Scientists in Synagogues Continuation

Jews have a unique relationship to science. While Judaism has historically embraced science without much struggle, today many Jews see science and religion as independent, rather than mutually enhancing. Since 2015, the John Templeton Foundation has supported Scientists in Synagogues, with 64 synagogues all across North America and Israel exploring questions ranging from mathematical and religious truth, to how AI has changed what it means to be human, to the neuroscience of free will. From these previous communities, we are finishing the creation of 25 high-quality videos on these topics, which we will use as a jumping off point for lesson plans and curricula for communities to use. We will also continue the project itself, exploring, enhancing and then showcasing the ways in which Jewish scientists integrate their scientific work with their Jewish life. Through grass-roots programming, relationship-building, and exploration of crucial issues, Scientists in Synagogues will continue to show the Jewish community how to integrate science and Judaism in meaningful and productive ways, and present findings for future studies, programming, and ideas in the scientifically-rich Jewish community. This program has been a resounding success, reaching over 25,000 people, and most recent post-program evaluations showed that 92% of the respondents "definitely" or "probably" wanted more programming on Judaism and science, and 94% called the programming “good” or “excellent.” To help refresh the applicant pool, and ensure high-quality applications, we will use 2025 to showcase the work of previous communities through the videos and lesson plans, and re-open applications at the end of 2025 and in the middle of 2026. Scientists in Synagogues will be run by Sinai and Synapses, which is incubated at Clal - The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership. The AAAS Dialogue on Science, Ethics and Religion (DoSER) program will be a consultant for this project as well.