$15m grant awarded to update Reform movement’s Israel campus

Improvements to the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion will include a new entrance to the Jerusalem site

The Reform movement in Israel is receiving a $15 million grant from Taube Philanthropies to update its Jerusalem headquarters.

The grant is the largest ever to a Jewish organization from the San Francisco-based foundation.

The Jerusalem campus on King David Street will be renamed The Taube Family Campus at a ceremony on June 29. The improvements will include a new entrance to the campus designed by Israeli architect Moshe Safdie and a new piazza.

HUC-JIR’s rabbinical, cantorial and education students are required to spend their first year of study at the campus.

“Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is doing groundbreaking work in training the next generation of Reform rabbis, cantors, educators and nonprofit leaders, for Israel and the Jewish people as a whole,” said Tad Taube, chairman of Taube Philanthropies. “Its Jerusalem campus, Jewish professional leadership development, brilliant faculty and ambitious students deserve a beautiful, modern campus that matches the institution’s lofty goals.”