Jewish Learning Institute - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Rohr Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) is currently the largest provider of adult Jewish learning, offering courses on a wide range of topics at 325 chapters worldwide, with locations spanning six continents. Employing research-based instructional design

Instructional design

Instructional Design is the practice of creating "instructional experiences which make the acquisition of knowledge and skill more efficient, effective, and appealing." The process consists broadly of determining the current state and needs of the learner, defining the end goal of instruction, and...

, JLI aims to present Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

in a manner that is both intellectually rigorous and highly accessible
. In 2009, in the U.S. alone, JLI enrolled over 42,000 individuals in its courses, several times more than all other national adult Jewish education programs combined.

The Institute offers three courses annually made available through local chapters and taught by a local instructor. Each course lasts for six weekly sessions. For the convenience of travelers, each class unit is taught during the same week at every location, both in America and around the globe. General topics include:

Ethics and Jewish Law
Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....

Studies
Psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

and Personal Growth
Kabbalah
Kabbalah
Kabbalah/Kabala is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the esoteric aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It was systematized in 11th-13th century Hachmei Provence and Spain, and again after the Expulsion from Spain, in 16th century Ottoman Palestine...

and Jewish Mysticism
Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
Jewish History
Jewish history
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their religion and culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures. Since Jewish history is over 4000 years long and includes hundreds of different populations, any treatment can only be provided in broad strokes...
the Holocaust
Tanakh
Tanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...

(Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

Studies)

Some JLI courses have been accredited by the American Medical Association

American Medical Association

The American Medical Association , founded in 1847 and incorporated in 1897, is the largest association of medical doctors and medical students in the United States.-Scope and operations:...

for Continuing Medical Education

Continuing medical education

Continuing medical education refers to a specific form of continuing education that helps those in the medical field maintain competence and learn about new and developing areas of their field. These activities may take place as live events, written publications, online programs, audio, video, or...

credits. Others are accredited to offer Continuing Legal Education

Continuing Legal Education

Continuing legal education is professional education of lawyers that takes place after their initial admission to the bar. In many states in the United States, CLE participation is required of attorneys to maintain their license to practice law...

credits by the bars of 29 states, Australia, the UK and the National Board of Licenses.

JLI has eleven departments: JLI Flagship Courses; Torah Studies; My Shiur; Sinai Scholars; JLI Teens; Rosh Chodesh Society; Torah Café; National Jewish Retreat; The Land and the Spirit Mission; JLA Academy; Continuing Education; and Marketing and PR.

A subsidiary of Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch

Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch

Merkos L'Inyonei Chinuch is the central educational arm of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Founded by the sixth Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, in 1943, the organization was initially directed by his son-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who would later become the seventh Rebbe...

, JLI is the adult education arm of Chabad Lubavitch.

History

JLI was founded in 1999 with the mission to inspire increased Jewish learning worldwide and create a global network of informed students connected by bonds of shared Jewish experience. The first JLI course, Jewish Mysticism, was piloted at 15 Chabad centers in 1999. The institute expanded thereafter, introducing 15-20 new cities annually. In 2005, JLI was expanded to 40 new cities. JLI currently serves over 24 countries, with 325 locations around the globe (260 of which are in the United States).

Since its inception in 1998, over 220,000 students have completed JLI courses, with enrollment of 12,000 to 16,000 students each semester. As of 2011, JLI has developed 37 separate six-week courses, the most popular of which have been on Jewish thought, law, and mysticism.

Mission and Educational Philosophy

JLI’s mission is “to inspire Jewish learning worldwide and to transform Jewish life and the greater community through Torah study, creating a global network of informed students connected by bonds of shared Jewish experience.”

JLI crafts courses to address students' "multiple intelligences" and diverse learning styles, while also considering the impact of Jewish values on personal and interpersonal growth. Drawing on research-based instructional design, JLI’s presentation of Judaism is designed to be both intellectually rigorous and highly accessible to the modern adult.

