This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2023) |
Motto | Education demands innovation... |
---|---|
Type | Private university |
Established | 1947 |
Religious affiliation | Jewish |
Endowment | $100 Million (2020) |
President | Jeffrey Herbst |
Location | , , United States |
Campus | Urban |
Mascot | Zion the Lion |
Website | www.aju.edu |
American Jewish University (AJU) is a private Jewish university in Los Angeles, California. It was formed in 2007 from the merger of the University of Judaism and Brandeis-Bardin Institute.
AJU's academic division includes the College of Arts and Sciences, the Fingerhut School of Education, The David L. Lieber Graduate School, and the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, a Conservative Jewish rabbinical seminary. AJU is host to the Miller Introduction to Judaism Program, which prepares students to convert to Judaism and engages interfaith couples and families, as well as three think tanks: the Institute on American Jewish-Israel Relations, and the Sigi Ziering Institute for Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust and the Center for Policy Options. At its Brandeis-Bardin Campus, the University oversees Camp Alonim, Gan Alonim Day Camp and the BCI Program. Its largest component is its Whizin Center for Continuing Education in which 12,000 students are enrolled annually in non-credit granting courses. Classes, lectures, author events, concerts and performances are offered daytime and evening for all ages of the community.
The University of Judaism was founded in 1947. The spiritual founder was Mordecai Kaplan, a Jewish thinker and philosopher whose goal was to create an institution representing the diversity of Judaic expression in the United States. The co-founder was Rabbi Jacob Pressman. [1] Initially a project of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City and the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Los Angeles, the UJ became an independent institution in the 1970s. It became officially non-denominational with the ascension to the presidency of Robert Wexler (1992-2018) at the beginning of his tenure. Wexler was preceded in the presidency by Simon Greenberg (1947–1963) and David Lieber (1963–1992). The current president is Jeffrey Herbst (2018–present). [2]
In March 2007, officials from the University of Judaism and the Brandeis-Bardin Institute, an education and camping organization in Simi Valley, announced the two parties would merge into a new organization called the American Jewish University. [3]
The American Jewish University's Familian campus in Bel Air, California was sold to the Milken Community School in 2024. AJU is continuing to maintain its administrative offices on site and run the mikvah for three to five years per the sale agreement. [4] [5] It was home to the Ostrow Library, which contains over 120,000 volumes, electronic resources, and contained one of the West Coast's largest collections of Judaica. [6] The campus includes the Gindi Auditorium, a 475-seat theatre featuring concerts, celebrations, and other programs.
American Jewish University's Brandeis-Bardin campus is located in Simi Valley, California and is home to Camp Alonim and the BCI Program, as well as "experiential learning" programs like the Jene Fellowship. The campus is also a retreat and conference center.
The Marjorie and Herman Platt Gallery and Borstein Art Gallery hosted many major exhibitions, both of Jewish and non-Jewish art. Artists featured at the Platt Gallery have included David Hockney, Jim Dine and Frank Stella as well as works by the Gallery's donor, Herman Platt. The Smalley Sculpture Garden on the campus grounds has a collection that includes the work of well-known contemporary sculptors. Dedicated in 1981, the sculptures include works by Beverly Pepper, Sol LeWitt, George Rickey, Jenny Holzer, Anthony Caro and George Rickey. [7]
American Jewish University currently offers degree-granting programs through the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and the Masor School of Jewish Education and Leadership. Previously, the university provided in-person undergraduate programs through the College of Arts and Sciences at its Familian Campus in Bel Air. In October 2018, AJU announced the closure of its undergraduate program, which had awarded Bachelor of Arts degrees.
The American Jewish University was home to an active undergraduate student life. Students were encouraged to participate in student organizations in order to enrich their undergraduate experience. If a student determined that an organization they might be interested in was not yet established, students were welcome to establish new clubs and receive funding based upon student support and need. Student organizations included: the ASAJU (Student Government), Bio-Ethics Association, Hillel, Honor Society, Israel Action, Model United Nations, Political Science Association, Peer Mentoring Program, Psychology Association, Sports Club, and Tikkun Olam (Social Action).
The Masor School for Jewish Education and Leadership (MSJEL) and Leadership offers Bachelors of Arts in Early Childhood Education (B.A. ECE), a Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education (MAEd ECE), and a Doctorate in Education in Early Childhood Education Leadership (EdD). In addition to those, it offers various certificate, mentor training programs, continuing education initiatives, and more for educators and more. [8]
In June 2024, AJU announced that the current board chair, Harold Masor, and his wife, Amy, donated $4.5 million and that the School for Jewish Education and Leadership would be renamed in their honor. [9]
The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies is the graduate program of study leading to ordination as a Conservative rabbi at AJU. In addition to Rabbinic ordination recognized by the Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Judaism, the Ziegler School offers programs culminating in the awarding of a Master of Arts in Rabbinic Studies. This degree may be combined with the M.A.Ed. or M.B.A. programs. Following the sale of AJU's Familian Campus in 2024, the Ziegler School, the university's last in-person degree program, relocated to a new facility in Beverly Hills, California. [10] .
