| B'nai B'rith Abraham Lodge No. 89 of Bridgeport, Connecticut, has donated $500 to the Center for Christian-Jewish Understanding's library to be applied toward the purchase of books or audio-visual materials on Judaism. Jerry Rookasin, retired accounting and business law teacher at Buennell High School, Stratford; Kathryn Braun, a Fairfield attorney; and Robert Factor, a retail office products businessman in Fairfield, made the presentation to David L. Coppola, Ph.D., the CCJU's director of conferences and publications. Instituted October 13, 1867, the B'nai B'rith Abraham Lodge No. 89 has grown to nearly 200 active members and is committed to fostering Jewish, religious and humanitarian ideals among people of the Jewish faith and all humanity.
"The lodge has invested its money and we are spreading out the interest to those groups that help to promote cross-cultural and interreligious understanding," Mr. Rookasin said. "We all agreed that Sacred Heart has done an extraordinary job, in view of the past history between religions, in turning things around to a more positive era. This took a lot of courage. We are appreciative of the Center, and we hope that this gesture will help to continue to strengthen our connection and encourage other groups to also support the Center's work."
Mr. Factor agreed: "We believe that Sacred Heart University is a good friend of the Jewish community and vice versa. The president of Sacred Heart, Dr. Cernera, has done a remarkable job."
Currently, the CCJU library at Sacred Heart University contains more than 450 volumes pertaining to Judaica and Jewish-Christian studies, as well as videos and other resources. Dr. Coppola said that the CCJU would like to build that number to 5,000 in the next 10 years.
Representatives from B'nai B'rith give Dr. David L. Coppola a $500 donation to be applied toward purchases for the CCJU library. |