Courses

JLI courses provide the essentials of Jewish literacy in a series of 6-week courses. Course curricula are supplemented by comprehensive textbooks, interactive exercises, and audio-visual presentations.

Past courses

Languages

JLI courses are translated into Hebrew, Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

, German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, and Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

JLI Programs

Aside from the courses offered through JLI Flagship, the following programs are included under the JLI umbrella

Torah Studies

Torah Studies curriculum presents ideas and issues from the weekly Torah portion, with themes ranging from business ethics to preserving the environment. The curriculum is complemented by textbooks, interactive exercises and audio-visual presentations.

My Shiur

My Shiur curriculum teaches skills for the study of Talmud, with the goal to make Talmud study accessible to those without prior knowledge in Talmudic study.

Sinai Scholars

The Sinai Scholars Society is an integrated program for college campuses comprising Torah study, social activities, and national networking opportunities that seek to introduce students to the contemporary significance of the Jewish experience. The six-part curriculum addresses essentials in Jewish learning in the light of important issues in modern life Students submit an academic paper on Jewish thought and participate in community and holiday events.

JLI Teens

JLI Teens seeks to make Judaism come alive for teenagers in a series of engaging, comprehensive, relevant courses on Jewish issues. In its pilot year, JLI Teens developed a course on Judaism’s approach to suicide, self-preservation and the value of human life. The course, titled, “My Space. Your Space. Is MY life any of YOUR business?” was attended by over 650 students.
Currently in its second year, the program has grown to include 900 students in 45 cities. JLI Teens is on Facebook and Twitter and relies heavily on the increasingly-integral internet and social networking sites to market and supplement the course materials.
The JLI Teens International Internship program enrolls a few select teens at each chapter who demonstrate leadership qualities. The interns’ multi-faceted role includes early feedback and suggestions to course developers, participating in special contests and activities as well as joint conference calls to share ideas.

Rosh Chodesh Society

JLI’s new women’s studies division, The Rosh Chodesh Society (RCS), founded in 2009, seeks to inspire, empower, and connect the modern Jewish woman with her Jewish heritage through rigorous text-based study in tandem with creative social programming. The women’s studies program made its debut last year with Rivka’s Tent, a seven-part series of textually-based study of the three mitzvoth unique to women. RCS is currently in its second year with affiliates in 43 communities across North America.

Torah Café

Torah Café is a virtual forum for audio-visual learning online. The site hosts over 1,000 video lectures and short clips on every topic in Jewish thought and practice. Subjects range from Jewish philosophy, law and history to dating, relationships and marriage, to music and entertainment. Most of the material is original to the site and not available elsewhere. Viewers around the world can log onto TorahCafé.com for classes in English and in foreign languages.

National Jewish Retreat

Founded in 2005, the six-day annual National Jewish Retreat

National Jewish Retreat

The National Jewish Retreat is the largest Jewish retreat in the United States.The Retreat draws upwards of 600 participants to an unusual five-day Jewish immersion experience...

includes more than 150 live lectures and interactive workshops on Jewish life, law, history, culture and tradition by over 30 scholars and experts from various fields of study. The Retreat is hosted each summer at a luxurious hotel, and provides gourmet Kosher catering.
In 2010, over 600 participants joined the Retreat in the Hyatt Regency in Reston, Virginia. George Allen (U.S. politician)

George Allen (U.S. politician)

George Felix Allen is a former United States Senator from the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the son of former NFL head coach George Allen. Allen served Virginia in the state legislature, as the 67th Governor, and in both bodies of the U.S. Congress, winning election to the Senate in 2000...

gave the keynote address, during which he discussed his Jewish roots in public for the first time

The Land & the Spirit

A program inspired from the success of JLI’s Fall 2007 course on Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, The Land and the Spirit, JLI launched its first mission to Israel in March 2008 and again in April 2010. The mission invites people to discover their personal connection with the Land of Israel and learn the history of the Jewish people at Israel’s holy sites.
The Land and the Spirit Mission to Israel program is designed to give participants an inside look into Israel. They meet with prominent politicians and decision-makers, scholars and local residents. The mission travels from Caesarea and Tzfat, down to Hevron, including visits to Jerusalem and the Judean Desert

