National Jewish Center for Learning and LeadershipThe National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership (CLAL) is a leadership training institute, think tank, and resource center. It is an inter-disciplinary and inter-denominational movement, in which rabbis from all major Jewish denominations in North America participate. The organization is described by The Jewish Daily Forward as a "think-tank dedicated to questions of Jewish identity and religious practice...in its quest to expand the boundaries of Jewish communal life".[1] Rabbi Brad Hirschfield presently serves as the president of CLAL.[2][3] Rabbi Elan Babchuck is the Executive Vice President. EtymologyCLAL is an acronym formed from the organization's English language name (Center for Leadership and Learning). It is also a transliteration of a Hebrew word that can mean community, as in the expression "Klal Yisrael" which refers to the Jewish people as a whole. It is intended to suggest the organization's stated mission to serve as a center of interdenominational cooperation in American Judaism.[4] HistoryCLAL was founded in 1974 by Rabbi Irving Greenberg, Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, and Rabbi Steven Shaw. ProgramsCLAL runs Rabbis without Borders.[5] References
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