National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership

The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership (CLAL) is a leadership training institute, think tank, and resource center. It is an inter-disciplinary and inter-denominational movement, in which rabbis from all major Jewish denominations in North America participate. The organization is described by The Jewish Daily Forward as a "think-tank dedicated to questions of Jewish identity and religious practice...in its quest to expand the boundaries of Jewish communal life".^[1]

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield presently serves as the president of CLAL.^[2][3]

Rabbi Elan Babchuck is the Executive Vice President.

Etymology

CLAL is an acronym formed from the organization's English language name (Center for Leadership and Learning). It is also a transliteration of a Hebrew word that can mean community, as in the expression "Klal Yisrael" which refers to the Jewish people as a whole. It is intended to suggest the organization's stated mission to serve as a center of interdenominational cooperation in American Judaism.^[4]

History

CLAL was founded in 1974 by Rabbi Irving Greenberg, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, and Rabbi Steven Shaw.

Programs

CLAL runs Rabbis without Borders.^[5]

References

1. "'Rabbi Cool' and Rock Opera Draw Stars, Upscale Spiritualists". The Jewish Daily Forward. Retrieved 2009-07-30.
2. "50 Influential Rabbis", Newsweek, April 30, 2009.
3. "CLAL Faculty, Fellows and Associates" at CLAL website (accessed June 18, 2010).
4. "Kabbalah-based course offers steps to fulfillment". Retrieved 9 October 2014.
5. Jaffe-Hoffman, Maayan (January 5, 2016). "'Off the Beaten Path:' Rabbis Increasingly Finding Roles Outside the Pulpit, Education". eJewish Philanthropy. Retrieved 6 September 2021.

External links

• National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership
• Clal publications on the Berman Jewish Policy Archive @ NYU Wagner