Faculty
I have a very strong admiration for each and every faculty member for not only what they bring intellectually but their chesed, their soul their spirit, the way they share when they make a mistake, the way they’re willing to be vulnerable and open with us.
– Rebecca Weintraub, Rabbinical Student
Rachel Adelman Associate Professor, Bible
Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld President
Harvey Bock Hebrew Language Coordinator, Rabbinical School
Rabbi Art Green Rector, Rabbinical School
Marion Gribetz Director, Congregational Education Initiative Director of Educational Initiatives, Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education
Rabbi Dan Judson Dean, Rabbinical School
Rabbi Jane Kanarek Associate Dean for Academic Development and Advising; Professor of Rabbinics
Rabbi Daniel Klein, Rab`10, MJEd`10 Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Life
Rabbi Ebn Leader Faculty, Rabbinical School
Rabbi Allan Lehmann Associate Dean, Rabbinical School Co-director, Beit Midrash
Barry Mesch, H'13 Stone-Teplow Families Professor of Jewish Thought
Rabbi Nehemia Polen Professor of Jewish Thought
Rabbi Shayna Rhodes, Rab'08 Co-director, Beit Midrash
Rabbi Or Rose Director, Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership
Rabbi Micha'el Rosenberg Associate Professor of Rabbinics
Solomon Schimmel Professor Emeritus
Rabbi Jordan Schuster, Rab`18 Mekorot Program Director, Rabbinical School
Rabbi Michael Shire Chief Academic Officer; Dean, Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education and Graduate Programs in Jewish Studies; Professor of Jewish Education
Cantor Lynn Torgove, MAJS'11, Can'12 Head of Vocal Arts and Adjunct Instructor, School of Jewish Music
Cantor Louise Treitman Senior Advisor and Faculty, School of Jewish Music
Rachel Adelman
Rachel Adelman
Associate Professor, Bible
Ph.D., Hebrew University of Jerusalem
radelman@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8646
Involvement in Rabbinic Education
“I am passionate about bridging the intellectual rigor of the academic world with the love of traditional rabbinic discourse, while making Torah relevant to my students’ lives.
I am not a Rabbi myself, but I am a teacher of Torah, which is what rav means in Hebrew. For me a great teacher (rav or rabbah) conveys the light of Torah in the Presence of his or her face (paraphrasing R. Nachman, Likutei Maharan 230). The challenge of teaching Tanakh to rabbinic students resides in conveying the rigor of text skills, while enlivening the biblical characters and narratives such that they feel relevant to our modern lives. One way I wish to convey this is through a deep appreciation of the rabbinic tradition, which reads Tanakh as a seamlessly interconnected web, bridging the past context of the biblical stories to the present of the reader, whether it be the Amoraim of 5th century Babylon or Rashi in 11th century France. But there were no women rabbis then! And gender issues are just one aspect of the radical shift from the classic interpretation to the present context. So eventually my students must learn to make their own midrash, building a bridge from the world of Tanakh to the world in which they live. I want to empower my students to learn (paradoxically) in humility and hubris from the rigors of language and literary work and from the great wisdom and creativity of the rabbinic tradition, so that they may convey the eternal light of Torah in their own face.”
Biography
Rachel Adelman, who joined the full-time faculty in 2012, provides a dynamic, open approach to text study, drawing on a wide range of sources, from Tanakh and classical midrash to modern Israeli poetry. She holds a Master of Arts in Jewish Studies from Matan/Baltimore Hebrew University and a Ph.D in Hebrew literature, with a specialty in midrash, from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Adelman’s first book “The Return of the Repressed: Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer and the Pseudepigrapha” (Brill, 2009) is based on her dissertation work. Her second book is entitled “The Female Ruse: Women’s Deception and Divine Sanction in the Hebrew Bible,” (Sheffield Press, 2015). When she is not writing books, papers, or divrei Torah, it is poetry that flows from her pen.
Current Research
Dr. Adelman is now working on a series of papers related to the question of theodicy in Bible and Midrash (Why do bad things happen to good people?).
Research Grants
- 2011-12 recipient of the Women Studies in Religion Program grant at Harvard Divinity School
- 2007-08 Ray D. Wolfe Fellow, Jewish Studies Program/Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, University of Toronto
Courses
- Genres and Themes in Biblical Literature (Bible 502a and 502b, Mekorot)
- Bereshit (Core Text: Bible 100 and 101)
- BeMidbar (Core Text: Bible 400)
- Hamesh Megillot (Bible 250)
- Song of Songs (Bible 532, joint course Hebrew College & ANTS)
- Torah & Haftarah Readings for Yamim Noraim (Elul Program, Mekorot, INTD110)
Selected Publications
- The Female Ruse: Women’s Deception and Divine Sanction in the Hebrew Bible (Sheffield 2015).
- Sukkot as a Touch of Eternity
- The Return of the Repressed
- Why did Mordechai not bow down to Haman?
- Primeval Coats
- The Mysterious Literary Life and Death of Korah
- Jonah’s Magical Mystery Tour of the Netherworld
- Collection of articles
Recent Presentations
- “From the Cleft of the Rock” (Seminar: Why Theology) AJS Conference, Boston ( Dec. 2015)
- “The Fate of the First Clothing” (EAJS Conference,) Paris, July 2014
- “Reading Trans-Gender Across Genre: Rabbinic Midrash and Feminist Hermeneutics on Esther” (AAR/SBL Conference, Baltimore) Nov. 2013
- “’Strangers in a Land not their Own’ – The Conditional Gift of the Land in the Covenant with Abraham” (Shalem Conference, Jerusalem) July 2013
Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld
President
Rabbinic Ordination, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
sanisfeld@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8773
Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld became President of Hebrew College in July 2018 after being appointed President-Elect in fall 2017 and serving as Acting President from January-June 2018. Rabbi Anisfeld first came to Hebrew College in 2003 as an adjunct faculty member of the Rabbinical School and then served as Dean of Students from 2005-2006. She went on to serve as Dean of the Rabbinical School for eleven years, from 2006-2017. Rabbi Anisfeld graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1990, and subsequently spent 15 years working in pluralistic settings as a Hillel rabbi at Tufts, Yale and Harvard universities. She has been a regular summer faculty member for the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel since 1993 and is co-editor of two volumes of women’s writings on Passover, “The Women’s Seder Sourcebook: Rituals and Readings for Use at the Passover Seder” (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2002) and “The Women’s Passover Companion: Women’s Reflections on the Festival of Freedom” (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2002). From 2011 to 2013, she was named to Newsweek’s list of Top 50 Influential Rabbis in America. In 2015, Rabbi Anisfeld was named one of the 50 most influential Jews in the world by The Jerusalem Post. She writes and teaches widely, weaving together Torah, rabbinic commentary, and contemporary poetry and literature in her wise and compassionate approach to the complexities of the human experience and the search for healing and hope in a beautiful but fractured world.
Harvey Bock
Hebrew Language Coordinator, Rabbinical School
J.D., Yale Law School
hbock@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8761
Harvey Bock is a graduate of the Yeshivah of Flatbush; Yale College, where he majored in linguistics; and Yale Law School. After more than 20 years of practicing law, with a specialty in banking regulation (most recently as general counsel of Discover Card), Bock embarked in 2001 upon a second career at Hebrew College as a teacher of Hebrew language and Aramaic, areas of study in which he has long maintained an intense interest. He has translated several books, articles and poems from Hebrew into English, including “An Introduction to Biblical Literature” by Alexander Rofé.
Rabbi Art Green
Rector, Rabbinical School
Irving Brudnick Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Religion
Rabbinic Ordination, Jewish Theological Seminary
Ph.D., Brandeis University
agreen@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.630.0896
Personal website
Specialization
Jewish theology and mysticism; Hasidism and its implication for contemporary religious life.
Education
- Rabbinic Ordination, Jewish Theological Seminary
- Ph.D., Brandeis University
Professional Websites
- Personal webpage
- Facebook page (in Hebrew)
- SoundCloud (audio teachings)
Involvement in Rabbinic Education
“Neo-Hasidism, as I understand it, means loving and learning from the great spiritual revival of Judaism that took place in Eastern Europe two hundred years ago, while choosing to live outside the strictly regulated world of the contemporary Hasidic community. It means choosing among the many riches of Hasidic teachings to decide which ones might usefully be applied today and which others should be left to history. It is also a faith that some key elements of the Hasidic revival can be re-tooled and universalized to create a Judaism that will be spiritually alive and attractive to seekers — both Jewish and not yet Jewish — in our day. For a fuller outline of my neo-Hasidic views, see the article ‘A Neo-Hasidic Life: Credo and Commentary.’
