Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding Created “When I was your age, students, I had many questions. I still have them. But I will not allow them to become a wall between us. I favor doors and windows. Walls are for prisons. I celebrate freedom. To be free is essential, but to help others gain freedom is even more rewarding. That applies to all intellectual endeavors endowed with ethical resolve.” – Elie Wiesel, (from Dec. 14, 2003, commencement speech) By James J. Lidington Three years of fund raising and organization paid off last fall with the creation of the Institute for Jewish Studies and Interfaith Understanding and a minor in Jewish studies at Old Dominion. The institute’s mission is to promote greater awareness of Judaism’s historic role as a catalyst for social change and to foster the religion’s continuing engagement with other cultures and faiths, while developing mutual respect and understanding among all people, races and religions. In support of the minor, the following courses are offered: Jewish-American Literature; Sacred Texts as Literature; Studies in Jewish History; Fascism in Modern Europe; and Politics of the Middle East. The institute is also sponsoring a faculty lecture series to introduce the local community to Old Dominion’s nationally recognized faculty, as well as a series of reading groups on modern Jewish thinkers, Jewish films and Jewish women authors. In the future, the institute hopes to develop library holdings to enhance research opportunities in the Hampton Roads area, and to offer grants to ODU faculty to develop or enhance courses in Jewish studies. Annual competitive fellowships and scholarships that will support faculty/student exchanges with universities in Israel, are also planned. Discussions on the institute and minor began in 2000 with a committee, which included Janet Katz, associate dean of the College of Arts and Letters; David Metzger, associate professor of English; Karen Gould, former dean of the college; and Lawrence A. Forman, rabbi emeritus of Ohef Sholom Temple, located in the Ghent section of Norfolk. A $300,000 gift from the Dudley Cooper Charitable Lead Unitrust was the foundation for the $750,000 organizers raised to fund the programs. “This is a very exciting development. Not only do you see Jewish contributions to Western thought, you also see how introducing Jewish studies has invigorated academic studies in general,” said Metzger, coordinator of the Jewish Studies Program. “The creation of the Jewish Studies Program at ODU is a sign of the intellectual health of our community.” President Roseann Runte added, “The institute symbolizes the best kind of partnership between the academic community and the metropolitan area. Dr. Forman, along with the advisory committee, will ensure the continuation of that strong and vital link with the organizations which surround us. We all look forward to sharing resources and talents, to learning together to improve our knowledge and understanding of ourselves and others.” Forman, the institute director, said the time is right for the programs, given the unrest in the Middle East. “Religious and ethnic diversity can be a blessing and source of strength when there is education toward understanding, mutual respect and shared ethical values,” he said. “Through our diversity and our unity, we can build that better world where justice, mercy and love can reign in a context of religious pluralism, freedom, tolerance and civility.”