Bat Kol celebrates 40 years

Bat Kol celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2023.

The event was marked by an online gathering of Bat Kol alumni and alumnus, professors and friends.

Prof/Sr Maureena Fritz nds, a professor at St Michael’s College, University of Toronto, embarked upon an ambitious project – a response to the call of the 1965 watershed document, Nostra Aetate.

Bat Kol Institute for Jewish Studies began with a dream in 1983. A dream that was to foster foster Jewish studies; introducing Christians to the study of the Word of God, the Torah, within a Jewish milieu, using both ancient and modern texts assisted by Jewish and Christian scholars.

The seed sown in 1983 in Canada became a tangible reality. In 1987, the central office of Bat Kol Institute was moved to Jerusalem.

In 1992, Bat Kol Institute was registered in Jerusalem as an independent, non-profit organization.

Bat Kol, is a Hebrew expression meaning, “Daughter of a Voice” and refers to the heavenly voice that proclaims God’s will. Many ancient Talmudic stories mention the Bat Kol as a heavenly or divine voice.

Enjoy the event:

Many hundreds of Bat Kol alums studied in Jerusalem.

Bat Kol’s methodology was a focus on the weekly Torah portion read in synagogues around the world, the study of the Hebrew language, and the honoring of the Sabbath, in dialogue with members of the Jewish community.

Today Bat Kol Institute alums form a network of dedicated and committed people around the world who continue to learn and teach others. They have taken what they learned and implemented it in their studies, teaching, writing, Jewish-Christian dialogue, and in their parishes and their communities.

They continue to study Torah and write weekly commentaries which are shared worldwide.

In 2019 Bat Kol’s academic programs and the weekly commentaries came under  the auspices of the Brothers of Sion in Jerusalem to continue the richness of Bat Kol’s development and growth and to be known as ISPS-Ratisbonne Bat Kol-Christian Centre for Jewish Studies.

Bat Kol International is the world wide network of Bat Kol.

The Bat Kol motto is

“We will hear and we will do” (Deut. 5:24)