Hartman Institute receives $1m grant for Israel engagement programs

Funding will allow religious pluralism think-tank to launch new education initiatives at West Coast campuses

By JTA 14 September 2016, 8:37 pm

Edit

Rabbi Donniel Hartman, dean of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. (Courtesy of Shalom Hartman Institute)

The Shalom Hartman Institute, a think tank that promotes religious pluralism and civil debate on Israel within the Jewish community in Israel and North America, has received a grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation for $1 million.

The three-year grant announced on Tuesday was awarded to allow the institute to expand its iEngage on Campus program on the West Coast and to launch new Israel education initiatives to be piloted at West Coast campuses.

The iEngage on Campus program will include campus professionals, academics and undergraduate students at up to nine campuses from Washington to Southern California. They will participate in intensive training programs in Israel and North America that provide education on Jewish peoplehood and the relationship of the Jewish people to the State of Israel.

The goal of the West Coast iEngage Initiative is to ensure that college campuses are sites of elevated and ethical discourse on Israel, the foundation and the institute said in a statement.

This is the second major grant by the Jim Joseph Foundation to the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America.