JTS & Union Commemorate 50th Anniv of Heschel’s Revolutionary Address on Interreligious Dialogue

The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and Union Theological Seminary will host “No Religion Is an Island” featuring a conversation between Arnold M. Eisen, chancellor of JTS, and Serene Jones, president of the Faculty and Johnston Family Professor for Religion and Democracy at Union. John J. Thatamanil, associate professor of Theology and World Religions at Union, will moderate. Abraham Joshua Heschel spoke at Union 50 years ago, just as the Vatican was acting on Nostra Aetate, bringing Catholic, Jewish, and Protestant voices into accord. The action helped the groups move from centuries of enmity towards one other to tolerance and ultimately common cause. Today, particularly in the US, we enjoy an era of unprecedented interreligious dialogue, cooperation, and communal purpose in addressing together our nation’s—indeed our world’s—most pressing needs. Chancellor Eisen and President Jones will assess the promise of Heschel’s address, reflect on JTS and Union’s shared journey of interreligious engagement, and discuss the possibilities of future cooperation between the Jewish and Christian communities.

This program will take place on Tuesday, November 10, 2015 at 5:30 p.m. at Union, located at 3041 Broadway (121st Street) in New York City. Admission is free; please RSVP at www.jtsa.edu/noreligionisland. This event will also be livestreamed. Join us online.

Since taking office in 2007, Chancellor Eisen has transformed the education of religious, pedagogical, professional, and lay leaders for Conservative Judaism and the vital religious center of North American Jewry, and enhanced JTS’s reputation and global reach. The chancellor has enriched JTS’s commitment to Israel and Israel education, and solidified JTS’s Israel programs in Jerusalem.

The Rev. Dr. Jones formed Union’s Institute for Women, Religion and Globalization as well as the Institute for Art, Religion and Social Justice. In 2016, she will become the president of the American Academy of Religion. President Jones is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ, and is the author of several books, including Calvin and the Rhetoric of Piety and Trauma and Grace: Theology in a Ruptured World.