The San Francisco-based Jim Joseph Foundation has awarded a $2.15 million grant to Mechon Hadar, a 10-year-old New York program that empowers Jews to create and sustain egalitarian communities of Torah learning, prayer and service.

It is the largest gift in Hadar’s history.

The four-year grant will support programs and priorities outlined in Hadar’s recent strategic plan, intended to double the number of participants in its programs and to expand its work with Jewish communities in the U.S. and Israel.

Hadar was founded in 2007 as an eight-week summer program for 18 students and has become a leader in the field of Jewish education and community building. There are more than 500 alumni of its yearlong and summer intensive learning programs, and more than 1,500 students have taken its weeklong immersive programs.