Spotlight on CLAL
Welcome to Spotlight on CLAL. Here you will find stories about what is happening at CLAL and about the work that CLAL is doing across North America. Sometimes we will focus on a program, or a special event, or upon a CLAL faculty member's work and interests. Bookmark this page if you want to get to know us better.
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CLAL Goes to Israel
By Judy Epstein, Director of Public Affairs
In October, Rabbi
Tsvi Blanchard, CLAL’s Director of Organizational Development, was invited to speak
at the most central conference for modern orthodoxy – The Edah Conference held in
Jerusalem. The event, co-sponsored with
K’Lavi Yakum and entitled “To Be A Holy Nation: Modern Orthodox Visions for the
Future of Israel as a Jewish and Democratic Society,” brought together close to 700
American and Israeli lay leaders and community professionals. Guest speakers included the
Honorable Daniel C. Kurtzer, U.S. Ambassador to Israel; Ehud Olmert, Mayor of Jerusalem;
Rabbi Shear-Yakuv Cohen, Chief Rabbi of Haifa; and Rabbi Michael Melchoir, a member of the
Israeli cabinet.
In his
presentations, Rabbi Blanchard focused on two topics -- the role of the social sciences in
Jewish law, and education for passionate commitment to values. The first focused on how to use Torah to
free people to reach their highest potential. The second looked at what it takes to engage
students, because engagement is a source of passion.
The conference was
designed to help make obvious to Jews worldwide the power and problems of traditional
Jewish life and the courage to be both modern and orthodox.
It also sent a message to the wider world -- that the power of the
tradition insists on the most profound sense of morality as possible.
Said Rabbi
Blanchard “The tradition teaches us about the importance of interconnectedness and
the infinite value of every life. There must be a profound respect for human life –
even for those with whom we disagree. It’s
not just about ‘me,’ it’s about ‘us’-- and ‘us’ is very
wide.”
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