Hindus have welcomed famed Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) of New York on launching of Milstein Center for Interreligious Dialogue, calling it a “step in the right direction”.

This Center, under the director Rabbi Burton L. Visotzky, will be committed to interreligious dialogue and partnership. Howard Milstein, president of New York Private Bank and Trust, who funded the Center with a $2 million gift, reportedly believes in educating the next generation of religious leaders to promote mutual respect among all faiths.

Commending this effort to bring various religions together and finding common ground, Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said that religion was the most powerful, complex and far-reaching force in our society, so we must take it seriously. And we all knew that religion comprised much more than our own particular tradition/experience.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, pointed out that in our shared pursuit for the truth, we could learn from one another and thus could arrive nearer to the truth. As dialogue brought us reciprocal enrichment, we would be spiritually richer than before the contact.

Rajan Zed hoped that Hinduism, oldest and third largest religion of the world with about a billion adherents, and other world religions would be included in this inter-religious experiment if it aimed to become really inclusive inter-religious world-class Center.

Kurt Cardinal Koch, president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, will be the guest of honor at inaugural event on October 31.

Founded in 1886, mission of JTS includes “strengthening Jewish tradition, Jewish lives, and Jewish communities” and serves Conservative Judaism. Arnold M. Eisen is the Chancellor while Abby Joseph Cohen is Trustees Chair.