I have given much of my life to the training of future spiritual leadership for the Jewish community. Despite mounds of reasons not to, I still believe in a great future for our people. Our worst years lie in the immediate past, while our best years lie ahead of us. We are the humble bearers of one of the world’s most profound spiritual and moral legacies. We have much to say to a world that is ready, even anxious, to listen. No, we do not have all the truth, or the only truth, but we have much to offer, teachings the world needs to hear, now more than ever. We need new generations of leaders who love our sources and know how to render our teachings in forms that are accessible and attractive to each new generation.”
Biography
Dr. Arthur Green was the founding dean and is currently rector of the Rabbinical School and Irving Brudnick Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Religion at Hebrew College. He is Professor Emeritus at Brandeis University, where he occupied the distinguished Philip W. Lown Professorship of Jewish Thought. He is both a historian of Jewish religion and a theologian; his work seeks to form a bridge between these two distinct fields of endeavor.
Educated at Brandeis University and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he received rabbinic ordination, Dr. Green studied with such important teachers as Alexander Altmann, Nahum N. Glatzer, and Abraham Joshua Heschel, of blessed memory. He has taught Jewish mysticism, Hasidism, and theology to several generations of students at the University of Pennsylvania, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (where he served as both Dean and President), Brandeis, and now at Hebrew College. He has taught and lectured widely throughout the Jewish community of North America as well as in Israel, where he visits frequently. He was the founder of Havurat Shalom in Somerville, Massachusetts in 1968 and remains a leading independent figure in the Jewish Renewal movement.
Current Research
- Editing two-volume work entitled EXPLORING NEO-HASIDISM with Rabbi Ariel Mayse
- Translation and annotation of Hasidic work Me’or ‘Eynayim, forthcoming in Yale Judaica Series
- Commentary on the Prayerbook, Be’er Le-Hai Ro’i
- A book on the development of themes in early Hasidism with Rabbi Ariel Mayse
Courses
- The Book of Exodus in the Hasidic Tradition
- Theology of Prayer
- Theology of the Jewish Year
- Classical Jewish Thought
Selected Publications and Speeches
- Tormented Master: A Life of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav
- Keter: The Crown of God in Early Jewish Mysticism
- Jewish Spirituality (historical essays). 2 v. Edited. New York: Crossroad Books (World Spirituality Series), 1986-87.
- Seek My Face: A Jewish Mystical Theology
- EHYEH: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow
- A Guide to the Zohar. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2004.
- Radical Judaism: Re-thinking God and Tradition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2010.
- Hasidic Spirituality for a New Era: The Religious Writings of Hillel Zeitlin. New York: Paulist Press (Classics of Western Spirituality, 2012.
- Speaking Torah: Hasidic Teachings from Around the Maggid’s Table. 2 v. Jewish Lights, 2013, with E. Leader, O. Rose, and A. Mayse.
- The Heart of the Matter: Studies in Jewish Mysticism and Theology. Jewish Publication Society, 2014.
- Judaism’s Ten Best Ideas: A Brief Guide for Seekers, 2014.
- A New Hasidism: Roots and Branches (2017).
Interview on Israeli Radio
Listen to Rabbi Art Green’s Hebrew interview on Israeli Radio’s Esh Zara with host Nadav Halperin. In the interview, Rabbi Green explores the questions: What is God? What’s the difference between poetry and faith? How do we receive Torah? Is there authority to the tradition? How do we bring the Ba’al Shem Tov into 2020? What’s the connection between religious amazement and caring for the natural environment?
Marion Gribetz
Director, Congregational Education Initiative
Director of Educational Initiatives, Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education
M.A., Tufts University
mgribetz@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8655
Specialization
Contemporary Issues in Jewish Education; Art as Education; Israel Education; Professional Development
Education
- M.A. Tufts University
- B.A. Barnard College, Columbia University
- Doctoral Studies, Hebrew University, Jerusalem
Biography
Marion is on the faculty of the Shoolman Graduate of Jewish Education and is the Director of Educational Initiatives at Hebrew College in Newton MA. She teaches in, oversees and directs all aspects of many professional learning programs at the college including the Pardes Educator Program and community initiatives in teacher learning. As a faculty member at Hebrew College she has taught on a variety of topics in Jewish Education including Strategic Planning for Jewish Education, Arts and Jewish Studies in the Jewish School, Foundations of Congregational Education, Seminar in Jewish Pluralism, Theory and Practice of Experiential Education, Issues in the Teaching of Israel and the Graduate Research Seminar.
Research
Her research and study areas include teacher professional growth, the context of American Jewish education and the arts as education. Some of her recent publications and research projects include : Current Status and Potential for Online and Blended Learning in Jewish Days Schools ( unpublished report to the Avi Chai Foundation ); Mapping Professional Development for Jewish Educators ( Fisher-Bernstein Institute for Jewish Philanthropy and Leadership) ; Lessons from Mapping Jewish Education (Fisher-Bernstein Institute for Jewish Philanthropy and Leadership) ; Limud by the Lake Revisited (AVI CHAI) ; Re-envisioning Israel Education ( Sh’ma ); Learning and Community: Jewish Supplementary Schools in the Twenty-first century). Research topics: Online and Blended Learning in Jewish Day Schools and Israel Education in Jewish Day Schools.
- Introduction to Pluralist Judaism
- Case Studies in Jewish Educational Leadership
- Graduate Research Seminar in Jewish Education
Selected Publications
- Two chapters in: Learning and Community: Jewish Supplementary Schools in the Twenty-first Century (Edited by Jack Wertheimer, Brandeis University Press, 2009)
- “A More Robust Education” in Shma February 2008
- Lessons from Mapping Jewish Education, 2007, Brandeis University
- Mapping Professional Development, 2008, Brandeis University
- Likud by the Lake Revisited: Growth and Change at Jewish Summer Camp, 2011, AVI CHAI foundation
Research Grants
- AVI CHAI foundation : Analysis of Online and Blended Learning in Jewish Day Schools
- Network for Research in Jewish Education : Assessment of areas for growth and collaboration for the NRJE.
Recent Speeches and Presentations
- Teaching of Tzion Adult Education Program
- Legacy Heritage Teacher Institute, faculty member and mentor
Rabbi Dan Judson
Dean, Rabbinical School
Rabbinic Ordination, Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion
djudson@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8638
Specialization
History of American synagogues and money.
Education
- Doctorate in Jewish History, Brandeis University, Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
- Rabbinical Ordination and Masters in Hebrew Letters, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
- B.A., Colgate University
Involvement in Rabbinic Education
“I was the Rabbi of a congregation for a decade, and I learned one thing, people need rabbis. They don’t need them all of the time, they don’t even need them most of the time, but some times they need them, and it is in those moments when the job is amazing in its power to make a difference.
Henri Nouwen, a Dutch priest best known for his book The Wounded Healer, writes in the title essay that he was once standing on the bridge of an ocean liner that was making its way through incredibly dense fog, when the captain of the ship, who was pacing out of anxiety, literally tripped over him. The captain got up and yelled, “G-d dammit, father, get out of my way.” Nouwen writes that he was about to follow orders and run away, when the captain turned back to him and said, ‘Actually why don’t you stay around, this might be the only time I really need you.’
This little anecdote captures much of the tension and the possibility of being a rabbi. Most of the time the job entails being on the periphery of people’s lives and not necessarily needed, but there are moments when rabbis are thrown into the middle of situations when their unique combination of symbolic power, knowledge of our tradition, and pastoral skill, change people’s lives in small but important ways.
I am passionate about rabbinic education because I want to help students nurture these skills.
I believe wholeheartedly in the vision of Hebrew College in developing Rabbis who are deeply knowledgeable in tradition, while alive to contemporary spirituality. We are trying to have the best of all worlds here, people who are at home in tradition and at home with people. It is a worthy goal and when I see our students go off into the world and experience those brief but invaluable moments of helping others, I am gratified to have been part of their process.”
Biography
Rabbi Judson was appointed Dean of the Rabbinical School in 2018. Previously, he oversaw the professional development program, and served as the placement director for the Rabbinical School. He received his doctorate in Jewish history from Brandeis University where his research focused on the history of American synagogue finances. His book, Pennies for Heaven: A History of American Synagogues and Money, was published in 2018. Dan served on the national faculty of the Union for Reform Judaism, consulting to synagogues across the country on financial matters. His research on synagogues which have eliminated dues was featured in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, NPR, The New York Jewish Week, and Reform Judaism Magazine. He was also the Rabbi of Temple Beth David in Canton, MA for 10 years and co-authored a number of books on Jewish rituals for Jewish Lights Publishing, including: The Rituals and Practices of a Jewish Life: A Handbook for Personal Spiritual Renewal and The Jewish Pregnancy Book: A Resource for the Soul, Body and Mind During Pregnancy, Birth and the First Three Months.
