US Christian leaders in Israel to study Judaism
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) and Shalom Hartman
Institute (SHI), co-sponsors of the 13-month Christian Leadership Initiative
(CLI), welcomed this week a cohort of prominent American Christian leaders to
the Shalom Hartman Institute in Israel for an opportunity to gain a more
profound understanding of Judaism and the Jewish people.
The Israel portion of the Christian Leadership
Initiative, developed together by SHI and AJC and taught by leading Shalom
Hartman faculty, focuses on the central ideas of Jewish ethics and faith, the
diverse ideologies and practices of contemporary world Jewry, and the foundations
of religious pluralism.
"CLI is an essential and unique program advancing
interreligious relations," said Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC’s director of
Interreligious and Intergroup Relations. "It provides an open space for
Christian leadership to experience and study Judaism and Israel from a Jewish
perspective."
The 16 American Christian leaders currently participating
in CLI have begun their studies in Israel on this summer’s theme, "God and
Judaism." After returning to the US next week they will engage in monthly
distance-learning sessions, studying classical Jewish texts with leading
Israeli scholars. Finally, back in Israel in July 2013 for the concluding
segment, they will spend an additional 10 days with Hartman Institute and AJC
experts studying Jewish texts, focusing on Jewish concepts of community.
"Most Christian leaders rarely if ever have the
opportunity to engage in sustained, intensive sacred text study taught by
Jewish scholars with the goal of deepening their understanding of the Jewish people
and the State of Israel," said Rabbi Dr. Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, vice
president of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America and director of
Rabbinic Leadership Programs.
Rev. Dr. Molly T. Marshall, president of the Central
Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, said "CLI gives me the
opportunity to study with high-level scholars. I was attracted to the program
because of my interest in deepening interfaith relationships."
Rev. Dr. Radu Bordeianu, a professor of theology at
Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, said he was taking part in the project to
gain a better understanding of his own Christian roots and character.
Rev. Bill Borror, senior pastor at Media Presbyterian
Church in Media, PA added: "This learning gives me a breadth of
understanding and a connection to place and geopolitical realities. CLI is
making me a better thinker, teacher, preacher, and pastor."
Comments
Post a Comment