Moshe Koppel
Encyclopedia
Moshe Koppel is an Israeli-American computer scientist, Talmud scholar and political activist.
Koppel was born and raised in New York City, where he received a traditional Orthodox Jewish education. He received a B.A. from Yeshiva University
and a doctorate
in mathematics from the Courant Institute of New York University. He spent a post-doctoral year at the Institute for Advanced Study
in Princeton before moving to Israel in 1980. He has been a member of the Department of Computer Science in Bar-Ilan University
since then.
. In a string of papers, Koppel and colleagues solved many of the main problems in authorship, including authorship verification and authorship attribution with huge open candidate sets.
In recent years, Koppel has published several papers in social choice theory, offering (in joint work with Avraham Diskin
) formal definitions of a number of concepts, including disproportionality and voting power
, the definitions of which had been the subject of controversy. In related work, Koppel and colleagues have shown how the wisdom of crowds could be optimally exploited.
Along with Nathan Netanyahu and Omid David, Koppel showed that, using only records of games played by grandmasters, a chess program could be trained essentially from scratch to play at grandmaster level. A program designed by Omid David based on these ideas placed second in the speed chess competition in the 2008 World Computer Chess Championship.
. Meta-Halakhah showed how ideas formalized in mathematical logic could be used to explicate how the ancient Rabbis understood the unfolding of Jewish law. Seder Kinim is a mathematical commentary on Tractate Kinim
, generally regarded as the most difficult tractate in the Mishna.
Koppel wrote a monograph on the uses of concepts in probability theory for understanding Rabbinic decision methods
. Together with Ely Merzbach, he founded and edited the journal Higayon that is devoted to related topics.
Koppel’s interest in the Talmud is occasionally reflected in his computer science research. He has applied his authorship attribution methods to proving that the 19th century Baghdadi rabbi known as Ben Ish Chai
was the actual author of a book for which he did not take credit
. Koppel also showed that the Harson collection (Hebrew:הגניזה החרסונית) , a trove of letters attributed to early Hassidic masters were in fact all forgeries.
during the 16th Knesset and prepared the drafts for the committee’s work on religion and state
. Subsequently, he co-authored a draft of a complete constitution proposed by the Institute for Zionist Strategies. Later, he and Eitan co-authored another complete draft of a constitution. He also wrote legislation, passed by the Knesset in February 2011, requiring full disclosure by NGOs regarding funding received from foreign governments.
http://www.peer39.com/team/advisory-board/.
Koppel was born and raised in New York City, where he received a traditional Orthodox Jewish education. He received a B.A. from Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
and a doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
in mathematics from the Courant Institute of New York University. He spent a post-doctoral year at the Institute for Advanced Study
Institute for Advanced Study
The Institute for Advanced Study, located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States, is an independent postgraduate center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It was founded in 1930 by Abraham Flexner...
in Princeton before moving to Israel in 1980. He has been a member of the Department of Computer Science in Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University is a university in Ramat Gan of the Tel Aviv District, Israel.Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is now Israel's second-largest academic institution. It has nearly 26,800 students and 1,350 faculty members...
since then.
Computer Science
Koppel is best known for his research on authorship attribution. Together with Shlomo Argamon and Jonathan Schler, he has shown that statistical analysis of word usage in a document can be used to determine an author’s gender, age, native language and personality type. The findings regarding gender generated considerable controversy. In a string of papers, Koppel and colleagues solved many of the main problems in authorship, including authorship verification and authorship attribution with huge open candidate sets.
In recent years, Koppel has published several papers in social choice theory, offering (in joint work with Avraham Diskin
Avraham Diskin
Abraham Diskin is an Israeli political scientist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and a Professor at the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya....
) formal definitions of a number of concepts, including disproportionality and voting power
, the definitions of which had been the subject of controversy. In related work, Koppel and colleagues have shown how the wisdom of crowds could be optimally exploited.
Along with Nathan Netanyahu and Omid David, Koppel showed that, using only records of games played by grandmasters, a chess program could be trained essentially from scratch to play at grandmaster level. A program designed by Omid David based on these ideas placed second in the speed chess competition in the 2008 World Computer Chess Championship.
Talmud
Koppel has written two books on the TalmudTalmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
. Meta-Halakhah showed how ideas formalized in mathematical logic could be used to explicate how the ancient Rabbis understood the unfolding of Jewish law. Seder Kinim is a mathematical commentary on Tractate Kinim
Kinnim
Kinnim is a tractate in the Mishna and Talmud. The name means "nests", referring to the tractate's subject matter of errors in bird-offerings. The tractate is found in the order of Kodshim, as it details the laws relating to an aspect of Temple service...
, generally regarded as the most difficult tractate in the Mishna.
Koppel wrote a monograph on the uses of concepts in probability theory for understanding Rabbinic decision methods
Posek
Posek is the term in Jewish law for "decider"—a legal scholar who decides the Halakha in cases of law where previous authorities are inconclusive or in those situations where no halakhic precedent exists....
. Together with Ely Merzbach, he founded and edited the journal Higayon that is devoted to related topics.
Koppel’s interest in the Talmud is occasionally reflected in his computer science research. He has applied his authorship attribution methods to proving that the 19th century Baghdadi rabbi known as Ben Ish Chai
Ben Ish Chai
Yosef Chaim or in Iraqi Hebrew Yoseph Ḥayyim was a leading hakham , authority on Jewish law and Master Kabbalist...
was the actual author of a book for which he did not take credit
. Koppel also showed that the Harson collection (Hebrew:הגניזה החרסונית) , a trove of letters attributed to early Hassidic masters were in fact all forgeries.
Political Activism
Koppel has been active in efforts to write a constitution for the State of Israel. He participated in meetings of the Knesset’s Constitution Committee under the chairmanship of MK Michael EitanMichael Eitan
Michael Eitan is an Israeli politician, Minister of Improvement of Government Services and member of the Knesset for Likud. He served as Minister of Science & Technology between July 1997 and July 1998. Alongside Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Eitan is the joint longest-serving MK, and as such was...
during the 16th Knesset and prepared the drafts for the committee’s work on religion and state
. Subsequently, he co-authored a draft of a complete constitution proposed by the Institute for Zionist Strategies. Later, he and Eitan co-authored another complete draft of a constitution. He also wrote legislation, passed by the Knesset in February 2011, requiring full disclosure by NGOs regarding funding received from foreign governments.
Business
Koppel is listed as co-inventor of United States patent #7257766 which appears to be substantively identical to the first search patent assigned to Google (United States patent #6526440 and #6725259), but the filing date of which is prior to Google’s filing date. In addition, he serves on the advisory board of Peer39Peer39
Peer39, Inc. is an online semantic advertising company based in New York City, with research and development facilities in Israel. Peer39 claims to improve the relevance of advertising on Internet publisher websites. Peer39 has developed proprietary semantic advertising technology that provides...
http://www.peer39.com/team/advisory-board/.