Above Content Position
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit.
Welcome to the Soetendorp Institute
The Jacob Soetendorp Institute for Human Values has been founded by Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp. Honoring the name of his late father, the Institute is building bridges between the religions, cultures and generations. It is guided by the imperative of tikkun olam, repairing a world that is broken for those in need, for ourselves and our future.
The basic motivation for the projects of the Soetendorp Institute was derived in Rabbi Soetendorp's moving life story, his "memory beyond memories": Having survived World War II as a hidden childed, rescued by a righteous couple who risked their lives for him, Rabbi Soetendorp has come to the conviction: When the gaze of a baby can still reach the heart, even in the deepest depravity, nothing is lost.
The Institute therefore promotes an "education of the heart" that generates hope, inspiration and empathy with other cultures, religions, and forms of life. We believe that these skills are essential for eradicating xenophobia and creating just, peaceful and sustainable communities.
Latest news
Consider Forgiveness
- Details
- Published: 27 January 2009
Consider Forgiveness features interviews with leaders and scholars from the Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, and Christian traditions. Watch Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp speak at the Fetzer Institute about the Holocaust, forgiveness as a moment of the heart and the difficulties of forgiving by clicking on the image below:
This project was filmed in Amritsar, India, at Sharing Wisdom: The Case of Love and Forgiveness, a meeting of the Elijah Interfaith Institute's board of religious leaders. One of the mandates to come from this meeting reads “We wish to call upon all our religions to offer their finest teachings as resources to guide humanity to safe harbor, and to identify the teachings they can jointly offer a suffering humanity.”
View the clips listed on the site to learn more about each faith's approach to forgiveness and how it relates to justice, love, compassion, retribution, revenge, and empathy.