Current Research
Rabbi Judson is conducting a study under the auspices of UJA Federation of New York on those synagogues which have eliminated dues. It is a follow up to a study he wrote in 2014 which garnered a good deal of attention from synagogues interested in changing their funding models.
Courses
- Modern Jewish Thought in its Historical Context
- Contemporary Jewish Thought in its Historical Context
- Becoming Israel: A History of Zionism
- Introduction to Pastoral Care
- The Lifecycle and the Rabbi: An introduction to the counseling and practice of brit milah, baby namings, b’nai mitzvah, weddings and conversions
Selected Publications
- Pennies for Heaven: The History of American Synagogues and Money, Brandeis University Press (2018)
- Are Voluntary Dues Right For Your Synagogue? A Practical Guide, UJA Federation of New York (2015)
- “When Jews Choose Their Dues,” Reform Judaism Magazine (Spring, 2014) An interview and essay appeared as the cover story for world’s largest circulated Jewish magazine.
- “What One Chabad Rabbi Can Teach Synagogues About Money,” Ejewishphilanthropy.com (January 24, 2013) Named by web site as one of the ten best articles of the year.
- “Scrapping Synagogue Dues: A Case Study,” Ejewishphilanthropy.com (January 12, 1012). Named by web site as one of the ten best articles of the year.
- Jewish Holidays: A Brief Introduction for Christians. Co-author with Dr. Kerry Oltizky.Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2006. Part of a series of books about Jewish practice intended for a Christian audience.
- Jewish Rituals: A Brief Introduction for Christians. Co-author with Dr. Kerry Olitzky. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004. Part of a series of books about Jewish practice intended for a Christian audience.
- The Jewish Pregnancy Book: A Resource for the Soul, Mind & Body During Pregnancy, Labor and the First Three Months. Co-author with Dr. Sandy Falk. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2003. A book for Jewish pregnant women containing: prayers and rituals; medical wisdom; Rabbinic perspectives on pregnancy; Jewish bio-medical ethics; aleph-bet yoga; and personal reflections. Featured in the Boston Globe.
- The Rituals and Practices of a Jewish Life: A Handbook for Personal Spiritual Renewal. Co-editor with Dr. Kerry Olitzky. Woodstock, VT: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2002. An anthology of essays on Jewish rituals. Each essay focuses on one ritual, such as: keeping kashrut, going to the mikvah, saying morning and evening blessings, wearing a kipah, laying tefillin, etc. Featured in the Boston Globe.
- Meeting at the Well: A Jewish Spiritual Guide to Being Engaged. Co-author with Rabbi Nancy Wiener. New York: UAHC Press, 2002. The book provides Jewish wisdom on a variety of topics for engaged couples. These topics include: intimacy, money, religion, spirituality, dealing with in-laws, etc.
Recent Presentations
- “Mordecai Kaplan, The Creation of the Jewish-Center and Its Economic Implications” Wrestling With Jewish Peoplehood Conference, Philadelphia, PA, April 2016.
- The Past and Future of American Synagogues.” Scholar-in-Residence, The Temple, Louisville, KY, May 2016.
- “Alternative Synagogue Financing Models.” URJ Bienniel, Orlando, November 2015.
Rabbi Jane Kanarek
Associate Dean for Academic Development and Advising;
Professor of Rabbinics
Rabbinic Ordination, Jewish Theological Seminary
Ph.D., University of Chicago
jkanarek@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8623
Rabbi Dr. Jane Kanarek is Associate Professor of Rabbinics and Associate Dean of Academic Development and Advising at Hebrew College. She is the author of Biblical Narrative and the Formation of Rabbinic Law and the co-editor of Learning to Read Talmud: What It Looks Like and How It Happens and Motherhood in the Jewish Cultural Imagination, both of which were finalists for the National Jewish Book Awards.
Rabbi Daniel Klein, Rab`10, MJEd`10
Associate Dean for Admissions and Student Life
Rabbinic Ordination, Rabbinical School of Hebrew College
dklein@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8637
Specialization
Admissions and student life
Education
- Rabbinic Ordination, Rabbinical School of Hebrew College
- MJEd, Hebrew College
- B.A., University of Chicago
Involvement in Rabbinic Education
“Hameir la’aretz viladarim aleha birachamim
God illuminates the earth and those who dwell on it with compassion (Morning liturgy)
How does the world, our communities, and our lives become filled with light? Through the unceasing, resilient effort to bring more rachamim (compassion) and chesed (lovingkindness) into the world. More than that, says the Noam Elimelech, an early 19thCentury Hasidic rabbi, when we act from love, our actions have the capacity to transform worlds because they are in harmony with the structure and language of creation and Torah.
I am passionate about rabbinic education because I believe in the capacity of spiritual leadership to help create a vibrant Jewish present and future when it is rooted in Jewish tradition, infused with the spirit of adventure, and driven by a sustained commitment to caring for others with unceasing compassion. Certainly rabbis need to be knowledgeable, skillful teachers and leaders; but most importantly, they need to be grounded in the ongoing development of the habits of heart and mind to meet people where they are and offer loving support, companionship and guidance. From the moment people start to engage with our school, my hope and prayer is that they experience and sense our dedication to engaging people with rachamim and chesed. It is this commitment that is the foundation of our tradition, and our work, and infuses our school with the sense of joy and the spirit of openness of who and what we personally and collectively can become.”
Biography
Daniel Klein grew up in Newton, MA and has been part of Hebrew College for over 20 years. As a teenager, he attended Prozdor, Hebrew College’s Hebrew High School, and Camp Yavneh, an affiliate of Hebrew College. Daniel earned his BA from The University of Chicago. Raised to love Judaism and Jews, Daniel found his own path into Jewish tradition beginning in college in the writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel, Arthur Green and the Hasidic masters. After teaching middle school and high school social studies at a Jewish Day School in New Jersey, Daniel entered the Rabbinical School at Hebrew College and was ordained in 2010. In addition to being the Director of Admissions for the Rabbinical School, Daniel is also the Director of Student Life for the College and serves as the Rabbi in Residence of The Boston Synagogue. He now lives again in Newton with his wife Jen and their two children, Micah and Nora.
Courses
- Jewish Practice Seminar
Selected Publications
- The Human Soul is a Candle of God: Finding Meaning in Existence. Huffington Post Religion (May, 2016)
- Singing in the Dark: Leviticus and the Call for Justice. Hebrew College blog (April, 2016)
- On Joseph, Shaving, and Being Human. Huffington Post Religion (December, 2015)
- Seeing Past, Present and Future on the Road to Justice. Huffington Post Religion (August, 2015)
- Hope and Despair. Huffington Post Religion (July, 2014)
Rabbi Ebn Leader
Faculty, Rabbinical School
Rabbinic Ordination, Private
eleader@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8635
Ebn Leader grew up in Jerusalem and was a “talmid” (student-disciple) of Rabbi David Hartman, where he learned Talmud, and of Amos Hetz, where he studied movement and movement notation. He is currently a talmid of Hebrew College Rector Art Green, from whom he has received smichah. Leader has a growing international reputation as a Jewish spiritual teacher in the neo-Hasidic tradition and is an authority on Jewish prayer. He is co-editor, with Rabbi Or Rose, of “God in All Moments: Mystical and Practical Wisdom From Hasidic Masters” (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2011).
Rabbi Allan Lehmann
Associate Dean, Rabbinical School
Co-director, Beit Midrash
Rabbinic Ordination, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
alehmann@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8628
Whether in his office, the beit midrash or the classroom, Allan Lehmann counsels, teaches and advises rabbinical students in his role as Associate Dean of the Rabbinical School. Before joining Hebrew College in 2007, Lehmann served for seven years as Jewish chaplain and Rabbinic Hillel director at Brandeis University. Prior to that, he served for 20 years as the rabbi of a Conservative synagogue in Gainesville, Fla. Lehmann and his wife, Joanne Schindler, often host Minyan Olat Shabbat at their house in Newton Centre on Friday evenings.
Barry Mesch, H'13
Stone-Teplow Families Professor of Jewish Thought
Ph.D., Brandeis University
bmesch@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8613, 617.559.8616
Barry Mesch is an expert in medieval and modern Jewish thought, theology and the Holocaust, and the history of biblical interpretation. In 2001, he guided the creation and administration of the first online Master of Arts in Jewish Studies program on the Internet. Prior to his arrival at Hebrew College in 1990, Mesch had a 20-year career as the founding director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Florida, Gainesville. During this time, he was instrumental in acquiring several large collections of Judaica for the university. These became the Isser and Ray Price Library, the largest Judaica collection in the southeast. His book, “Joseph Ibn Caspi, Fourteenth Century Philosopher and Exegete,” was published in 1975.
