$15M grant to update Reform movement’s Israel campus
Published May 23, 2016
An architect’s rendering shows the planned new entrance to the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Jerusalem. (Moshe Safdie)
(JTA) — The Reform movement in Israel is receiving a $15 million grant from the Taube Philanthropies to update its Jerusalem headquarters.
The grant is the largest ever to a Jewish organization from the San Francisco-based foundation.
The Jerusalem campus on King David Street will be renamed The Taube Family Campus at a ceremony on June 29. The improvements will include a new entrance to the campus designed by Israeli architect Moshe Safdie and a new piazza.
HUC-JIR’s rabbinical, cantorial and education students are required to spend their first year of study at the campus.
“Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is doing groundbreaking work in training the next generation of Reform rabbis, cantors, educators, and nonprofit leaders, for Israel and the Jewish people as a whole,” said Tad Taube, chairman of Taube Philanthropies. “Its Jerusalem campus, Jewish professional leadership development, brilliant faculty, and ambitious students deserve a beautiful, modern campus that matches the institution’s lofty goals.”
