SMART Hebrew

In a combined fourth/fifth grade special needs classroom at the Westchester Fairfield Hebrew Academy in Greenwich, Connecticut, all eyes focus on a next-generation whiteboard.

Working her laptop, the teacher projects images of a mountain representing the Jewish morning prayer service and a human figure that traverses the mountain, as the class completes each prayer. When the figure reaches the mountaintop, the teacher taps on the “Amidah” prayer icon displayed next to it—and harei: the text of the Amidah appears on the board.

The director of this scene is Jennifer Truboff MJEd’07, a student in Hebrew College’s Jewish Special Education (SpEd) certificate program and graduate of the Hebrew College/ Pardes Educator’s program.

Share Texts, Build Trust

Enter Hebrew College’s Bet Midrash in the Gann Library on any given weekday, and you’re bound to hear the buzz of students working in hevruta—study pairs—dissecting Jewish texts. But Hebrew College students aren’t the only ones engaged in this classical form of Jewish learning.

Across the tables in the Bet Midrash and up the hill at Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS), seminarians are joining with Hebrew College rabbinical students to explore texts, values and beliefs rooted in both Jewish and Christian traditions.

In the recent ANTS/HC course “Moses and Jesus: Models of Religious Leadership,” Greg Mobley, ANTS Professor of Hebrew Bible, and Rabbi Or Rose, Associate Dean of the Rabbinical School, required students to discuss assigned texts in hevruta sessions before each class.

Kosher Kavanah

Two years ago, before the Agriprocessors labor scandal made news, Rabbi Natan Margalit and his wife, Ilana, struggled with the prevailing ethical standards of the kosher meat industry.

Commercially available kosher chickens were forced to endure confining living conditions. Even chickens sold under a popular kosher organic label, though technically free-range, were rarely allowed to venture beyond their coops. And truck delivery of those chickens across hundreds of miles exacted a substantial carbon footprint.

The Margalits wanted to eat local, organic, grass-fed, free-range chickens that were also kosher, but no provider could satisfy all those criteria. So they took matters into their own hands—literally.

Baseball Mitzvah

It was the last thing that Cantor-Educator student Linda Sue Sohn expected to be doing on Mother’s Day. But there she was on May 10, standing right behind home plate at Fenway Park, surrounded by 37,759 Red Sox fans, singing The Star Spangled Banner.

A breast cancer survivor, Sohn was tapped to sing the national anthem in response to a request from the Massachusetts chapter of the Susan G. Komen Foundation, which partners with Major League Baseball every Mother’s Day to show their support for Going To Bat Against Breast Cancer.

Seeking a survivor with an excellent voice, local chapter Executive Director Ronni Cohen-Boyar turned to Hebrew College.

Listen to:
The Star Spangled Banner by Linda Sue Sohn. 

Jews 'n Jazz

The year was 1937, five years after “Bei Mir Bistu Sheyn” (“To Me You Are Beautiful”), from the Yiddish operetta I Would if I Could, made a hit with Jewish audiences in America. Composer Sholom Secunda was certain the song had crossover potential and was trying to convince Hollywood producers it could be a popular hit.

But Hollywood wasn’t buying; the song was too Jewish. So Secunda decided to sell publication rights to J. & J. Kammen Music Company for the grand sum of $30—and split the proceeds with his lyricist, Jacob Jacobs.

As things turned out, Secunda’s instincts were correct, but he settled too soon.

Listen to:
Ba Mir Bistu Sheyn - Zamir Chorale of Boston.