Rabbi Nehemia Polen
Professor of Jewish Thought
Rabbinic Ordination, Ner Israel Rabbinical College
Ph.D., Boston University
npolen@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8616
Nehemia Polen is a leading expert in Hasidism and Jewish thought. A widely published author, his books include “The Holy Fire: The Teachings of Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira, the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto” (Jason Aronson Inc., first ed., 1977); “The Rebbe’s Daughter” (Jewish Publication Society, 2002), based on Polen’s research as a National Endowment for the Humanities fellow and recipient of a National Jewish Book Award; and “Filling Words With Light: Hasidic and Mystical Reflections on Jewish Prayer” (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004), written with Lawrence Kushner. Polen holds a doctorate from Boston University, where he studied with and served as a teaching fellow for Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel. Prior to his career in Jewish academia, Polen served for 23 years as a congregational rabbi.
Rabbi Shayna Rhodes, Rab'08
Co-director, Beit Midrash
Rabbinic Ordination, Hebrew College
srhodes@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8765
Shayna Rhodes joined the Rabbinical School as a beit midrash instructor after earning her rabbinic ordination at Hebrew College. She now divides her time between the classroom and the beit midrash, teaching Talmud, Tanakh (canon of the Hebrew Bible) and halakhah (Jewish law) and facilitating tefilla (prayer). Rhodes combines tradition with feminism, empowering students to discover their own voice in sacred text.
Rabbi Or Rose
Director, Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership
Rabbinic Ordination, Private
orose@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8636
Rabbi Or Rose is the founding Director of the Betty Ann Greenbaum Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership of Hebrew College.
Before assuming this position in 2016, he worked in various administrative and teaching capacities at Hebrew College for over a decade, including serving as a founding faculty member and Associate Dean of the Rabbinical School. Rabbi Rose was also one of the creators of CIRCLE, The Center for Interreligious & Community Leadership Education, cosponsored by Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School (2007-2017).
In addition to his work at Hebrew College, Rabbi Rose has taught for the Bronfman Youth Fellowships, The Wexner Graduate Fellowship, Me’ah, and in a variety of other academic, religious, and civic contexts throughout North America and in Israel.
He is the co-editor of Speaking Torah: Spiritual Teachings from Around the Maggid’s Table (Jewish Lights), and the award-winning anthology, My Neighbor’s Faith: Stories of Interreligious Encounter, Growth, and Transformation (Orbis). His most recent publication is the anthology Words To Live By: Sacred Sources for Interreligious Engagement (Orbis 2018). In 2009-2010, he was selected as a member of the Shalom Hartman Institute’s inaugural North American Scholar’s Circle. In 2014, Northeastern University honored him for his interreligious educational efforts.
Rabbi Micha'el Rosenberg
Associate Professor of Rabbinics
Rabbinic Ordination, Chief Rabbinate of Israel
Ph.D., Jewish Theological Seminary
mrosenberg@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8804
(On sabbatical fall 2019)
Specialization
Rabbinic literature of late antiquity (approximately 200-700 C.E.), with a particular interest in Rabbinic-Christian interactions, gender, and health and the body; the intersections of law, religious difference, gender, and power in the Babylonian Talmud; post-Talmudic Jewish law.
Education
- M.A., Ph.D. in rabbinic literature, Jewish Theological Seminary of America
- Rabbinical Ordination, Chief Rabbinate of Israel
- A.B. in Religion, Harvard College
Involvement in Rabbinic Education
“Rabbis are the channel, the means of translation, between the incredibly rich, but equally incredibly coded, wisdom of Jewish tradition, and the Jewish population at large. Rabbis are not smarter than other Jews, nor do they have greater access to general wisdom. This is a big difference from the situation in the US in the first half of the 20th century, when the rabbi of a congregation was often the most educated person in the room, and who therefore became responsible de facto for educating the congregation about current affairs, cultural developments, etc. Nowadays, the folks in the room know as much or more than the rabbi with regard to politics, literature, philosophy, etc. The rabbi’s job, then, must return to what it was originally intended to be–helping people to make good decisions for themselves by translating (literally and metaphorically) the encoded wisdom of Jewish literature. I strive in my teaching first to help students understand what these texts are literally saying, then to understand what they actually mean, and finally, to think about how to convey that to others.”
Biography
Rabbi Rosenberg is Associate Professor of Rabbinics and member of the tenured faculty of Hebrew College. He joined the College faculty in August 2012. He is the author of Signs of Virginity: Testing Virgins and Making Men in Late Antiquity (Oxford, 2018), and the co-author with Ethan Tucker of _Gender Equality and Prayer in Jewish Law_ (Ktav, 2017). He formerly served as rabbi of the Fort Tryon Jewish Center and an adjunct professor of Talmud and codes at the Jewish Theological Seminary, both in New York City. He has taught Bible, Talmud and halakhah in a variety of settings, including the Drisha Institute for Jewish Education, the National Havurah Institute and the Northwoods Kollel and Beit Midrash of Ramah Wisconsin, and has a particular interest in the intersection of Jewish studies and legal theory. An alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship program and Harvard College, Rosenberg holds a doctorate in Talmud and Rabbinic literature from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and rabbinical ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.
Current Research
Rabbi Rosenberg’s book on virginity testing and male sexual violence in Rabbinic and early Christian literature is currently under review. He is working on two other books; one looks at Rabbinic awareness of and responses to the Virgin Mary, and the other interrogates Rabbinic definitions of “life” by comparing and contrasting their legal and narrative discussions of newborns and the elderly.
Courses
- Shanah aleph Talmud
- Various other Talmud courses
- Kashrut
Selected Publications
- Words to Live By: Sacred Sources for Interreligious Engagement (2018) co-edited with Rev. Soren Hessler and Dr. Homayra Ziad
- Gender Equality and Prayer in Jewish Law-with Ethan Tucker, (Urim Publications, 2017)
- “The Conflation of Purity and Prohibition: An Interpretation of Leviticus 18:19,” in Harvard Theological Review 107:4
- “Penetrating Words: A Babylonian Rabbinic Response to Syriac Marilogy,” in Journal of Jewish Studies 67:1
- “Sexual Serpents and Perpetual Virginity: Marian Rejectionism in the Babylonian Talmud,” Jewish Quarterly Review 106:4 (forthcoming)
- “Physical Virginity in the Protevangelium of James, the Mishnah, and Late Antique Syriac Poetry,” in Studia Patristica (forthcoming)
Recent Presentations
- Life at the Margins: Newborns and the Elderly in Jewish Law and Lore, National Havurah Committee Summer Institute, August 2016
- Am I My Brother’s Keeper? Aiding Others in Transgression in Jewish Law, Chevy Chase, Maryland, May 2016
- Bloody Branches and Divine Voices: Female Virginity, Interpretation, and the Assertion of Difference, Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting, Atlanta, Georgia, November 2015
Solomon Schimmel
Professor Emeritus
Ph.D., Wayne State University
Solomon Schimmel, a longtime professor of Jewish education and psychology at Hebrew College, is the author of three books, “The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs: Fundamentalism and the Fear of Truth,” “Wounds Not Healed by Time: The Power of Repentance and Forgiveness” and “The Seven Deadly Sins: Jewish, Christian and Classical Reflections on Human Psychology,” all published by Oxford University Press. His research interests include the psychology of religion, comparative religious ethics and classical Jewish thought and texts. Schimmel was a Fulbright senior research scholar and visiting fellow at Cambridge University in England in 1998, where he researched the concepts and practices of repentance and forgiveness in the Abrahamic religions, psychology and moral and legal philosophy. He has been a National Science Foundation research fellow at Harvard University, and a visiting professor at Brandeis University, Bar-Ilan University, Hebrew University and, most recently, Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan, and Shalom College in Sydney, Australia.
Rabbi Jordan Schuster, Rab`18
Rabbinical Ordination, Hebrew College
Jordan Schuster serves as Director of the Rabbinical School’s Mekorot program and Associate Director of Open Circle Jewish Learning’s Mysticism and Mindful Living track. Before receiving his ordination through Hebrew College in 2018, Jordan taught Yiddish literature and language at Columbia University in New York, studied psychoanalysis and queer theory in San Francisco, and tended the gardens and greenhouse of a small local grocery store in southeastern Wisconsin. He loves to bring Jewish texts – both classical and modern – to life with his students, and he feels blessed to watch how the meanings of these texts shift, refract and evolve as he and his students forge a way through them together.