Judean desert

The Judaean Desert is a desert in Israel and the West Bank that lies east of Jerusalem and descends to the Dead Sea. It stretches from the northeastern Negev to the east of Beit El, and is marked by terraces with escarpments. It ends in a steep escarpment dropping to the Dead Sea and the Jordan...

and brings messages of support from home communities in the Diaspora to the IDF

Israel Defense Forces

The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...

forces and to families of terror victims. The Land and the Spirit offers students an opportunity to explore and experience Israel.

Leadership

Executive Director: Rabbi Efraim Mintz;
Chairman: Rabbi Moshe Kotlarsky;
Principal Benefactor: Mr. George Rohr.

Executive Committee:
Rabbi Chaim Block, San Antonio, TX;
Rabbi Hesh Epstein, Columbia, SC ;
Rabbi Yosef Gansburg, Toronto, ON;
Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan, Potomac, MD;
Rabbi Yisrael Rice, S. Rafael, CA;
Rabbi Avrohom Sternberg, New London, CT

Instructor Training

The JLI Academy serves as JLI’s training arm for its affiliated instructors. New affiliates join the academy to be trained as a JLI Instructor. Veteran affiliates look to the Academy to provide ongoing instruction to hone their pedagogic skills, learn curriculum matter in depth and further their reach with new marketing ideas and strategies. JLI Academy also serves as a forum of discussion between the JLI Headquarters and JLI affiliates around the globe, where JLI can learn from the instructors “on the ground” and can give each affiliate personal feedback and encouragement. The Academy organizes an annual two-day conference, intermittent webinars, podcasts and other interactive instruction, as well as one-to-one training opportunities.

Every instructor is required to attend the annual JLI conference to master new courses and review pedagogical methods. The challenge, according to Director Efraim Mintz, "is to get teachers who are used to frontal teaching"—i.e., lecturing—"to teach otherwise." "Otherwise" means limiting lectures to no more than 60 percent of each 90-minute session, leaving the rest of the time for discussion, debate, and even role-playing. Mintz has also developed an online study hall for instructors to share techniques, and Facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

and Twitter

Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...

pages to link students with each other.

United States

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, Arizona

Arizona

Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Colorado

Colorado

Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, Connecticut

Connecticut

Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...

, Delaware

Delaware

Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...

, Florida

Florida

Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

, Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, Idaho

Idaho

Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, Louisiana

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

, North Carolina

North Carolina

North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...

, Nebraska

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, New Mexico

New Mexico

New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

, Nevada

Nevada

Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, Ohio

Ohio

Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...

, Oklahoma

Oklahoma

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

, Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

, Rhode Island

Rhode Island

The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...

, South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, Vermont

Vermont

Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...

, Washington, Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

Outside of the United States

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

, Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, Colombia

Colombia

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

, Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, Guatemala

Guatemala

Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...

, Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, Panama

Panama

Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...

, Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...

Endorsements

Past JLI Courses have been endorsed by prominent scholars, Jewish and world leaders, authors, professional athletes, and celebrities, including:
Simon Wiesenthal

Simon Wiesenthal

Simon Wiesenthal KBE was an Austrian Holocaust survivor who became famous after World War II for his work as a Nazi hunter....

, Alan Dershowitz

Alan Dershowitz

Alan Morton Dershowitz is an American lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He has spent most of his career at Harvard Law School where in 1967, at the age of 28, he became the youngest full professor of law in its history...

, Jack Wertheimer

Jack Wertheimer

Jack Wertheimer is a Professor of American Jewish History at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, the flagship yeshiva of Conservative Judaism. He is the former Provost of JTS, and was the founding director of the Joseph and Miriam Ratner Center for the Study of Conservative Judaism...

