Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches 2010 - Cokesbury

Siddhachalam International Mahavira Jain Mission
65 Mud Pond Road
Blairstown, NJ 07825
Tel. (908)362-9793, (908)362-5487
Fax (908)362-9649
Email: presidentimjm@gmail.com
Website: www.siddhachalam.org
Founded by Acharya Shri Shushil Kumarji in 1983, this resident community for monks, nuns,
laymen, and laywomen is described as the first Jain pilgrimage site outside India. It promotes
ahimsa for world peace, vegetarianism, and nonviolence to animals; and is headquarters for the
International Jain Mission, the World Fellowship of Religions, and the World Jain Congress.
JUDAISM
Judaism is one of the world’s oldest religions, encompassing a rich and complex tradition that has
evolved over centuries and has given rise to, or influenced, other major world traditions. Numerous
expressions of Judaism have always coexisted with one another, as they do today. The central concern
shared by all is to live in relation to God and to follow God’s will. Jews understand themselves
to be in covenant with God, who is the one transcendent God, Creator of the Universe. God revealed
the Torah to the people of Israel as his way of life. History brought the Jewish people into contact
with many cultures and civilizations, contacts that continuously transformed the nature of their worship,
the understanding of God’s law, and even their conceptualization of peoplehood. At the time
of the second Diaspora, or great migration of Jews throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and
Europe at the beginning of the common era, was the rise of the Rabbinical Tradition, with its emphasis
on the study of scripture. Today’s Judaism has grown out of these roots. In the 19th century,
Reform Judaism arose in Europe and the United States as one Jewish response to modernity.
Conservative Judaism and Reconstructionism are branches of Jewish practice that first developed in
America. Orthodox Judaism also has a number of modern forms.
ALEPH Administrative Office
7000 Lincoln Drive #B2
Philadelphia, PA 19119-3046
Email: aleph-info@aleph.org
Website: www.aleph.org
Exec. Dir., Ms. Debra Kolodny
A core institution of the Jewish Renewal movement dedicated to the Jewish people’s sacred
purpose of partnership with the Divine in the inseparable tasks of healing the world and healing
our hearts.
The American Jewish Committee
P.O. Box 705
New York, NY 10150
Tel. (212)751-4000
Fax (212)891-1492
Email: pr@ajc.org
Website: www.ajc.org
Exec. Dir., David A. Harris
Founded in 1906, The AJC protects the rights and freedoms of Jews world-wide; combats bigotry
and anti-Semitism and promotes democracy and human rights for all. It is an independent
community-relations organization, with strong interest in interreligious relations and public-policy
advocacy. The AJC publishes the American Jewish Yearbook, and Commentary magazine.
SOURCES
The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith
823 United Nations Plaza
New York, NY 10017
Tel. (212)885-7707
Fax (212)867-9406
Website: www.adl.org
National Dir., Abraham H. Foxman
Since 1913, the Anti-Defamation League has been involved in combating and documenting
anti-Semitism. It also works to secure fair treatment for all citizens through law, education and
community relations.
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