Rabbi Michael Shire
Chief Academic Officer
Dean, Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education and Graduate Programs in Jewish Studies
Professor of Jewish Education
Rabbinic Ordination, Leo Baeck College
Ph.D., Hebrew Union College
mshire@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8617
Specialization
Philosophy of Religious Education and Spiritual Development in Jewish Education
Education
- Hon. Doctorate, Jewish Religious Education, Hebrew Union College
- Doctorate in Jewish Education, Hebrew Union College, Los Angeles
- Rabbinical Ordination, Leo Baeck College, London
- MA Jewish Studies, Leo Baeck College, London
- MA Jewish Education, Hebrew Union College, New York
- BA Hons. Hebrew Literature and Jewish History, University College London
Involvement in Graduate Education
“I feel privileged to nurture, support and guide individuals seeking to develop their enhancement in professional learning and academic inquiry as part of their commitment to serve the Jewish community and the wider goals of religious and spiritual development for all. Graduate studies involves a rigour and discipline but also a creativity and sense of play that needs to be nourished and deepened. The openness of Hebrew College with its ethos of pluralism, spiritual exploration, dedication to study and debate provides a fertile learning environment in which academic, professional and spiritual growth can flourish.”
Biography
Michael Shire grew up in Birmingham England and completed his BA Hons in Hebrew Literature and Jewish History at University College, London. He continued his studies at Hebrew Union College both in New York and Los Angeles completing a MA and PhD in Jewish Education. His research work, later to be published, proposed a curriculum orientation for spiritual enhancement in Jewish Educational settings. He concurrently served as Director of Education at Temple Beth Hillel, a large Reform synagogue in North Hollywood, California. On returning to Great Britain in 1988, he took up the post as National Director of the Centre of Jewish Education developing the infrastructure, day schools and professional and academic learning of Jewish Education in the UK. Following further study, he was ordained as rabbi at Leo Baeck College in 1996. In 2001, he merged the Centre of Jewish Education with the rabbinic training school, Leo Baeck College, and became its Vice-Principal for an additional eleven years. He became the Professor and Dean of the Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education in 2011 and subsequently was appointed Chief Academic Officer of Hebrew College in 2015. He has been widely published in the field of Jewish Education and Spiritual Education. In addition, he has published four books of creative liturgy with medieval illuminations in association with the British and Bodleian Libraries. He is founder of the Torah Godly Play pedagogic methodology and serves as the chair of ALOHA, the Association of Institutions of Graduate Jewish Education.
Current Research
Current research includes an investigation into the state of the field of graduate Jewish Education on behalf of ALOHA, the association of institutions of Graduate Jewish Education. Also investigating the impact of the work of Torah Godly Play on the spiritual life of young children and researching the factors contributing to the development of the rabbinic role.
Current Professional Appointment
Chair of ALOHA: Association of Institutions of Graduate Jewish Education in United States and Canada
Courses
- Philosophies of Education and Leadership in Jewish Thought and Practice
- Spiritual Development in Jewish Education
- Graduate Research Seminar: Jewish Education
- Adult Learning: People of the Book
Selected Publications
Books and Chapters
- Editor, CCAR Journal, Sacred Teaching and Spiritual Learning. Winter 2014 and Spring 2014
- Nurturing the Spiritual in Jewish Education in J.Kress, Ed. Spirituality, Social and Emotional Learning in Jewish Education, Union of Reform Judaism, 2012.
- Jewish Ways of Learning in P.Jarvis, Ed. The Routledge International Handbook of Learning, Routledge, 2011.
- The Spiritual Child and Jewish Childhood in H. Miller et al, Ed. International Handbook of Jewish Education, Springer 2011.
- Editor, CCAR Journal, Finding our Path: Becoming a Rabbi after Ordination. Winter 2011.
- A Jewish Theology of Childhood in Johnson, Yust and Sasso, Ed. Religious Perspectives on Spirituality in Childhood and Adolescence, Rowman and Littlefield, 2006.
- Education of the Spirit in S. Blumberg and R. Goodman, Ed. Teaching about God and Spirituality, ARE. 2003.
- Mazal Tov: The Rituals and Customs of a Jewish Wedding, Frances Lincoln (UK) and Stuart, Tabori and Chang (USA), 2003.
- The Jewish Prophet, Frances Lincoln (UK) & Jewish Lights (USA), 2002.
- L’Chaim: A Guide to the Blessings and Prayers that Guide our Faith, Frances Lincoln (UK) & Chronicle (USA), 2000 (Co-productions in Germany and Holland).
- The Illuminated Haggadah, Frances Lincoln (UK) & Stuart, Tabori and Chang (USA), 1998 (Co-productions in Germany, Holland, France, Russia and Israel).
Articles
- “Responding to the Questions of Uncertainty Online,” Wabash Center website, May 12, 2020
- Book Review of A. Kosman, Men’s World in European Judaism, 12/1 Vol. 45 2012
- Jewish Schools and Learning in European Judaism 12/1 Vol. 45 2012
- The Jewish Religious Nature of the Child in HaYidion, Winter 2011
- Leo Baeck and Oppeln, Poland in Manna Spring 2011
- Rabbinic Training and the Interfaith Imperative in Open Theology No. 11 December 2011
- Nurturing the Spiritual in Jewish Education in HaYidion, Winter 2010
- Judaism between the Covers in Manna 105, Autumn 2009
- Fighting Back in Manna 102, Winter 2009
- Leo Baeck looks at God and Menschen, Manna, Number 95, Spring 2007.
- Enhancing Religiosity in Jewish Education, CCAR Journal, Winter 1998
- Jewish Spiritual Development and Curriculum Theory, The International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, Vol 2 No 2, December 1997
Recent Presentations
- Regular presenter at Limmud UK and Limmud Boston.
- Keynote Speaker, Institute of Southern Jewish Life, Education Conference, Jackson, Miss. July 2016
- The Spiritual Child and Jewish Childhood, The Religious Education Association Convention, Denver 2010
- Lily Montagu, University of Birmingham Faiths’ conference on Women, 2009
- The Spiritual Child, Network for Research in Jewish Education, Yeshiva University 2009
- The Spiritual thinking Child, Philosophy for Children conference, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, June 2007
- Theological Education, TRES conference, Cluj Napoca , Romania, May 2007
Podcasts
- Guest on Wabash Center’s “Dialogue on Teaching” podcast, May 19, 2020
Cantor Lynn Torgove, MAJS'11, Can'12
Head of Vocal Arts and Adjunct Instructor, School of Jewish Music
Cantorial Ordination, Hebrew College
ltorgove@hebrewcollege.edu
Specialization
Jewish Choral Music, Jewish Art Music, liturgical and secular, Yiddish Theater music, Holocaust Music, Jewish Cabaret, Nusach for beginners, Vocal training, Communication and Presentation Skills
Education
- Cantorial Ordination, Hebrew College
- Master of Jewish Studies, Hebrew College
- Master of Music, Vocal Performance, School of Music, Boston University
- B.A. Theater, Tufts University
- B.S. Occupational Therapy, Tufts University
Biography
Cantor Lynn Torgove has been teaching at Hebrew College since 2005 and has been the Head of Vocal Arts beginning in 2012. Currently, Cantor Torgove serves Temple Emanu-el in Marblehead, Massachusetts. She has been a guest teacher at synagogues and universities on the topics of Holocaust Music and Jewish Music Heritage and has an international classical music career as a soloist in opera, contemporary music and early music and is a well-known soloist in Jewish music. Cantor Torgove is also on the faculty of the Longy School of Music of Bard College and Boston Conservatory’s Vocal Choral Intensive.
Cantor Torgove is a magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University and an award-winning graduate of the Music School graduate program at Boston University. She was awarded a Masters degree in Jewish Studies from Hebrew College and was ordained Cantor by Hebrew College in 2012. Cantor Torgove’s master’s thesis in Jewish studies was on the women and music of the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp and Jewish Cabaret in Weimar Germany.
She is the co-founder of Gabriel Communications, a communication and presentation training firm, with clients in various industries and non-profit organizations, across the country. As a consultant, she trains groups and individuals to become more effective, confident communicators. She is also a keynote speaker on communications and presentation skills and has presented at conferences from Boston to California.
Courses
- Basic Nusach (for Cantorial and Rabbinical students)
- Jewish Art Song
- Communication and Presentation Practicum
- Private Voice lessons and coaching
- Founder and Artistic Director of Kol Arev, Chamber Choir of Hebrew College
Professional Honors
- Gideon Klein Fellowship, Northeastern University
- Commencement Speaker, Hebrew College
- National Endowment for the Arts Scholarships, Boston University School of Music
Cantor Louise Treitman
Cantorial Ordination, Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion
M.M., New England Conservatory of Music
ltreitman@hebrewcollege.edu
Louise Treitman, who helped to create the Jewish Music Institute — now the School of Jewish Music — in the 1980s, returned to Hebrew College in 2008 to work in the cantor-educator program. In June 2015, she stepped down as the school’s associate dean to return to the pulpit at Beth El Temple Center, a Reform congregation in Belmont, MA. Treitman formerly served as assistant conductor of the Zamir Chorale of Boston and continues to sing with the group. She is co-director of Il Concerto di Salamone Rossi Hebreo and serves on the board of Mayyim Hayyim, a community mikveh and family-education center in Newton, MA.
