AJRCA receives Cutting Edge Grant

Tuesday, July 31, 2012 at 1:49PM

Late last summer, the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles awarded one of seven Cutting Edge Grants to the Academy for Jewish Religion, California. The Academy's "Inter-Religious Studies Project," was awarded $100,000 and will enable seven faculty members from AJRCA, Claremont School of Theology, and Bayan Claremont to receive the training necessary to implement a new Interreligious Studies Concentration at our respective institutions in order to produce a generation of clergy knowledgeable about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. As a result, future clergy and religious leaders will develop the tools and skills necessary to promote trust, dialogue ,and collaboration across religious boundaries. The Interreligious Studies Concentration will be implemented through the Academy's groundbreaking collaboration with Claremont School of Theology and Bayan Claremont, which, in 2011, led to the establishment of Claremont Lincoln University.

"By building the kind of partnerships that have resulted in (and will result from) the groundbreaking Claremont Lincoln University," said AJRCA President Rabbi Mel Gottlieb, "the Academy's hope is that people will come to see how religion can elevate rather than divide the world. It is tremendously gratifying to know that the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles shares that vision and we will work very hard to justify this great honor."

Jewish Community Foundation President and CEO, Marvin I. Schotland, said, "In today’s complex world, the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles believes strongly in the need for greater understanding and tolerance of all religions. We are especially impressed by AJRCA's innovative Interreligious Studies Project to produce a generation of clergy knowledgeable about the three great Western religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. That's why the foundation awarded it a three-year $100,000 grant. We hope that through this program, future religious leaders will develop the tools necessary to promote trust, dialogue, and collaboration across religious and cultural boundaries."