Join the Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership of Hebrew College and the Elijah Interfaith Institute for a gathering of learning in celebration of the recently published book, Interreligious Heroes.
Editor, Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein—founder and director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute—will open the event with an overview of the project, and several contributors will share reflections on heroic individuals who inspire their work as scholars, educators, religious leaders, and activists. Among the figures we will explore are the recently deceased Thich Nhat Han, and his friend and pioneering Catholic writer and social activist, Thomas Merton (d. 1968).
The book includes over 40 chapters on an array of outstanding individuals such as Mahatma Gandhi, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama (written by Dr. Goshen-Gottstein), Sister Mary Boys, Blu Greenberg, and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (written by Rabbi Or Rose, founder and director of the Miller Center).
This rich and inspiring volume was presented to Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee—a contemporary interreligious hero—on the occasion of his 70th birthday.
Panelists
Rabbi Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein
Rabbi Dr. Alon Goshen-Gottstein is the founder and director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute, and lecturer and director of the Center for the Study of Rabbinic Thought, Beit Morasha College, Jerusalem. Ordained a Rabbi in 1977, he holds a Ph.D. from Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the field of Rabbinic Thought.
Dr. Sallie B. King
Dr. Sallie King is Professor Emerita of Philosophy and Religion at James Madison University, USA and Affiliated Faculty at the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University, USA. A Quaker and a Buddhist, she is a former President of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies, a trustee of the international, interfaith Peace Council, and a member of the Christian and Interfaith Relations Committee of Friends General Conference.
Rabbi Or Rose
Rabbi Or Rose is the founding Director of the Betty Ann Greenbaum Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership of Hebrew College. Before assuming this position in 2016, he worked in various administrative and teaching capacities at Hebrew College for over a decade, including serving as a founding faculty member and Associate Dean of the Rabbinical School. He also has taught for the Bronfman Youth Fellowships, The Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Hebrew College Me’ah community eduction program, and in a variety of other academic, religious, and civic contexts throughout North America and in Israel. His recent publications include: Words To Live By: Sacred Sources for Interreligious Engagement (co-editor, Orbis) and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi: Essential Teachings (co-editor, Orbis).
Bishop Frank Griswold
Bishop Frank Griswold served as primate and chief pastor of the Episcopal Church, president of the House of Bishops, president and chief executive officer of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society, and president or chair of numerous Episcopal Church boards and agencies. He was ordained in 1963 and served three parishes in the Diocese of Pennsylvania before being elected bishop.
Dr. Maria Reis Habito
Dr. Maria Reis Habito is the International Program Director of the Museum of World Religions and the Director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute USA. Dr. Reis Habito represents Dharma Master Hsin Tao on the steering committee. She studied Chinese Language and Culture at Taiwan Normal University in Taipei, and received her M.A. in Chinese Studies, Japanese Studies and Philosophy at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich.
Moderators
Rev. Tom Reid
Rev. Tom Reid is the associate director of the Miller Center for Interreligious Learning and Leadership of Hebrew College. He is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and serves as the pastor of Newton Presbyterian Church. He holds a Master of Divinity (MDiv) magna cum laude from Boston University School of Theology and spent over ten years working in a variety of fields including: clean energy, environmental and green building consulting, and business education.
Peta Jones Pellach
Peta Jones Pellach is an educator with expertise in adult education and dialogue facilitation. She serves as the educational director of the Elijah Interfaith Institute. She was a key player in interfaith dialogue in Australia including in the Women’s Interfaith Network, the (Australian) Uniting Church-Jewish Dialogue, the Jewish “conversation” with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference, and the Australian National Dialogue of Christians, Muslims, and Jews.
Sponsors
Liz Walker, former journalist, humanitarian, and minister, leads the Cory Johnson Program for Post Traumatic Healing. With a life filled with many chapters, Liz Walker is still best known as Boston’s first Black television news anchor, a position she held for 21 of her 28-year television news career. She is the recipient of two Emmys, symbolizing the highest recognition from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and an Edward R. Murrow award for journalistic excellence.
David Broza is an internationally renowned Israeli singer-songwriter, recognized for his dynamic guitar performances and humanitarian efforts. His signature sound brings together songs in Hebrew, Spanish and English, with the influence of Spanish flamenco, American folk, rock and roll, and poetry. Social justice and peace advocacy are embedded in Broza’s work, as his 1977 hit song Yihye Tov remains an Israeli peace anthem. He has over 40 albums released, many of which are multiplatinum. Learn more at 
Mark Atkins and Miho Sato
Jack Eiferman
Deborah Feinstein, MAJS`07, Me’ah`99 
Myra Musicant & Howard Cohen