Clal - The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership

Programs: Pluralism. Clal's cornerstone program, rabbis without borders (rwb) continues to nurture and develop a network of rabbis from all denominations with a shared vision to make jewish wisdom available to individuals seeking greater meaning and purpose, to address contemporary challenges and to help them flourish. This growing cadre of hundreds of professionals who know how to make jewish wisdom and practice accessible and relevant is transforming the american rabbinate, helping to create vibrant jewish and civic life, and offering insights of jewish tradition to the american public. The rwb vision extends to communities that are underserved, clal is committed to and has begun reaching out to address the needs of such communities. Beyond rwb, clal faculty work across religions to develop dialogue, respect, and understanding, bringing jewish wisdom and teaching to the critical issues of the day. Clal faculty continues to teach both in the us and abroad to build greater foundations for work on pluralism both within the american jewish community and with other religious traditions. This includes our ongoing work delivering educational sessions and remarks at the united nations; working with imams and christian leaders to promote religious pluralism; teaching torah and texts in seminaries and university and expanding media coverage on interfaith issues.

building dynamic communities. Nuturing and developing the current and next generations of leaders and philanthropists is critical in our global world and is the work of this initiative. Clal is invited to teach in communities nationwide. Through initiatives and joint partnerships with other organizational programs, our work extends to africa, central europe, haiti and israel as well. Bridging communal divides in jewish life and nuturing strong american civic life is critical to clal's mission through innovative use of texts, tools, and new methodologies. Clal's books: "you don't have to be wrong for me to be right", and "yearnings and "how to spot one of us" have become basic texts on the holocaust. Clal's "embracing life and facing death: a jewish guide to palliative care" book remains a sought after personal resource and training tool used by clal, other palliative care professionals, and individuals. Clal resource cards, cds and film dvds serve as texts for cutting-edge thinking and teaching. Our website, www. Clal. Org, which averages 400,000 hits per month, along with our weekly eclal email, provides up-to-date news, perspectives, and commentary on and from clal faculty. The well-read rwb blog on myjewishlearning. Com features rwb fellows on issues relevant to living a better life.

taking jewish wisdom public. Making jewish wisdom an available resource in the global marketplace of ideas is the goal of the initiative. Through our expanding media presence, clal faculty is often quoted, as they write and speak using innovative thought and analysis on the spirtual, cultural, human and politcal questions of the day. Thewisdomdaily. Com, clal's new site for fresh takes on politcal, cultural and spiritual commentary and analysis is increasingly popular. Twd, clal blogs and other media such as tv, video, and other web based content delivery methods are leveraged through social media such as facebook and twitter. Clal faculty teach and reach both inside and outside of jewish institutions regularly and speak on innovation and dialogue across divides at large conferences such as bif and by appearing regulary on a variety of news outlets. Clal fiscal sponsorships such as sinai and synapses,converjent and bible criticism scholar tsemah yoreh, represent small scale cutting edge initiatives with missions synergistic with clal's and these initiatives benefit from clal mentorship and support as they grow.