The American Jewish Committee (AJC) logo. Photo: AJC.

JNS.org – The American Jewish Committee (AJC) and the Shalom Hartman Institute have partnered together on a soon-to-be-completed educational program on Judaism for 16 Christian leaders.

The partnership, known as the Christian Leadership Initiative (CLI), has allowed Christian leaders of diverse denominations to engage in long-distance study of classical Jewish texts with leading Israel scholars over a 13-month period. The program began in Jerusalem in July 2012 and will finish there this year in the program’s final stage from July 17-25.

“CLI fosters a unique approach in advancing interreligious relations. It provides an open space for Christian leadership to experience and study Judaism and Israel from a Jewish perspective,” said Rabbi Noam Marans, AJC’s director of interreligious and intergroup relations. “We look forward to working with the CLI fellows as they apply their learning to Christian education and Jewish-Christian relations.”

“The mixture of Jewish and Christian scholars challenges all of us,” said Dr. Marcie Lenk, the Shalom Hartman Institute’s co-director of New Paths: Christians Engaging Israel. “There is an honesty and depth which comes from studying together.”