Rabbis and priests unite!
Cincinnati is about to become a hub of Jewish and Interfaith Studies, thanks to a pioneering joint-venture between Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) and Xavier University (XU).
On November 23 attendees of the Cincinnati Associates of HUC-JIR 26th Annual Tribute Dinner made merry in honor of this collaboration.
And rightly so – both sides will benefit significantly from this program.
HUC-JIR students will have increased opportunities to study Catholic-Jewish dialogue, the history of the Catholic Church, comparative ethics and comparative theology.
XU students will have access to HUC-JIR’s esteemed Klau Library and American Jewish Archives, and extensive Jewish Studies course offerings.
A steering committee of XU and HUC-JIR faculty and administration will implement this program in two phases.
First, a Jewish Studies minor will be instituted at XU, with the participation of HUC-JIR faculty.
Next, XU faculty will begin teaching courses in HUC-JIR’s Rabbinical School and School of Graduate Studies.
This progressive joint effort is poised to make Cincinnati a prestigious forum for interfaith dialogue and study, and will be the largest undergraduate Jewish Studies program at any Catholic institution of higher learning in the world.
Writer: Jonathan DeHart
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.