Adjunct Faculty
Adva Cohen Alpert Hebrew Teacher/Mekorot
Daniel Berman Adjunct Rabbinical Faculty
Edward Breuer Adjunct Faculty, Jewish Education
Cantor Vera Broekhuysen, Can`16, MAJS`16 School of Jewish Music
David Brody Adjunct Faculty, Jewish Education
Rachel Figurasmith Adjunct Faculty, Shoolman School
Rabbi David Frankel Adjunct Faculty, Shoolman School
Marla Frankel Adjunct Faculty, Jewish Education
Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman, Rab`14 Adjunct Faculty and Director of Professional Development
Sandy Gold Adjunct Faculty, Jewish Education
Joshua R. Jacobson Senior Advisor and Adjunct Faculty, School of Jewish Music
Andrea Rose Cheatham Kasper, MJEd`12 Adjunct Faculty, Jewish Education
Cantor Becky Wexler Khitrik, MAJS and Can'14 School of Jewish Music
Jonathan Klawans Adjunct Faculty, Rabbinical School
Cantor Jeff Klepper Adjunct Faculty, School of Jewish Music
Orah Levin-Minder Adjunct Faculty, Shoolman School
Amy Lieberman Adjunct Faculty, School of Jewish Music
Cantor Dr. Brian Mayer Adjunct Faculty, Cantorial Program
Rabbi Richard (Rim) Meirowitz Adjunct Faculty, Rabbinical School
Rabbi Margot Meitner, LICSW, MSW Adjunct Faculty, Rabbinical School
Barbara Merson, PhD Adjunct Faculty, Jewish Education
Rabbi Carl Perkins Adjunct Faculty, Rabbinical School
Judith S. Pinnolis Adjunct Faculty, School of Jewish Music
Ina Regosin Adjunct Faculty, Shoolman School
Cantor Ken Richmond Adjunct Faculty, School of Jewish Music
Susie Rodenstein Adjunct Faculty, Shoolman School
Francine Ferraro Rothkopf, MJLS'10 Adjunct Faculty, Shoolman School
Cantor Neil Schwartz Adjunct Faculty, School of Jewish Music
Rav-Hazzan Scott Sokol Adjunct Faculty, School of Jewish Music
Jeffrey Spitzer
Rabbi David Starr
Rabbi Jeffrey Summit Director, Hebrew College Innovation Lab
Sam Zerin Adjunct Instructor
Adva Cohen Alpert
Born in Jerusalem and a native Hebrew speaker, Adva started her career as an instructor in the IDF. She then received her degree and earned a teaching certificate from the Hebrew University and David Yallin, Jerusalem. Over the past 20 years, she continued her education taking post-graduate classes including psychology and Hebrew as a second language, at Boston University, Lesley College and Hebrew College.
Adva has been with the Hebrew College since 2003, teaching Hebrew as a second language at all proficiency levels and in different programs such as Ulpan and Rabbinic. Adva enjoys integrating Israeli and Jewish culture into the curriculum to stimulate classroom learning and to help students achieve a higher level of proficiency.
Daniel Berman
Daniel Berman is an advanced doctoral student in Hebrew Bible and ancient Near East at Brandeis University, where he is preparing a dissertation on the composition history of 1 Samuel 16–18, the story of David and Goliath. His other academic interests include comparative Semitic linguistics, Israelite religion, and Biblical Hebrew poetry. Daniel has been teaching Intensive Hebrew Grammar in the Rabbinic School of Hebrew College since 2016. In his free time, Daniel loves to cook and bake while listening to podcasts, NPR, or a book on tape.
Edward Breuer
Edward Breuer
Adjunct Faculty Member
Edward Breuer teaches Jewish history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His work focuses on medieval and modern Jewish intellectual history, specializing in the Jewish Enlightenment of the 18th and 19th centuries. Breuer is the author of “The Limits of Enlightenment: Jews, Germans and the 18th Century Study of Scripture” (Harvard University Press, 1996).
Cantor Vera Broekhuysen, Can`16, MAJS`16
Vera Broekhuysen is the cantor of Temple Emanu-El of Haverhill, MA. Vera was ordained by Hebrew College in June of 2016, when she also earned her Master’s Degree in Jewish Education. Vera sings as a soprano with the Zamir Chorale of Boston. She also performs in the band of Temple Emanu-El of Providence, RI, on vocals and drum, for their Shabbat Chai musical Kabbalat Shabbat services.
Vera has served trans-denominationally as cantorial soloist, professional leyner (Torah reader), and ba’alat t’fillah (prayer leader) at communities in Massachusetts and Vermont, including Boston Synagogue, the Jewish Community of Amherst, MA, Temple Hillel B’nai Torah in West Roxbury, MA, and Israel Congregation of Manchester, VT. Vera also tutors b’nei mitzvah students and adult learners privately.Vera is a Justice of the Peace in Massachusetts, and has officiated at weddings, b’nei mitzvah, baby namings, and other lifecycle events.
Vera lives in North Andover, Massachusetts, with her husband and two sons.
David Brody
Dr. David Brody is the former academic dean chair of the Early Childhood Department of the Efrata College of Education in Jerusalem. His career spans a lifetime of work with young children, from nursery caregiver and kindergarten teacher, to academic endeavors in the field of teacher education. He has served as a consultant to Jewish schools around the world on the topic of Jewish early childhood education. His research interests include professional development of teacher educators, the use of the community of learners as a format for professional development, infusing higher order thinking into college courses, supporting early childhood educators in dealing with emotionally laden topics, and gender balance in early childhood education. His book: Men Who Teach Young Children: An International Perspective, published by the Institution of Education in London, is considered to be a milestone in research on gender balance in early childhood education. A second book: Teacher Educators Learning in Community, Routledge Press, was published in 2017. He teaches a course in early childhood curriculum development online at Hebrew College.
Rachel Figurasmith
Rachel Figurasmith teaches courses that explore the intersection of neurodiversity and Jewish life & education. She is deeply interested in developing Jewish learning environments that actively invite people of all abilities to participate. Rachel resides in New York City, where she currently serves as the Executive Director of Repair the World NYC.
Rabbi David Frankel
Ph.D. Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Rabbi Dr. David Frankel is Senior Lecturer of Bible at the Schechter Institute in Jerusalem. He did his doctorate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem on the stories of Israelite complaint in the wilderness. His publications include The Murmuring Stories of the Priestly School (Brill), The Land of Canaan and the Destiny of Israel (Eisenbrauns), and many scholarly articles. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife and family and is the proud grandfather of a one-year old sabra.
Marla Frankel
Marla Frankel made Aliyah from Montreal, Canada in 1970. She studied Bible and Jewish Thought at Hebrew University (BA); Educational Philosophy at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (MA); Bible and Jewish Thought – Hebrew University (PhD Dissertation topic: “The Instructional Theory of Nechama Leibowitz”.) She has taught at the David Yellin College for most of her career and has served as the department head of Bible for the past decade.
Marla began an intensive training program in Spiritual Chaplaincy at Shaare Tzedek Hospital, and her time is now divided between part time teaching and palliative care.
Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman, Rab`14
Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman serves as Director of Professional Development at Hebrew College, where she manages the rabbinic internship program, works on placement after ordination, and teaches on spirituality & social justice. Directly prior to coming back to Hebrew College, she served as the Associate Rabbi at Temple Sinai of Brookline, where she expanded and deepened social justice organizing, built a robust teen program, and strengthened engagement across the congregation. Shoshana brings strong mentoring and chaplaincy skills, a gift for music and prayer leadership, and over a decade of experience in environmental, interfaith, and social justice organizing. She and her husband Yotam Schachter co-wrote The Tide Is Rising, an anthem for the climate movement that has spread rapidly. Her writing can be found at rabbishoshana.com.
Sandy Gold
Sandy Gold is an experienced educator with degrees in early childhood, elementary and special education. She has taught in day schools, congregational settings and at the university level. Sandy is an instructor in special education at the Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education and is also currently the director of a synagogue based early learning center.
Joshua R. Jacobson
Senior Adviser, School of Jewish Music
D.M.A., University of Cincinnati
Joshua Jacobson is professor of music and director of choral activities at Northeastern University, where he served for nine years as chair of the music department and six years as the Bernard Stotsky Professor of Jewish Cultural Studies. He is also founder and director of the Zamir Chorale of Boston, a world-renowned ensemble specializing in Hebrew music. Jacobson has written numerous articles and books, including “Chanting the Hebrew Bible: The Art of Cantillation” (Jewish Publication Society, 2002), which was a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award.
