Contact:
Rabbi Ronald D. Price tel. (201) 801-0707 ext. 204
Teaneck, N.J., August 21, 2001 – The Union for Traditional Judaism has announced that it is partnering with Fairleigh Dickinson University to offer a joint program leading to a Master of Public Administration degree, with a specialization in Jewish Communal Service. The move, by the Union for Traditional Judaism's Institute of Traditional Judaism and Fairleigh Dickinson University, is designed to better prepare tomorrow's Jewish communal leaders and workers for the organizational challenges they face in synagogues, Jewish schools, communal agencies and the other Jewish organizations in which they may work.
Students who enter the joint Master of Public Administration program will also be eligible to take additional courses in Judaic studies and earn a certificate in Jewish studies. This new program enables the UTJ's Institute for Traditional Judaism – also known as the “Metivta” – to open its classes and programs, and to provide a professional credential, to anyone interested in a leadership position within the Jewish community. Fairleigh Dickinson will recognize six UTJ/Metivta course credits as part of the 39 required credits for the M.P.A. degree along with another three-credit course developed jointly by FDU and the Metivta faculty.
“The UTJ's Metivta will provide an intensive Jewish studies program and practical guidance specific to the Jewish community, while Fairleigh Dickinson will provide the academic training for administrators in the public sector,” said Rabbi Ronald D. Price, dean of the Metivta. “This is truly ‘Torah im derekh eretz,' Torah with practical skills. Many rabbis as well as laymen could benefit from a degree in Public Administration and we are proud to be joining with FDU to provide it.”
“Our innovative joint program with the ITJ will make our well established Public Administration degree an even more attractive option to the community of Federation professionals, Jewish educators and other professionals as well as to rabbis, who want to enrich both their Jewish education and their management skills,” said Dr. William Roberts, Director of the Public Administration Institute at FDU.
The next opportunity to register for the joint program with Fairleigh Dickinson begins immediately, for the semester commencing October, 2001. The UTJ's Metivta is now taking applications. Interested candidates are urged to contact the Metivta immediately at 201-801-0707, via email at utj-office@utj.org.
The UTJ's Institute of Traditional Judaism (the Metivta) was founded in 1991 to ordain rabbis who would represent open-minded, observant Judaism. The Reish Metivta (head) of the Institute is world-renowned Talmud scholar Rabbi Prof. David Weiss Halivni. Others on the faculty include the well-known Sefardic scholar Hakham Isaac Sassoon, internationally recognized Jewish philosopher Rabbi Prof. David Novak, as well as musmakhim (ordinees) of the Tels Yeshiva, Chaim Berlin, Yeshiva University, and the Jewish Theological Seminary.
The motto of the Metivta is “emunah tzerufah v'yosher da'at” genuine faith combined with intellectual integrity. It teaches full commitment to the observance of Halakhah within an atmosphere that encourages honest intellectual inquiry.
The Union for Traditional Judaism is an education and outreach movement founded to promote open-minded, observant Judaism based on traditional Halakhah. In addition to sponsoring the Metivta, it offers services to synagogues, rabbis, Jewish institutions and lay people.
These include an active publications series, speakers' bureau, Web site ("http://www.utj.org") and email discussion list, conference series, Operation Pesach Hotline, and the highly acclaimed video education series, “Taking the MTV Challenge,” a Jewish response to television values, which is now taught in more than 300 institutions across the denominational spectrum.