JTS Awarded Renewed Funds to Support Innovation

Koret Foundation and Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture Invest in Programs in Leadership, Israel, Outreach, and Faculty Collaboration

Press Contact: Eve Glasberg
Office: (212) 678-8089
Email: evglasberg@jtsa.edu

September 27, 2012, New York, NY

The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is pleased to announce the receipt of two grants made in collaboration by the Koret Foundation and the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture. The $450,000 in renewed funding will support three years of discretionary special projects directed by Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen to promote innovative programs and initiatives on and off campus.

"I am honored by the Koret Foundation's and the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture's generous investment in JTS," said Chancellor Eisen. "Their past support has been critically important in the initiation of signature projects to enhance Jewish life and learning at JTS. With increased funding, we will be able to address emerging needs and expand the impact of the successful programs instituted with the foundations' support in the first years of my chancellorship."

The funding provided by the grants will allow JTS to expand upon recent efforts consisting of

• Raising the dialogue about Israel through JTS's study abroad programs in Israel; high-level academic courses; programming for Yom Ha'atzma'ut and Yom Hazikkaron; and Talking About Israel, a series of lunchtime forums that are open to the public
• Advancing JTS's digital offerings, including the digitization of The JTS Library's rare manuscripts; the launch of a new gateway to online learning resources for individuals, rabbis, teachers, and communities; a partnership with the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning of Columbia University to amplify JTS courses through the use of educational technology; and an ever-more-active social media presence
• Enhancing leadership training through mentorship programs; training in social entrepreneurship; special seminars; experiential education; and professional development programs for rabbis, cantors, educators, and lay leaders
• Continuing JTS's faculty exchange program with the Taube Center for Jewish Studies at Stanford University, which combines workshops and public lectures to advance learning at JTS and foster new ideas about issues of Jewish Peoplehood

Visit www.jtsa.edu.

Since 1979, the Koret Foundation has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in strengthening the Bay Area community. Koret supports innovative approaches to community challenges, particularly those with significant public policy implications. Specifically, Koret supports organizations and initiatives in the areas of K–12 education; arts, culture, and civic life; and Jewish Peoplehood.

The Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture has as its goals to strengthen Jewish identity and sustain Jewish heritage in the United States and Poland; celebrate current Jewish achievement in all aspects of human endeavor; and work for the reform of Jewish institutions, which have often become disconnected from the people they serve. While primarily focused on local programs in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life & Culture extends support to Poland and Israel. Areas of concentration in this country and internationally include Jewish Peoplehood; education and scholarship; cultural renewal and heritage preservation; the arts; public policy research; and institution building.