GTU Center for Jewish Studies

The Graduate Theological Union has received a $2.5 million anonymous endowment gift to support interreligious innovation and community transformation.

This investment strengthens the GTU Next strategic plan—expanding financial aid, supporting emerging scholars, and advancing a model of theological education rooted in collaboration across traditions.

With this support, the GTU continues to build toward a sustainable future and deepen its role in preparing leaders for pluralistic communities.

Read the story: gtu.edu/news

Please join us TOMORROW (Tuesday) at 12:30 in the Dinner Boardroom for a celebration of CJS student scholarship. This program will consist of presentations from CJS doctoral students Margie Jacobs, Morey Lipsett, and Dan Stein, as well as a presentation from our spring M.A. graduate, Tamar Levin. For more details and registration, please see the link in comments below.

Prof. Sam Shonkoff's "Modern Judaisms" seminar convened last week at The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art & Life to engage with three objects that illuminate entanglements between religion and politics for early modern Jews in Europe. Thanks to Learning and Engagement Coordinator, Dan Alter, for his guidance and generosity!

A reminder that all are welcome to join us TODAY at 12:45 to take down the sukkah—a symbol of the fragility of human life, our interdependence, and the universal pursuit of shelter and peace. Amidst the horrors, heartbreaks, and hopes of this tumultuous time, we will share silence together as we deconstruct this ephemeral structure. The sukkah is located at the entrance to the GTU library on Scenic Ave.

In a recent talk at a Harvard conference on Psychedelics and Monotheistic Traditions, GTU professor Sam Shonkoff delivered a presentation titled “Enlightened Amnesia and Entheogenic Memory: The Case of Modern Judaism.” In his own words, "I identify two different ways in which Jews have imagined connections between Hasidism and psychedelics: historical entheogenic memory (“they used them”) and hermeneutical entheogenic memory (“my psychedelic experiences help me understand Hasidic sources”)."

At the GTU, scholars like Dr. Shonkoff are at the forefront of emerging conversations on psychedelics and religion, examining how spiritual experience, theology, and consciousness intersect in new and thought-provoking ways. Through their research and teaching, GTU faculty are helping to shape the field of psychedelic studies within theological and interreligious scholarship.

Watch Dr. Shonkoff’s talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGjp4dbuNYQ

We built a sukkah today. Everyone, please make yourself at home here until we deconstruct it after the holiday on October 16th.

TODAY AT 5! Book launch for our very own Deena Aranoff's groundbreaking _Mother's Milk: Essays on Child-Rearing, the Household, and the Making of Jewish Culture_ (Indiana University Press). Prof. Aranoff will reflect on the meaning and significance of this project, and will then engage in conversation about the book with Sam Shonkoff. The program is both in-person and via zoom. Register at link in first comment below.

Join us for a special evening celebrating the launch of Mother’s Milk: Essays on Child-rearing, the Household and the Making of Jewish Culture by GTU’s own Deena Aranoff.

This thought-provoking book explores how enduring aspects of Jewish culture emerge from the rhythms of family life and parenting. For the launch, Deena will be in conversation with Sam Shonkoff, opening up a dialogue on parenting, religion, everyday life, and the unfolding of revelation.

Monday, September 29, 2025, 5:00 pm, at the Dinner Boardroom, 2400 Ridge Road, Berkeley. Free and open to the public.

Learn more: https://www.gtu.edu/events/mothers-milk-book-launch

Join us online and in-person for a fascinating lecture with Dr. Tzvi Lubosh*tz exploring R. Moshe David Valle’s Reverse Anthropology—an illuminating perspective on Christianity from within the Jewish mystical tradition.

- Thursday, September 18
- 12:30 PM PT | Hybrid Event
- Free and open to the public

Reserve your spot: events.gtu.edu

What a beautiful program today with GTU professors Kamal Abu-Shamsieh and Deena Aranoff on terms for “healing” in Arabic and Hebrew.