The legend goes that Moses could not lead his people out of Egypt until he had first retrieved the bones of his forefather, the Patriarch Joseph. The journey from bondage to freedom evidently requires an awareness of where we have been as well as of where we are going. The blessings of the future are only reached when we carry the legacy of the past with us in the present.

Baltimore has established a name, a reputation as a dynamic center for Jewish and Christian encounters. Had the founders of the ICJS forgotten the inheritance of their ancestors -- Rabbi Jacob Agus, Dr. A. Vanlier Hunter, Rabbi Morris Lieber-man, Bishop Frank Murphy, Cardinal Shehan, Stanley Sollins, all of blessed memory -- we would still be wandering in the wilderness.

Yet the ICJS has not only depended on these venerable patriarchs of interfaith relations, it has found its distinctive place because of its exceptional board leadership and the unflagging commitments of individuals who have quietly given their time, their talents, and their resources to make the ICJS what it is today -- one of the leading educational establish-ments for Jewish and Christian studies. We have singled out two individuals -- Janis Koch and Rich Shenfeld -- to illustrate the kind of dedication that has invigorated this organization. My only regret is that we do not have the space to celebrate the many others who have, each in his or her own way, left their ennobling imprint on us.

For fifteen years, the ICJS offices have been perched on the third floor of the Brown Memorial Presbyterian Parish house. We are now spilling over the edges and have begun to survey Baltimore's "Promised Lands" for a new home. There are grand plans in the works. We count on your ongoing support and encouragement to help us build a firmer and more permanent foundation for our educational vision. It goes, almost without saying, that we will bring the bones with us wherever we move.