Michigan Jewish Institute

Michigan Jewish Institute (MJI) is a Jewish-sponsored independent institution of higher and professional education, in the Metro Detroit, Michigan area, United States. Over 2,000 students are currently enrolled in the various schools and divisions of the Michigan Jewish Institute.

Its administrative office is in Southfield, Michigan and its primary campus is in West Bloomfield Township. Michigan Jewish Institute. The institute is located at the 45-acre Campus of Living Judaism, which is affiliated with the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. The Shul is led by MJI’s president, Rabbi Kasriel Shemtov, son of Berel Shemtov, the leader of Chabad of Michigan.

History

In 1994 a group of public minded members of the Metropolitan Detroit Jewish community formed a Board of Trustees to take over the Norman and Esther Allen Touro College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Congregation Beth-Chabad agreed to sponsor this much needed institution and provided the leadership to establish and accredit the college and to provide a permanent home for the school on the Center for Living Judaism campus in West Bloomfield. The founding Chabad-Lubavitch of Michigan expected the college to cater primarily to Russian-speaking immigrants from the former Soviet Union who "needed to convert Soviet university degrees into something more recognizable to American employers." According to its first president, Chaim Dovid Kagan, MJI’s initially focused on creating a "means and a Jewish environment to give job training, hence degrees in Bachelor of Applied Sciences and in computing and business."

Since its founding in 1994, Michigan Jewish Institute has pursued a mission of providing an academic baccalaureate degree-granting program that combines an arts and sciences foundation with a concentration for development in career related disciplines. Recognized as an institution of higher learning by the Department of Education, Michigan Jewish Institute's collegiate accreditation has been with the Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools since 1997. By 2012 the Institute had grown to over 2,000 students, transforming itself from a small campus-based college into a growing online university. The majority of students at MJI are candidates for a degree in Judaic studies while studying at International Partner schools in other countries, mostly in Israel.

See also

• History of the Jews in Metro Detroit

External links

• Michigan Jewish Institute
• Official Blog of Michigan Jewish Institute

References