Last update - 00:00 19/03/2008
Multi-denominational rabbinical school to graduate its first class
By The Associated Press
NEWTON, Massachusetts - She is a former Jewish matchmaker raised in a strict Orthodox tradition in South Africa who still keeps kosher and observes the Sabbath.
He is a carpenter whose expansive spiritual search included years in a remote interfaith meditation community in New Mexico.
At The Rabbinical School of Hebrew College, Judith Ehrlich and Stephen Landau make perfect classmates.
The school is the country's only full-time, accredited transdenominational rabbinical school, and this spring, Ehrlich and Landau will be part of its first graduating class.
"There's an openness here to the wisdom that comes from everywhere," Landau said. "It makes you learn about how the world really is instead of shutting your eyes to people who don't agree with you."
Hebrew College president David Gordis opened the seminary there five years ago as denominational labels were becoming less relevant in American religious life, including within the Jewish community. He believed rabbis needed a deeper understanding of the full range of Jewish thought.
"Practical training can't be measured until after graduates go out and prove themselves," Gordis said.
But he said was excited about the school's start.
"Everything in life is an experiment," he said.
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