Andrea Rose Cheatham Kasper, MJEd`12
Andrea Rose Cheatham Kasper is the Head of School at Solomon Schechter Day School of Greater Hartford. She is committed to re-thinking JDS education, and developing a progressive educational approach while at the same time making Jewish life and learning meaningful to younger generations. Her creativity and ability to build coalitions throughout the community have helped invigorate the Day Schools of the Greater Hartford area. Andrea has published on critical and necessary innovation in Jewish day schools and in 2011 Andrea won the international Jewish Futures Competition for her groundbreaking ideas in Jewish education. Andrea is a Fellow in the Day School Leadership Training Institute and was part of the PEP with RAVSAK. She currently serves on the Board for the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools. She earned her BA from George Washington University and her MJEd from Hebrew College. Andrea is currently completing her Ed.D. in Jewish educational leadership at Northeastern University. She has lived in five countries and loves exploring the world with her family.
Cantor Becky Wexler Khitrik, MAJS and Can'14
Cantor Becky Wexler Khitrik, MAJS and Can’14
School of Jewish Music
Cantorial Ordination, Hebrew College
Cantor Becky Khitrik received her ordination from Hebrew College’s School of Jewish Music in 2014. Originally from Washington, DC, she holds a bachelor of arts degree in music and religious studies from Macalester College (St. Paul, MN), a certificate of study from the Zoltán Kodály Institute (Kesckemét, Hungary), and a master’s of arts degree in religion from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music (New Haven, CT). Cantor Khitrik is the cantor at Temple Sinai in Sharon, MA. Cantor Khitrik also enjoys an active performance career as a klezmer clarinetist. She has performed internationally and has received acclaim for her technical mastery, warm tone, and unique use of vibrato. She has developed several models for Jewish services based around the use of traditional nusach(prescribed melodies and modes for Jewish servies), and klezmer music.
Jonathan Klawans
Visiting Associate Professor
Ph.D., Columbia University
(Teaching spring 2020)
Specialization
Second Temple and early Rabbinic Judaism
Education
- BA: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1991
- BA: Columbia University, 1991
- MA: New York University, 1993
- PhD: Columbia University, 1997
Biography
Jonathan Klawans is Professor of Religion at Boston University and serves also as an active member of BU’s Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies. He has served on the faculty of BU since 1997, and has been a visiting faculty member in the rabbinical school of Hebrew College since 2009.
Current Research
Klawans is working on a research project tentatively entitled, Heresy, Forgery, Novelty: Condemning, Denying and Asserting Innovation in Ancient Judaism. The project highlights ancient Jewish anxieties toward newness, and calls attention to various techniques for attributing antiquity to texts and phenomena that would otherwise have been condemned as novel.
Courses
Second Temple and Early Rabbinic Judaism
Recent Presentations
- “Identities Masked: Sagacity, Sophistry and Pseudepigraphy in Aristeas” (Society of Biblical Literature, Boston, November 19, 2017)
- “Judaism was a Civilization: Toward the Reconstruction of Ancient Jewish Peoplehood” (World Congress of Jewish Studies, Jerusalem, August 6, 2017)
- “Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount: For the Law or Against the Law?” (Boston College School of Ministry and Theology, September 20, 2016)
- “The Essene Hypothesis: Insights from Religious Studies” (Graduate Seminar Presentation, Fordham University (Rose Hill), March 12, 2015)
- “Was Kristeva Right… About Qumran? Methodological Implications of a Theoretical Coincidence” (University of Cambridge, UK, May 21, 2014)
Cantor Jeff Klepper
Cantorial Ordination, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Jeff Klepper is one of the world’s leading composers of contemporary synagogue music. Several of his compositions, including Modeh Ani and Lo Alecha (both written with Klepper’s former music partner, Rabbi Dan Freelander), have become synagogue standards. Their setting of Shalom Rav, composed in 1974, is the defining Jewish melody of a new style of worship, bridging varied traditions and connecting multiple generations. Klepper, who served from 2003 through 2019 as cantor of Temple Sinai in Sharon, Mass., and is now cantor emeritus, holds an honorary Doctor of Music from his alma mater, Hebrew Union College.
Orah Levin-Minder
B.A.; Bryn Mawr College M.A.; Lesley University (2007) M.A,; Middlebury College
Orah Levin-Minder taught middle school English at a Boston-area Jewish day school. Orah worked on a doctorate in Jewish Education at Brandeis University for five years; her research focused on the teaching and learning of Jewish literature to and by Jewish students. She also taught writing to first year students; she’s continued teaching writing part-time while she focuses on her growing family.
Amy Lieberman
M.M., Yale University
Amy Lieberman teaches in the School of Jewish Music and is the conductor of Kol Arev, Hebrew College’s choir-in-residence. She is also equally at home conducting orchestral and choral music. For five years, she was director of choral activities at the New England Conservatory of Music, where she conducted the NEC concert choir, chamber singers and women’s chorus. Lieberman has also been a visiting assistant professor at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., where she was director of choral activities and music director for the opera and theater division.
Rabbi Richard (Rim) Meirowitz
Rabbinic Ordination, Jewish Theological Seminary
After serving as Educational Director at the New City (NY) Jewish Center for six years and as the Rabbi at Temple Emunah in Lexington MA, Rim became the Founding Headmaster of the Rashi School, the Boston Area Reform Jewish Day School currently in Dedham, and the Rabbi at Temple Beth Israel in Waltham. While at the Rashi School, after considerable soul-searching, Rim realized that his ministry was no longer compatible with the Conservative Movement. He resigned from the RA and was accepted into the CCAR. He has continued to serve the Reform Movement since that time at the Rashi School for seven years, as the Educational Director at the Joint Temple Sinai/Temple Ohabei Shalom school in Brookline, and as the Rabbi at Temple Shir Tikvah in Winchester, MA from which he retired in 2014. For a number of years he served as the only Rabbi on the Board of interfaithfamily.com. Rim continues to serve as a mentor for a number of Rabbis and finds a particular satisfaction in helping people move along their spiritual paths.
Rabbi Margot Meitner, LICSW, MSW
Rabbinic Ordination, Hebrew College
Masters in Clinical Social Work, Smith College School for Social Work
(Teaching fall 2019)
Margot Meitner is a Boston-based community rabbi and psychotherapist. She holds a B.A. in Women’s and Gender Studies and History from Yale University, an M.S.W. from Smith College School for Social Work, and rabbinical ordination and a Masters in Jewish Studies from Hebrew College. Margot is committed to accompanying people on their journeys toward emotional and spiritual health. She has a private psychotherapy and pastoral counseling practice at The Meeting Point and approaches her work with the understanding that individual healing is inextricably linked with collective healing and social change. She has served in a rabbinic capacity at Harvard Hillel, Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, the world’s largest LGBTQ synagogue in NYC, and Congregation Agudas Achim, a Reconstructionist synagogue in Attleboro, Mass.
Barbara Merson, PhD
Ph.D. Lesley University & Hebrew College
BA: Brandeis University
MA: Colombia Univeristy
MA: SUNY Stony Brook
MA: Hebrew Union College
Barbara Merson is the executive director the Maine Jewish Film Festival. With extensive background in non-profit leadership, Barbara most recently served as the Executive Director of Temple Shaaray Tefila in Westchester, New York. Barbara’s experience also includes senior leadership positions at the Stamford Jewish Community Center, the ISEF Foundation, and the Slifka Foundation. An avid kayaker and hiker, Barbara lives in North Yarmouth with her glass artist husband Marty Kremer.
Rabbi Carl Perkins
Rabbinic Ordination, Jewish Theological Seminary
J.D. Harvard Law School
Carl Perkins has been the spiritual leader of Temple Aliyah in Needham, MA, since 1991. Educated at Haverford College, Harvard Law School and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Carl has taught and lectured widely in the Boston area, including at Hebrew College and Boston College Law School. He is the author of the revised edition of Embracing Judaism and numerous short essays on the Jewish Values Online website. (On leave for the 2019-2020 academic year only.)
Judith S. Pinnolis
M.M., College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati
M.S., Simmons College
Judith S. Pinnolis has taught at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She is creator and editor of The Jewish Music WebCenter, a go-to resource in Jewish music. Currently she works as Collection Assessment Librarian at Berklee College of Music/Boston Conservatory and previously was a Librarian at Brandeis University for over 20 years. She has been active as former Chair of the Chapters Council of the Association of College and Research Libraries; President of the ACRL New England chapter; and Chair of the Jewish Music Roundtable of the Music Library Association.
