The SEELISBERG PRIZE honors Amy-Jill Levine for the major role her scholarship and teaching over several decades has played in building a new and mutually enriching relationship between Jews and Christians.
A joint endeavor of the International Council of Christians and Jews and the Centre for Intercultural Theology and the Study of Religion at the University of Salzburg, the SEELISBERG PRIZE will be bestowed annually on a person who has contributed to Jewish-Christian understanding through their academic excellence and the outstanding communication of their research and insights to a wide audience.
“We would like to offer exemplars of interreligious rapprochement to the general public,” says Prof. Gregor Maria Hoff of the University of Salzburg. “We want to spotlight those individuals who have been its champions.”
In its inaugural year, the SEELISBERG PRIZE marks the 75th anniversary of the ground-breaking gathering that occurred in the small Swiss village of Seelisberg from 30 July to 5 August 1947. This conference not only led to the establishment of the International Council of Christians and Jews, but also issued the very influential statement "A Call to the Churches: The Ten Points of Seelisberg" to address perennial Christian teachings of contempt for Jews and Judaism.
“This statement,” observes ICCJ President Liliane Apotheker, “is widely recognized as launching the transformation in relations between Jews and Christians that has unfolded over the past seventy-five years. It is very important that people today recognize and celebrate this transformation.”
“An international selection committee quickly determined that Prof. Levine would be the ideal recipient of this first Seelisberg Prize,” says Anette Adelmann, the ICCJ’s General Secretary. “Honorees will be research fellows for part of the academic year at the University of Salzburg, featured speakers at the annual ICCJ conference, and will receive an award of €10,000, generously donated by a foundation supporting Jewish-Christian and interreligious dialogue.”