant in numerous academic conferences oriented towards judges, lawyers, and the general audience.  He has also been a member of the Court for Standardized Contracts. Over the course of his career, Prof. Lifshitz has received many awards including the Elon Scholarship, the Rothschild Prize, the Fulbright Scholarship, the Behat Prize for Best Book, and the Rector Prize for Exceptional Lecturer."

Research Interests:

Theory of Contract Law

Theory of Family Law

History of western Family Law

PUBLICATIONS IN PROGRESS:

HEBREW  BOOKS (AUTHOR)

1. Economic Relationship Between spouses.

2. The Regulation of Contractual Relations in Israel (with Elad Finkelshtein)

ENGLISH ARTICLES

1. Fault, Marriage and Contract Law

2. The Pluralist Vision of Marriage

3. The Rise and Fall of the Contractual Account of Marriage

4. Freedom From Marriage