Spotlight on CLAL
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Australasian Students Visit CLAL for an In-depth Training in Pluralism
By Judy Epstein, Director of Public Affairs
In December 2005, a group of close to 20 students from the Australasian Union of Jewish Students came to CLAL. The group was meeting with important Jewish organizations around the country and met with CLAL for an in-depth look at pluralism. The class, taught by Rabbi Steve Greenberg, the Director of CLAL’s Diversity Project, focused on defining pluralism and using texts from rabbinic literature to explore the distinctions between “good” and “bad” conflict, when controversy is productive and when it is destructive, and how to nourish the more constructive forms of controversy.
“Many of the students had strong leadership backgrounds developed from their experience in Zionist youth organizations, which is less common in the United States,” said Rabbi Greenberg. “The concepts of pluralism interested them greatly, especially in regard to the pragmatic challenges of holding together student groups which do not always see eye to eye on many issues.”
The class provided the frameworks for seeking truth and encouraged conversations that might reveal it. It also looked at how to resolve disputes in a Jewish way. “It was exciting for them to discover that the rabbis openly acknowledge the existence of subjectivity and the fundamental indeterminacy of truth,” said Rabbi Greenberg.
The Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) is the federal body for Jewish Student societies at universities and colleges in Australia and New Zealand, and caters to a broad spectrum of Jewish students as well as the wider community. AUJS provides a wide variety of activities including cultural, social, educational, political and religious forums, as well as national conferences and Israel Programs. AUJS services more than 3000 students at campus, regional and federal levels.
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