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 Letter from the President | Contact Us Dear Colleagues: I write to you as I have in the past to ask for your generous support for Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. As an institution dedicated to preserving and promoting Torah, we take pride in your achievements as messengers of Torah as you vitalize Jewish life, learning, spirituality, and social justice in all that you do.... Our graduates -- exceptional women and men -- have gained the academic, spiritual, and professional skills so essential to their careers as future rabbis, cantors, educators, and Jewish communal professionals. They have moved from the classroom into congregations, educational institutions, Jewish communal agencies, Hillels and Jewish student centers at universities, hospitals and homes for the aged, and other settings. There, they touch the lives of countless individuals, and families; they will have a profound impact on the survival of Jewish heritage and values for the generations to come. We are admitting larger first-year classes. Clearly, there are more and more young and second career students choosing to make a difference in the world. At a time when the world seems ever more broken, these dedicated individuals are seeking to repair the world, for Jews and humankind. Our incoming first-year students settle at our campus in Jerusalem during the summer and embark upon the Year-In-Israel Program -- an extraordinary year of learning and personal growth as they study with our Israeli rabbinical students, provide community service to Israeli educational and communal agencies, and develop lifelong attachments to the people and state of Israel. Our second-year students, after returning from Israel, continue their studies in Cincinnati, Los Angeles, or New York, take on High Holy Day pulpits in communities large and small throughout North America, and fulfill year-long internships that complement their academic studies. Steeped in Jewish learning as well as a carrying a strong identification with world Jewry, they vitalize Jewish life far and wide. This time of renewal is also seen in the College-Institute's planning for the future. We have begun an eighteen-month-long strategic planning process to focus priorities for HUC-JIR's programs and resources, explore new initiatives, and take advantage of technological advances. Our goal is to create a vision that will strengthen our fundamental task: the instruction and formation of religious-intellectual leadership for the modern Jewish community. We need your help to make that vision a reality. Your generous support is indispensable in ensuring the resources to:
Please support our mission of building a vibrant Jewish future. We invite your continuing partnership in this sacred task, so that we may educate those who will provide liberal Jewish leadership and promote progressive ethics, values, and traditions. Please demonstrate your commitment as generously as you can, so that this time of new beginnings will blossom into a future blessed by vitality, fulfillment, and peace. With heartfelt thanks and warm wishes, Rabbi David Ellenson, President |