, Paula Abdul

Paula Abdul

Paula Julie Abdul is an American singer-songwriter, dancer, choreographer, actress and television personality.In the 1980s, Abdul rose from cheerleader for the Los Angeles Lakers to highly sought-after choreographer at the height of the music video era before scoring a string of pop music-R&B hits...

, Mayim Bialik

Mayim Bialik

Mayim Hoya Bialik is an American actress who also holds a PhD in neuroscience.Her most notable TV roles have been as Blossom Russo on NBC's Blossom and as Amy Farrah Fowler on CBS's The Big Bang Theory.-Early life:...

, PhD, Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski

Abraham J. Twerski

Abraham Joshua Twerski is an American Hasidic rabbi, a scion of the Chernobil Hasidic dynasty, and a psychiatrist specializing in substance abuse...

, Michael E. Gerber, Dmitriy Salita, Alan Veingrad

Alan Veingrad

Alan Stuart Veingrad, now known as Shlomo Veingrad is a former American football offensive lineman in the National Football League....

, George Pfeifer

George Pfeifer

George Pfeifer is a former head men's basketball coach at the University of Idaho. With one season remaining on his contract, Pfeifer was fired at the conclusion of the 2007–2008 season and replaced by Don Verlin, an assistant coach from Utah State University...

, Jonathan Sarna

Jonathan Sarna

Jonathan D. Sarna is the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History in the department of and the director of the Hornstein Program in Jewish Professional Leadership. He is regarded as one of the most prominent historians of American Judaism...

, Natan Sharansky

Natan Sharansky

Natan Sharansky was born in Stalino, Soviet Union on 20 January 1948 to a Jewish family. He graduated with a degree in applied mathematics from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology. As a child, he was a chess prodigy. He performed in simultaneous and blindfold displays, usually against...

, Sir Martin Gilbert, Bernie Siegel

Bernie Siegel

Dr. Bernie Siegel MD was born in Brooklyn, New York, and attended Colgate University and graduated with honors from Cornell University Medical College. He practiced general medicine and pediatric surgery until his retirement in 1989. He is the author of several books on the relationship between the...

, MD, Dennis Prager

Dennis Prager

Dennis Prager is an American syndicated radio talk show host, syndicated columnist, author, and public speaker. He is noted for his conservative political and social views emanating from conservative Judeo-Christian values. He holds that there is an "American Trinity" of essential principles,...

, Ambassador Dan Gillerman

Dan Gillerman

Dan Gillerman was Israel's 13th Permanent Representative to the United Nations. He was appointed in July 2002 and assumed his post on January 1, 2003, serving through 2008.- Education :...

, Elyakim Rubinstein

Elyakim Rubinstein

Elyakim Rubinstein was the Attorney General of Israel from 1997 to 2004 and is currently serving as a Judge on the Supreme Court of Israel.Rubinstein, a lifelong Israeli diplomat and civil servant, has had an influential role in that country's internal and external politics, most notably in...

, Tal Ben-Shahar, PhD, Professor Judea Pearl

Judea Pearl

Judea Pearl is a computer scientist and philosopher, best known for developing the probabilistic approach to artificial intelligence and the development of Bayesian networks ....

(Father of Daniel Pearl

Daniel Pearl

Daniel Pearl was an American journalist who was kidnapped and killed by Al-Qaeda.At the time of his kidnapping, Pearl served as the South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, and was based in Mumbai, India. He went to Pakistan as part of an investigation into the alleged links between...

), Nathan Lewin, Dr. Celso Lafer

Celso Lafer

Celso Lafer, born August 7, 1941 is a Brazilian jurist, full professor of Philosophy of Law at University of São Paulo, twice former foreign minister and a former commerce minister.-Education:...

, Professor Roald Hoffman, Robert Biswas-Diener

Robert Biswas-Diener

Robert Biswas-Diener, known as "the Indiana Jones of Positive Psychology", is a positive psychologist, Certified Mentor Coach, researcher, author and an instructor at Portland State University. Dr. Biswas-Diener's father is Ed Diener, a fellow psychologist and positive psychology researcher.Dr...

, PhD.

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