It all began on the road, and it’s been moving, changing and growing ever since. More than a decade has passed since that fateful, visionary, call – both a phone call and a spiritual calling. Rabbi Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein was asked by a friend: “Where can I take a course on the lives of the Christian saints?” She sought the kind of learning that was not available anywhere. Something to stimulate the mind, as well as the spirit; access to the wisdom of another religion, in an environment that is hospitable to members of other traditions. And, sadly, the answer was: nowhere. There was no institution in Israel where serious academic study of another religion could take place in a spiritually engaged environment. But that almost evident “no” was the beginning of the unfolding of a vision of what might be possible.,A vision of an institute that could provide safe bridges to members of all faith traditions seeking wisdom and inspiration from other traditions without compromising their own religious integrity.
This vision captured Rabbi Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein, filling a desire to serve the world in a meaningful way, to make a genuine contribution. and The internal drive that came with the vision of what was originally called “The Elijah School for the Study of Wisdom in World Religions,” named after the prophet Elijah who provides the inspiring vision for the city to which we all seek to come,.
The Elijah School for the Study of Wisdom in World Religions
Soon a consortium of thirteen institutions was formed. The founding consortium constituted the Elijah School for the Study of Wisdom in World Religions. Participating institutions were academic institutions that trained seminarians and future religious leaders of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They represented the various denominations, Catholic and Protestant, Orthodox, Conservative and Reform. Not only was the consortium a breakthrough in interreligious collaboration; it was the only place in Jerusalem where members of different Jewish denominations shared in an open atmosphere.
The Elijah consortium launched a series of innovative study programs. The highlight of our activities was the annual summer school, held between 1997-2002 in Jerusalem, as well as since 2001 through our partner, McGill University, in Montreal. This program created a community of scholars and students from all religions – Eastern as well as the so-called Abrahamic faiths – Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It provided local students with exposure to religious traditions they did not encounter on the streets and it provided practitioners and teachers of those religions, worldwide, a much desired