AJU offers many programs of study through its Whizin Center for Continuing Education. These studies most often take the form of individual classes generally taken simply for personal enjoyment and edification. Classes are offered in language studies, Jewish studies, literature, fine arts, dance and fitness, performance arts, and other varied areas. One of its largest programs was the annual Public Lecture Series held at Universal Studios' Gibson Amphitheater and is attended by five to six thousand series ticket holders. Featured speakers have included President Bill Clinton, Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell, as well as Israeli Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres.
These images depict AJU's former Bel Air campus.
The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies. The Jewish Theological Seminary Library is one of the most significant collections of Judaica in the world.
Brandeis University is a private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a non-sectarian, coeducational university, Brandeis was established on the site of the former Middlesex University. The university is named after Louis Brandeis, a former Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion is a Jewish seminary with three locations in the United States and one location in Jerusalem. It is the oldest extant Jewish seminary in the Americas and the main seminary for training rabbis, cantors, educators and communal workers in Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR has campuses in Cincinnati, Ohio, New York City, Los Angeles, and Jerusalem. The Jerusalem campus is the only seminary in Israel for training Reform Jewish clergy.
Jewish studies is an academic discipline centered on the study of Jews and Judaism. Jewish studies is interdisciplinary and combines aspects of history, Middle Eastern studies, Asian studies, Oriental studies, religious studies, archeology, sociology, languages, political science, area studies, women's studies, and ethnic studies. Jewish studies as a distinct field is mainly present at colleges and universities in North America.
The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies is the graduate program of study leading to ordination as a Conservative rabbi at the American Jewish University, offering a Masters in Rabbinic Studies degree.
Hebrew College is a private college of Jewish studies in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. Founded in 1921, the college conducts Jewish scholarship in a pluralistic, trans-denominational academic environment. Its president is Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld. Hebrew College offers undergraduate completion and graduate degrees, Hebrew-language training, a rabbinical school, a cantorial program and adult-learning and youth-education programs.
The Brandeis-Bardin Campus of American Jewish University is a Jewish retreat located since 1947 in the northeastern Simi Hills, in the city of Simi Valley, California. Formerly known as the Brandeis-Bardin Institute, it is used for nondenominational summer programs for children, teens, and young adults.
Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, located in the Neve Granot neighborhood of Jerusalem, is an Israeli academic institution.
Bradley Shavit Artson is an American rabbi, author and speaker. He holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, California, where he is also Vice-President. He supervises the Louis and Judith Miller Introduction to Judaism Program and provides educational and religious oversight for two Camp Ramah campuses, Ojai and Monterey Bay. He is Dean of the Zacharias Frankel College at the University of Potsdam in Germany, ordaining Conservative/Masorti rabbis for Europe.
Milken Community School is a private Jewish high school and middle school. It is located on Mulholland Drive in the Bel Air area of Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest Jewish day schools in the United States. Long affiliated with Stephen S. Wise Temple, a Reform congregation, the school is officially non-denominational, and became independent from the temple in July 2012. Despite the separation, Milken Community Schools continues to be the school in which many Stephen S. Wise students are enrolled.
David L. Lieber (1925-2008), rabbi and scholar, was president emeritus of the University of Judaism and the senior editor of the Etz Hayim Humash. He helped pioneer the Ramah camps, serving as the founding head counselor in the first of the camps in Wisconsin, a director in Maine, the founding director of Camp Ramah in California, and the founding director of the Mador.
Sidney Eisenshtat was an American architect who was best known for his synagogues and Jewish academic buildings.
The Louis and Judith Miller Introduction to Judaism Program is an educational institute based at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles, California. It has, since its founding in 1986, helped students explore their Jewish roots or prepare for conversion to Judaism. Based primarily in Los Angeles, and throughout the United States, the Miller Program is available to people of any backgrounds find a home in the Jewish community.
Jews in Los Angeles comprise approximately 17.5 percent of the city's population, and 7% of the county's population, making the Jewish community the largest in the world outside of New York City and Israel. As of 2015, over 700,000 Jews live in the County of Los Angeles, and 1.232 million Jews live in California overall. Jews have immigrated to Los Angeles since it was part of the Mexican state of Alta California, but most notably beginning at the end of the 19th century to the present day. The Jewish population rose from about 2,500 in 1900 to at least 700,000 in 2015. The large Jewish population has led to a significant impact on the culture of Los Angeles. The Jewish population of Los Angeles has seen a sharp increase in the past several decades, owing to internal migration of Jews from the East Coast, as well as immigration from Israel, France, the former Soviet Union, the UK, South Africa, and Latin America, and also due to the high birth rate of the Hasidic and Orthodox communities who comprise about 10% of the community's population.
Zvi Dershowitz was a Czech-born American rabbi whose tenure included 50 years serving Sinai Temple in Los Angeles.
Jacob "Jack" Pressman was an American Conservative rabbi. He served as the rabbi of Temple Beth Am in Los Angeles, California, from 1950 to 1985. He was a co-founder of the American Jewish University in Bel Air. He penned a weekly column in The Beverly Hills Courier, from 2004 to 2015.
Aryeh Cohen is an American rabbi and scholar who serves as a professor of Rabbinic Literature at American Jewish University. His scholarship focuses on the Talmud, Jewish ethics, and social justice.
Rabbi Natasha Mann is a rabbi of New London Synagogue in the United Kingdom, which is affiliated to Masorti Judaism. She is the first openly queer rabbi in a traditional Jewish denomination in Europe.
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