Academy for Jewish Religion (California)

Academy for Jewish Religion California
TypeSeminary
Established2000 (2000)
AffiliationJewish (nondenominational)
Location
Los Angeles
,
California
,
United States

34°04′13″N 118°26′18″W / 34.0702°N 118.4384°W / 34.0702; -118.4384
Websiteajrca.edu

The Academy for Jewish Religion California (AJRCA), is a Jewish seminary in Los Angeles. It trains rabbis, cantors and chaplains to serve congregations and organizations of any Jewish denomination.[1]

History

The school was conceived as a transdenominational alternative to the more established rabbinical schools by two Los Angeles rabbis, Stanley Levy and Stephen Robbins, later joined by a third, Mordecai Finley, who became president of the school soon after its establishment in 2001. Initially conceived as a branch of the New York City-based Academy for Jewish Religion, it soon became independent.[1]

In its first years the school was housed in a small temple in West Los Angeles,[2] later moving to the Yitzchak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life at UCLA. It ordained its first three rabbis in 2003, and provided a means for students to pursue rabbinical studies while still working in other jobs.[1]

In 2010 the school partnered with Claremont School of Theology (CST) to provide a Jewish component for CST's interfaith curriculum.[3] In January 2013 Tamar Frankiel became the president of the Academy for Jewish Religion, making her the first Orthodox woman to lead an American rabbinical school.[4][5] The school itself is transdenominational, not Orthodox.[5] Later in 2013, the Academy relocated from UCLA to a building in Koreatown shared with two other Jewish organizations.[6] The Academy returned "home", to UCLA Hillel in the fall of 2017, and in 2021 it moved to the campus of Loyola Marymount University.[7] In 2022 Rabbi Joshua Hoffman was named as the president and CEO of the Academy.[8]

Building

Yitzhak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life

The Yitzchak Rabin Hillel Center for Jewish Life is a center for Jewish cultural, religious and spiritual education at the University of California, Los Angeles.[9][10][11] The Hillel has been home to the Academy since the new building was dedicated in 2002.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c Nancy Sokoler Steiner, "Academy of Jewish Religion offers alternate path to rabbinate for 16 new grads", The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, June 7, 2007.
  2. ^ Julie G Fax, "Rabbis Without Dogma", The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, June 28, 2001.
  3. ^ Mitchell Landsberg, "Claremont seminary reaches beyond Christianity", Los Angeles Times, June 9, 2010.
  4. ^ "Dr. Tamar Frankel". Archived from the original on 2011-12-28. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
  5. ^ a b Gail Shefler, "Orthodox woman to head 'transdenominational' rabbinical school", Jewish Telegraphic Agency in The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, January 16, 2013.
  6. ^ Ryan Torok, "Academy for Jewish Religion moves to Koreatown", The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, September 18, 2013.
  7. ^ "Academy for Jewish Religion California Moves to LMU Campus". Loyola Marymount University. November 1, 2021. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  8. ^ "AJRCA Announces Rabbi Joshua Hoffman as New President and CEO". Academic for Jewish Religion. October 19, 2022. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  9. ^ "Hillel Receives Largest Grant in Its History". www.hillel.org. Archived from the original on 2008-12-01.
  10. ^ "AJRCA - Your Community Connection" (PDF). 17 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Our Jerusalem.com - Action". www.ourjerusalem.com. Archived from the original on 2003-12-10.
  12. ^ Seidler-Feller, Shaul; Myers, David N. (14 April 2020). Swimming against the Current: Reimagining Jewish Tradition in the Twenty-First Century. Essays in Honor of Chaim Seidler-Feller. Academic Studies PRess. ISBN 978-1-64469-375-9. Retrieved 17 February 2021.