Upcoming Events
Special Presentation by Debbie Friedman
"Music as a Healing Art in the
Jewish Tradition"
Sunday,
January 31, 2010
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Dear Friends,
In an effort to be both fiscally and environmentally responsible, the Academy's biannual newsletter will now be sent as an e-newsletter. It is truly a blessing to be able to provide you with information about the kavod, (honor or recognition) that the Academy and those affiliated with it are garnering on a regular basis. With your help, may we continue to go from strength to strength!
Rabbi Mel Gottlieb, PhD
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FIRST IN SERIES OF PROGRAMS ON BIOETHICAL DILEMMAS
 On October 25th, the Academy sponsored the first in a series of programs on the "Bioethical Dilemmas of our Time." Approximately 100 people, including a number of physicians and scientists, attended the panel discussion The Duty to Heal and to Seek Healing: When do we say 'Enough is enough?'. Moderated by Academy President, Rabbi Mel Gottlieb, PhD, the panel featured AJR, CA faculty members, Rabbi Eli Schochet, PhD, Jacob Zighelboim, MD and Rabbi and Psychotherapist Anne Brener, along with Julie Madorsky, MD, a member of the Academy's Board of Directors.
This was the first in a series of meetings that the Academy is sponsoring on the subject of "Bioethical Dilemmas of our Time." The intent of these meetings is to foster an open, candid, and thoughtful dialogue between health care professionals, Jewish spiritual leaders, and the lay public around the challenging issues that developments in medicine and biotechnology have inexorably brought to the fore. |
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ISRAEL'S AMBASSADOR HONORS FACULTY MEMBER
 AJR, CA Professor of Talmud, Rabbi Daniel Bouskila was invited by Israel's Ambassador to the United States, the Honorable Michael Oren, to officiate at a special Sukkot dinner he and his wife hosted at the Ambassador's residence. Among the guests were Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, Egyptian Ambassador Sameh Shoukry, Imam Yahya Hendi of Georgetown University, two representatives from the Palestinian Authority, Senator Diane Feinstein, Congressman Howard Berman, Congressman Robert Wexler, Ambassador Dennis Ross, and political commentator and former White House Press Secretary, George Stephanopoulos. Commenting on the evening, Rabbi Bouskila who also serves as the Rabbi of Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel, said "If the Israeli Ambassador's residence in Washington, DC, is considered Israeli soil, then I came awfully close to witnessing the Prophet Zechariah's vision of many nations gathering together in Jerusalem to worship G-d on Sukkot." |
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AJR, CA STUDENTS NOW ELIGIBLE FOR FEDERAL ASSISTANCE
At the end of October, the Academy was officially informed by the Federal Government that our students are now fully eligible to receive federal loans and grants. This decision was contingent on the Academy's reaching the level of "Candidacy for Accreditation" from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), a designation that WASC approved this past spring. In making the announcement, Academy President, Rabbi Mel Gottlieb, PhD thanked Dean of Academic Affairs, Tamar Frankiel, PhD, Director of Administration, Lauren Goldner, and Chief Financial Officer, Ralph Mannheimer for their "tremendous efforts in making this important achievement a reality." |
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ALUMNI MAKING AN IMPACT NATIONWIDE AND AROUND THE WORLD
 The Academy prides itself on the fact that our graduates are men and women who have the desire, commitment and skills necessary to make a real and positive difference in our community and in our world. With that in mind, in the last six months alone, Cantor Judy Greenfeld '04 was invited, as a member of the Cantors Assembly, to sing at Krakow's (Poland) Philharmonic Hall, Rabbi Bonnie Sharfman '05 gave a D'var Torah at the Dublin Progressive Synagogue in Ireland, Rabbi Diane Elliot, '06 taught the course, "Dancing in the Light of G-d," at the ALEPH Alliance for Jewish Renewal bi-annual conference in Ohio, Rabbi Nina Perlmutter, '09 was asked to be on a panel of clergy for a program on "Stewardship and Environmental Ethics" at Northern Arizona University, and Rabbi Art Levine, PhD, JD, '09 presented "Tablets on Trial: The Supreme Court Battle over the Constitutionality of Public Ten Commandments Displays" to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the California State University, Fullerton. |
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PRESENTATION BY FACULTY MEMBER TO INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE
 Marvin Sweeney, PhD, AJR, CA Professor of Bible and Professor of Hebrew Bible at the Claremont School of Theology and Claremont Graduate University, attended the Fifteenth World Congress of Jewish Studies (WCJS) in Jerusalem. The WCJS is held every four years on the campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and brings together specialists in all areas of Jewish studies from throughout the world. It is the premier Jewish Studies meeting in the world. Dr. Sweeney presented a paper on "Samuel's Institutional Identity in the Deuteronomistic History" and chaired a session a session sponsored by the Perry Foundation for Biblical Research. | |
| If you know of an institution/organization that is interested in hiring an AJR, CA Rabbinic, Cantorial, or Chaplaincy student intern or graduate, please contact Rabbi Lynn Brody, Director of Placement and Internships, at 310-824-1586. | |
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