Ina Regosin
M.A., Wheelock College
A national leader in the field of early-childhood education, Ina Regosin is the founding director of the Early Childhood Institute in the Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education. She serves as editor of “Milk and Honey: A Curriculum Compendium for Early Childhood Educators.” A veteran Jewish educator who has worked in all aspects of Jewish education, from days schools to Jewish camps, Regosin has undertaken graduate Jewish studies at Yeshiva University and the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Cantor Ken Richmond
Cantorial Investiture, Jewish Theological Seminary
Cantor Ken Richmond has served since 2006 as cantor and family educator of Temple Israel of Natick, MA. He began his Jewish studies locally as a student at Solomon Schechter and Prozdor and as an apprentice to Cantor Charles Osborne. Richmond served as cantorial soloist for five years in Swampscott before graduating in 2004 from the H.L. Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary. He plays several instruments, including violin, and his compositions include a Friday night Klezmer service.
Susie Rodenstein
M.A., Harvard University
Susie Rodenstein is an experienced instructor in Jewish education and a certified school counselor. From 1992 to 1996, she was a Jerusalem Fellow. Upon her return to the United States, she joined the Mandel Teacher Educators Network, an organization that provides opportunities for text-based learning with colleagues from the United States, Canada and Israel.
Francine Ferraro Rothkopf, MJLS'10
Francine Ferraro Rothkopf is tefillah coordinator and Web director at MetroWest Jewish Day School in Framingham, MA, and was a member of the school’s founding board of directors. An independent torah teacher for b’nai mitzvah students, she served for 13 years as cantorial soloist for the High Holy Days at Congregation Sha’arei Shalom in Ashland, Mass. The focus of Rothkopf’s Master of Arts in Jewish Liberal Studies at Hebrew College was biblical and rabbinic text interpretation, concentrating on educating people with special needs.
Cantor Neil Schwartz
Cantorial Ordination, Jewish Theological Seminary
Neil Schwartz is cantor at a synagogue in Saskatoon, Canada, and Jewish chaplain for the University of Saskatchewan. He has taught in the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism’s Imun program for adult lay religious leaders, and he notates nusach and trope for Kinnor Software.
Rav-Hazzan Scott Sokol
Rav-Hazzan Scott M. Sokol, PhD is completing his fifth year as Head of School at MetroWest Jewish Day School. A multi-professional, Scott is a cantor, rabbi and pediatric neuropsychologist, with 30 years experience in the field of education broadly defined. Scott began his academic career at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he was a research scientist, clinician and professor of neurology. He then moved on to Hebrew College where he served for seventeen years in senior academic leadership, founding both the cantorial program and the special education program. He was the first Dean of the School of Jewish Music and later served as the inaugural Korman Family Professor of Jewish Special Education. In 2014, Hebrew College awarded Scott the Benjamin Shevach Memorial Award for Jewish Educational Leadership, the highest award of the college, in recognition of his many contributions to the field. He is delighted to be returning to the college as an adjunct faculty member.
Jeffrey Spitzer
M.Phil., Jewish Theological Seminary
Jeffrey Spitzer is a master teacher and educational leader in the field of Jewish studies and Jewish educational technology. He is former chair of the rabbinic literature department at Gann Academy in Waltham, Mass., and is currently on the Jewish studies faculty at American Hebrew Academy, a Jewish, college-preparatory boarding school in Greensboro, N.C. Spitzer holds a Master of Philosophy in ancient Judaism with distinction from the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Rabbi David Starr
PhD. and Rabbinic Ordination, Jewish Theological Seminary
Rabbi David Starr, PhD is the Executive Director of Tzion, a Program for Israel Literacy, and a visiting Research Associate of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry, Brandeis University. He previously served as Scholar in Residence for Israel Education & Programs at Gann Academy, the pluralistic Jewish high school in greater Boston. He was the founding Dean of Me’ah and Vice President at Hebrew College, and teaches on the faculty of the Wexner Heritage Program. He lectures on topics related to history and religion. David is currently writing a biography of Solomon Schechter and a study of Me’ah and its impact on adults and community. He holds a doctorate in history and Jewish studies from Columbia and rabbinic ordination from JTS.
Rabbi Jeffrey Summit
Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit, PhD is the Director of the Hebrew College Innovation Lab. He received an honorary degree from Hebrew College in 2018.
Rabbi Summit holds an appointment as Research Professor in the Department of Music and Judaic Studies at Tufts University. He is a Senior Consultant for Hillel International directing the project “Living Our Values.” He holds emeritus appointments at Tufts as Emeritus Neubauer Executive Director of Tufts Hillel and Emeritus Jewish Chaplain. He is the author of Singing God’s Words: The Performance of Biblical Chant in Contemporary Judaism (Oxford University Press) and The Lord’s Song in a Strange Land: Music and Identity in Contemporary Jewish Worship (Oxford University Press). His CD Abayudaya: Music from the Jewish People of Uganda (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings) was nominated for a GRAMMY award. His CD with video Delicious Peace: Coffee, Music and Interfaith Harmony in Uganda (Smithsonian Folkways Recordings) was awarded Best World Music CD by the Independent Music Awards. His research and writing focus on music and identity, music and spiritual experience, music and advocacy, and the impact of technology on the transmission of tradition. Rabbi Summit lectures widely around the country and has been invited to speak at Harvard University, Stanford University, Yale University, Princeton University, Dartmouth College, Amherst College, Wesleyan University, the University of California Santa Barbara, Indiana University and the University of Chicago.
Rabbi Summit has a special interest in the values that shape a meaningful and fulfilling life. Together with Rev. Scotty McLennan of Stanford University, he teaches a summer seminar addressing those issues at the Tufts European Center in Talloires, France entitled “What Happens Next?” He also works in the field of oral history and for four summers has conducted an oral history project with the Jewish community of Annecy, France, for American students, under the auspices of Tufts European Center. For three additional summers he taught a seminar at the Tufts European Center on the Holocaust and anti-Semitism in France. He has co-directed a project funded by the Department of Homeland Security establishing Muslim, Jewish, Christian dialogues and inter-religious education on five university campuses. He directs the Cummings/Hillel Program on Holocaust and Genocide Education under the auspices of Tufts Hillel. An accomplished musician, he has performed Jewish and traditional American music throughout the United States, as well as in England and Israel. During the Yom Kippur War, he performed for Israeli soldiers in the Sinai and Golan Heights. His songs examining those experiences were recorded on his record album Shepherd of the Highways.
Rabbi Summit was the inaugural recipient of the Edgar M. Bronfman Award for Lifetime Accomplishment in Hillel Professional Leadership, serving the movement “with distinction and honor.” He was awarded Tufts University’s Hosea Ballou Medal, established to recognize members of the Tufts community who have rendered exceptional service for the institution. He He received Combined Jewish Philanthropies (Boston Jewish Federation) Rabbinic Leadership Award and was the inaugural recipient of the Anne Heyman Spirit Award, for work to further the mission of the Agahozo-Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda, a village for survivors of the Rwandan genocide. As part of this honor, the village’s music building was named the “Jeffrey A. Summit Music Center.” He has been named an Exemplar of Excellence by Hillel International. He has also received the Benjamin J. Shevach Memorial Award for distinguished achievement in Jewish educational leadership, Hebrew College’s highest academic award. The programs he has initiated at Tufts examining ethical perspectives on the role of the university, sexual ethics, interfaith dialogue and the parent/child relationship have received national grants and awards. As a graduate student, he received both the James T. Koetting Memorial Prize for the outstanding graduate student paper presented at the annual meeting of the Northeast Chapter of the Society of Ethnomusicology and the Society for Ethnomusicology’s Jaap Kunst Prize for the outstanding paper published by a student in the Journal of Ethnomusicology. His book on Jewish music and identity was awarded the Musher Publication Prize by the National Foundation for Jewish Culture. Rabbi Summit is past-president of the National Hillel Professional Association and has served on the Executive Committee of the National Board of Directors of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.
Sam Zerin
Sam Zerin is a music scholar, composer, and pianist based in Providence, RI. He has held teaching positions at New York University, Brown University, and the Borough of Manhattan Community College, in addition to privately tutoring children and adults. He is also active as an online educator, blogging about music at DisneyMusicTheory.com and SocialMediaMusicTheory.com.
Sam’s PhD dissertation, for defense in late 2019 at New York University, is the first critical biography of the Russian-Jewish violinist and composer Joseph Achron (1886-1943) and a theoretical investigation of late Romantic paradigms surrounding child prodigies and performer-composers. He is a specialist in early 20th century Jewish musical nationalism and has broader research interests in 21st century Yiddish pop songs, Disney music, virtuosity, and musical transcription.
Sam’s work in Jewish music has involved a variety of projects, from archiving and digitization work to public lectures, networking musicians, fundraising, score editing, and participating in Jewish religious life as a Torah/Haftarah reader and shaliach tsibbur. He is the founder of the Joseph Achron Society, created an online archive of rare Jewish classical scores at the website of the American Society for Jewish Music, and wrote finding aids for uncatalogued materials at Hebrew Union College.