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“
Israel studies and the
Israel experience lie
at the core of educating
the future leaders of the
Jewish people,”
states
Rabbi David Ellenson, N ’77,
HUC-JIR President.
“
There is no better way to understand the narrative
of the Jewish people and to explore the diversity of
Jewish peoplehood than through a direct and profound
encounter with the land, history, and people of Israel,”
says Rabbi Ellenson.
H
UC-JIR’s Year-In-Israel Program is required of all first year
rabbinical, cantorial, and education students. Israel Semi-
nars and intensives in Israel are required for students in
the School of Jewish Nonprofit Management and for stu-
dents in HUC-JIR’s new Executive M.A. Program in Jewish
Education. Israel archaeological studies are offered to Ph.D.
students focusing on Bible and Ancient Near East Studies.
These initiatives are now strengthened by a grant from
UJA-Federation of New York, which supports a new joint
program for students in HUC-JIR’s and the Jewish Theo-
logical Seminary’s (JTS) Israel programs. Its purpose is to
deepen students’ Israel engagement while also bringing
these future leaders of the Reform and Conservative
Movements closer together.
“
For the first time in the history of HUC-JIR, a sustained
program of joint encounters between HUC-JIR and JTS
Israel
Engagement:
HUC-JIR/
Jerusalem
Udi Tzemach (second from right) HUC-JIR/
Jerusalem’s new Israel Engagement Program
Coordinator, leads students on a walking tour of
Jerusalem sites found in Yehuda Amichai’s poetry.
Students (from left) Jeremy Gimbel, Stacy Petersohn,
and Arielle Branitsky celebrate Simchat Torah with
the members of Kehillat Birkat Shalom, a Progressive
Judaism congregation at Kibbutz Gezer.
