Brandeis-Bardin Institute - History

History

The Brandeis-Bardin Institute was founded by Shlomo Bardin inspired by the ideals of the early Zionist movement and the ideas and financial support of Justice Louis Brandeis. The institute branched out into a program for college aged Jews called the Brandeis Collegiate Institute, and a summer camp called Alonim.

Many greats got their starts at the Brandeis-Bardin Institute including Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi the founder of Renewal Judaism, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, and served as the springboard for the American Israeli Folk Dance movement started by Dani Dassa and continued by his son David Dassa. In the 1970s Rabbis Abraham Joshua Heschel and Mordecai Kaplan frequented the institute. Later on Rabbi Joseph Telushkin would lead a weekly Torah discussion at the House of the Book at the Brandeis Bardin Institute and Dennis Prager would be among the many leaders of the Institute. The Brandeis Bardin Institute is also the largest piece of Jewishly owned land outside of the land of Israel.

Shlomo Bardin ran the Institute until 1976. He is buried on the grounds of the Brandeis Bardin Institute.

In March 2007, officials from both the Brandeis-Bardin Institute and the University of Judaism, a non-denominational institution of higher education offering undergraduate and graduate degrees along with a rabbinical studies program located in Bel Air, announced they would merge into a new organization called American Jewish University.

In the 1950s, BBI was known as Brandeis Camp Institute (BCI); Shlomo Bardin was the Director.