A short history

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Bat Kol Institute began as a very lowly seed in Toronto in 1983 and has since had its central office transplanted to Jerusalem.

Bat Kol was founded on 8 April 1983 by Sr. Maureena Fritz and Sr. Anne Anderson. Bat Kol Institute is recognizable through centers and disciples around the world: in the Philippines, South Africa, India, United States, Canada, Australia, Ireland, Brazil and a number of other international venues.

Bat Kol is a Hebrew phrase that means "daughter of a voice". She is the daughter of God's Voice and her dwelling places range from the loftiest heights of human thought to the lowliest of hearts on earth. No place is closed to her presence. After the Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 of the present era, one of our ancients exclaimed, "I heard a divine voice cooing like a dove, and saying, ‘Woe to the children on account of their sins.'"

The Hebrew words bat kol that mean, in Hebrew, daughter of a voice, are imaged in this sculpture in which the bat kol is depicted as a dove. The Rabbinic tradition attests to this visualization... "I heard a divine voice cooing like a dove, and saying, ‘Woe to the children on account of their sins'" [Talmud].

The same imagery informs the Christian Scriptures... "He saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased'" [New Testament].