Discovering Our Common Ground, Celebrating Our Differences
The Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies (ICJS) is a non-profit organization that concentrates its educational expertise on the dual tasks of disarming religious hatred and establishing models of interfaith understanding. Founded in 1987 by an interfaith coalition of laity and clergy, the ICJS offers a variety of educational programs that highlight the distinctiveness of the Jewish and Christian traditions and confront the dangerous misunderstandings that have evolved in our two communities.
Featured Items
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Winter Mini-Course
Teacher Reflections
Gustav Niebhur speaks to Marc Steiner about the ICJS (Full Audio)
Dr. Christopher M. Leighton in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's Voices on Antisemitism.
The 2009 Bernard Manekin Lecture with Dr. Paula Fredricksen
ICJS in the News
Dan Geva on the Marc Steiner Show
Marc Steiner interviewed Dan Geva (Abrahamic Film Festival) on March 2nd, 2010. Listen online at www.steinershow.com.
Choral Arts Classics with Tom Hall on WYPR
Handel: Israel in Egypt, Part 2
Guests: Dr. Adam Gregerman and Rabbi Ilyse Kramer
First aired on 88.1 WYPR on February 23, 2010 at 9:00 pm.
Listen now!
Baltimore Jewish Times
Christian Zionists, Christian Palestinian Advocates Eye Baltimore
featuring Dr. Adam Gregerman
Christian groups with sharply opposing views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict eye Baltimore for expansion.
A Hebrew Life
by Rabbi Ilyse Kramer
"In 2007-2008 our family decided to experience a sabbatical year in Jerusalem... Throughout the year I was able to reflect upon, and weigh in on, contemporary issues heatedly debated in Israel at the time."
Programs
Abrahamic Film Festival
The Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies, Goucher College's Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, and American Jewish Committee are showing a three-part series of films and film clips, selected and presented by visiting Israeli directors Dan and Noit Geva, focusing on the diversity and complexity of religious life in Israel. While the political troubles in the region typically receive the most media attention, we will explore the religious tensions Jews, Muslims, and Christians—members of the three so-called "Abrahamic Faiths"—face as their traditions and communities adapt to the pressures of modernity and co-existence. On two nights we will screen full-length films; on one night we will screen short selections from a group of films. We will also include time for discussion each night.
March 24, 6:30-8:30: Badal, directed by Ibtisam Mara’na (Merrick Hall, Goucher College)
April 14, 6:30-8:30: Selections from Jerusalem—Rhythms of a Distant City, What I Saw in Hebron, Description of a Memory, and Take Now Your Son (directed by Dan and Noit Geva) (Merrick Hall, Goucher College)
May 5, 6:30-8:30: Arna's Children, directed by Juliano Mer Khamis and Danniel Danniel (Kelly Hall, Goucher College)
All films are free and open to the public.
Timely Talk Recap
A Conversation on Health Care Reform:
Political Stalemates, Religious Mandates, and Ethical Impasses
On November 10, 2009, the ICJS presented the second in its Timely Talk series. Entitled "A Conversation on Health Care Reform: Political Stalemates, Religious Mandates, and Ethical Impasses," the program featured Sister Helen Amos, RSM, Executive Chair, Board of Trustees, Mercy Health Services; Senator Benjamin Cardin; and Congressman John Sarbanes. The starting point of the discussion was expressed by T.R. Reid in his book The Healing of America: A Global Quest for Better, Cheaper, and Fairer Health Care (Penguin, 2009). He notes that before we can unravel the complexities of the public insurance option, rising costs, care limitations ("rationing"), and funding, we must first confront a fundamental moral question: "Should society guarantee health care the way we guarantee the right to think and pray as you like, to get an education, to vote in free elections? Or is medicine a commodity to be bought and sold, a product like a car, a computer, or a camera?"
A Tribute to Rabbi Mark Loeb
Rabbi Mark Loeb died on the evening of October 8 while serving as the interim Rabbi in Milan, Italy. We share the profound grief of the Beth El Congregation and the larger Jewish community. Mark was one of the Founding Fathers of the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies, and he remained a trusted friend and stalwart supporter to all of us at the ICJS.
Watch video of Rabbi Loeb's funeral service at Beth El Congregation's Web site.
