Rodef Shalom Congregation, Pittsburgh, PA - Harris Interfaith Institute

The Necessity For Theological Dialogue Between Religions
with Rabbi Jack Bemporad

Luncheon & Program for Christian Clergy
Friday, February 3 · 12 – 2:30 p.m.

Reservation deaadline has been extended until January 27.
Please contact Leslie Garrison at (412) 621-6566 x122 or garrison@rodefshalom.org.

About The Lecture: Ruth Harris Herscher established this Interfaith Institute in loving memory of her husband, Milton (1904-1975). Milton Harris was a loyal and devoted leader within this Congregation and in national Jewish life. He served as President of Rodef Shalom and was a member of its Board of Trustees for many years. He served as Chancellor of the Jewish Chautauqua Society and as the National President of the Temple Brotherhood. In addition to this, he was a leader in many national and local philanthropic, educational, business and charitable endeavors. This is the thirtieth year of this Interfaith Institute Series.

About Our Speaker: A Holocaust refugee from Italy, Rabbi Jack Bemporad, came to this country at the age of six. He received his B.A. with honors in philosophy from Tulane, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa; following graduation, Jack Bemporad was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Rome. He received his M.A. in philosophy with honors from the Hebrew Union College, where he was ordained as a Rabbi in 1959. In 1984, Rabbi Jack Bemporad received an honorary Doctor of Divinity from his alma mater. With more than thirty years of experience in religious affairs, Bemporad is a trusted resource for insight, analysis and credible information on matters inter-religious. As director of the nonprofit Center for Interreligious Understanding (CIU), Jack Bemporad has spent the better part of the last half century bringing people of all religious faiths together to promote honest dialogue, mutual respect and theological understanding. Rabbi Bemporad has been at the center of many of the negotiations improving the relationship between Christians and Jews. In 1992, he worked to help secure full diplomatic relations between the Vatican and the State of Israel. And in June 2003, Bemporad helped lead an interfaith delegation to Iran to address anti-Semitism and religious tolerance with Iranian President Mohammad Khatami. And only six months later, he joined with the World Council of Churches to sponsor an international interfaith conference to identify the theological foundations for improved relations between Protestants, Orthodox Christians and Jews. In addition to serving as the director of the Center for Interreligious Understanding (CIU), Rabbi Jack Bemporad is currently Professor of Interreligious Studies at the Vatican's Angelicum University in Rome, and he is additionally the author of numerous books and articles, including "Our Age: The Historic New Era of Christian-Jewish Understanding."