In celebration of a new partnership, the Academy for Jewish Religion California (AJRCA) and Loyola Marymount University are hosting a Festival of Friendship on Oct. 22, 2023, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Alumni Mall. The festival will feature music, activities, and entertainment that draw from different faith traditions to celebrate AJRCA’s partnership with LMU.
“Cooperation between people of different faith traditions in a festival like this leads to increased knowledge and curiosity about other faith communities,” said Holli Levitsky, the director of the Jewish Studies program at LMU. “It deepens our own sense of religious and spiritual diversity, and it promotes peace.”
Sara Scharff, director of the festival, encourages students, faculty, and staff to attend. “LMU is acting like a model for how people from different faiths and cultural traditions can work together,” said Scharff. “This festival will celebrate the friendship between LMU and AJRCA as well as the diversity on the LMU campus and in the broader L.A. community through interactive and engaging experiences.”
AJRCA moved onto LMU’s campus in the fall of 2021. It trains rabbis, cantors, chaplains, and other Jewish community leaders. AJRCA mission is to transform Jewish communities into places where all Jews can grow toward spiritual wholeness and well-being.
The goal of the Festival of Friendship is to celebrate faith diversity and differences. For more information about this festival contact Sara Scharff at sscharff@ajrca.edu.
