Rabbi Jack Bemporad, leader for religious tolerance, speaking at TCU on Sept. 24

Rabbi Jack Bemporad

Fort Worth, TX

9/8/2009

Rabbi Jack Bemporad, founder and director of the nonprofit Center for Interreligious Understanding, will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday Sept. 24 in the Brown-Lupton University Union Ballroom on the TCU campus. He is guest of honor for the 12th annual Gates of Chai Lectureship in Contemporary Judaism, sponsored by the Program in Jewish Studies at TCU and Brite Divinity School. Topic of his remarks will be “Human Rights — Are They Universal?”

A Holocaust refugee from Italy, Rabbi Bemporad and his family traveled to the U.S. when he was five years old. He has dedicated his career to improving relations among Christians, Muslims and Jews worldwide.  He is recognized internationally for his diplomatic skill and leadership in matters of religious tolerance and reconciliation. He is a key liaison between the Vatican and the world Jewish community and is one of the rare Jewish leaders to have had numerous personal audiences with Pope John Paul II.  (Rabbi Bemporad’s biography follows.)

Tickets are $20 for general admission and reserved parking. Students are admitted free. The number to call is 817-257-5976 or e-mail OfficialEventsrsvp@tcu.edu for reservations.

The Gates of Chai Lectureship is designed to promote informed, dynamic public dialogue and education on issues of relevance to contemporary Judaism. The lectureship is sponsored through the generosity of Gates of Chai, Inc., in memory of Larry Kornbleet and family members of Stanley and Marcia Kornbleet Kurtz who perished in the Holocaust.

Previous Gates of Chai speakers include Nobel Peace Laureate Elie Wiesel, legal/political activists Morris Dees and Susan Estrich, Middle Eastern policy expert Dennis Ross and authors Rabbi Harold Kushner, Thomas Cahill, Chaim Potok and Bruce Feiler.