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".{{cite web|accessdate=2009-07-30|url=http://www.forward.com/articles/7159/|title=‘Rabbi Cool’ and Rock Opera Draw Stars, Upscale Spiritualists|publisher=The Jewish Daily Forward}}

Rabbi Brad Hirschfield presently serves as the president of CLAL.[http://www.newsweek.com/2009/04/03/50-influential-rabbis.html "50 Influential Rabbis"], Newsweek, April 30, 2009.[http://www.clal.org/cms/node/43 "CLAL Faculty, Fellows and Associates"] at CLAL website (accessed June 18, 2010).

Rabbi [https://www.linkedin.com/in/elan-babchuck/ 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.{{cite web|title=Kabbalah-based course offers steps to fulfillment|url=https://www.jlicentral.com/news.php?task=fullstory&NID=114|accessdate=9 October 2014}}

History

CLAL was founded in 1974 by Rabbi Irving Greenberg, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, and [http://rabbiirvinggreenberg.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/CLAL-News-and-Perspective_New-Era_red.pdf Rabbi Steven Shaw].

Programs

CLAL runs Rabbis without Borders.{{cite news |last1=Jaffe-Hoffman |first1=Maayan |title=‘Off the Beaten Path:’ Rabbis Increasingly Finding Roles Outside the Pulpit, Education |url=https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/off-the-beaten-path-rabbis-increasingly-finding-roles-outside-the-pulpit-education/ |access-date=6 September 2021 |work=eJewish Philanthropy |date=January 5, 2016}}

References

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