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
Full-Time Faculty
Marion Gribetz Director, Congregational Education Initiative Director of Educational Initiatives, Graduate Jewish Education Program
Rabbi Gita Karasov Adjuct Faculty and Director of Admissions & Student Life, Rabbinical & Cantorial Programs
Rabbi Allan Lehmann Associate Dean, Rabbinical School Co-director, Beit Midrash
Barry Mesch Stone-Teplow Families Professor of Jewish Thought
Michael Shire Academic Director, Master’s in Jewish Education
Dr. Devora Steinmetz Faculty
Rav Rachel Adelman, PhD
Associate Professor, Hebrew Bible
radelman@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8646
Education
Rabbinic Ordination, Hebrew College
Ph.D., Hebrew University of Jerusalem
M.A. in Jewish Studies from Matan/Baltimore Hebrew University
Biography
Rav 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 M.A. in Jewish Studies from Matan/Baltimore Hebrew University and a Ph.D. in Hebrew literature, with a specialty in midrash, from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and rabbinical ordination from Hebrew College.
Her first book, The Return of the Repressed: Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer and the Pseudepigrapha, is based on her doctoral dissertation, and she began her second, The Female Ruse: Women’s Deception and Divine Sanction in the Hebrew Bible, under the auspices of the Women’s Studies in Religion Program (WSRP) at Harvard. She is currently working on a new book, Daughters in Danger from the Hebrew Bible to Modern Midrash (forthcoming, Sheffield Phoenix Press). When she is not writing books, papers, or divrei Torah, it is poetry that flows from her pen.
Selected Publications and Presentations
- Sukkot as a Touch of Eternity
- Jonah’s Magical Mystery Tour of the Netherworld
- “The Elusive Ark: Locus of Longing in Exile,” Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy 27 (2019), 137-167.
- “Love as Strong as Death: Eros and Thanatos in the Sinai Theophany”, in Zeramim: An Online Journal of Applied Jewish Thought 3:1 (Fall 2018), 5-26; https://zeramim.org/
- The Willingness to Let Go of What We Seek (video) from the Hebrew College Elul Together Project (2020/5781)
Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld
President
sanisfeld@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8773
Education
Rabbinic Ordination, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
B.A., Brown University
Biography
Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld became president of Hebrew College in July 2018 after being appointed president-elect in fall of 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 served the next eleven years as Dean of the Rabbinical School (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 University, Yale University, and Harvard University. 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 and The Women’s Passover Companion: Women’s Reflections on the Festival of Freedom. 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.
Selected Publications and Presentations
- Caught in the Thicket (video) from the Hebrew College Elul Together Project (2020/5781)
- “Extending the Horizons of Our Hearts” (Hebrew College Speaking Torah podcast)
- “Standing Before the Gates: Be’ila 5781“
Harvey Bock
Hebrew Language Coordinator, Rabbinical School hbock@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8761
Education
J.D., Yale Law School
B.A., Linguistics, Yale College
Biography
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 Introduction to the Literature of the Hebrew Bible by Alexander Rofé.
Marion Gribetz
Director, Congregational Education Initiative
Hebrew College Graduate Education Program
mgribetz@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8655
Education
Doctoral Studies, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
M.A., Tufts University
B.A., Barnard College, Columbia University
Biography
Marion Gribetz is on the faculty of MaTaRoT and is the director of educational initiatives. She teaches in, oversees, and directs 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 a variety of courses 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.
Selected Publications and Presentations
- Two chapters in: Learning and Community: Jewish Supplementary Schools in the Twenty-first Century (Edited by Jack Wertheimer, Brandeis University Press, 2009)
- 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
Rabbi Dan Judson, PhD
Dean and Chief Academic Officer
djudson@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8638
Education
Doctorate in Jewish History, Brandeis University, Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
Rabbinic Ordination, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Master in Hebrew Letters, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
B.A., Colgate University
Biography
Rabbi Dan 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. Rabbi Judson 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 also served as the rabbi of Temple Beth David in Canton, MA for 10 years and co-authored several 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.
Selected Publications and Presentations
- 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 the 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.
- 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.
Rabbi Jane Kanarek
Associate Dean for Academic Development and Advising;
Professor of Rabbinics
jkanarek@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8623
Education
Rabbinic Ordination, Jewish Theological Seminary
Ph.D., University of Chicago
Biography
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, the latter two of which were finalists for the National Jewish Book Awards.
Rabbi Gita Karasov
Director of Admissions & Student Life, Rabbinical and Cantorial Programs
gkarasov@hebrewcollege.edu
Education
- Rabbinic Ordination, Hebrew College (Class of 2020)
- MJEd, Hebrew College (Class of 2020)
- B.A., University of Maryland
Biography
Originally from Minnesota, Rabbi Gita Karasov spent her time prior to rabbinical school serving as director of engagement and education at the University of Michigan Hillel. Her passion has always been at the intersection of relationship building and Jewish education, and she is thrilled to be working in this capacity, accompanying prospective and current students along their own spiritual and intellectual journeys.
Selected Publications and Presentations
- “The Teshuvah of Missed Connections” (video) from the Hebrew College Elul Together Project (5781)
Rabbi Daniel Klein
Dean of Students
dklein@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8637
Specialization
Admissions and student life
Education
- Rabbinic Ordination, Hebrew College (Class of 2010)
- MJEd., Hebrew College (Class of 2010)
- B.A., The University of Chicago
Biography
Rabbi Daniel Klein grew up in Newton, MA and has been a member of the Hebrew College community for over 20 years. As a teenager, he attended Prozdor; Hebrew College’s Hebrew High School; and Camp Yavneh, an affiliate of Hebrew College. Rabbi Klein earned his B.A. from The University of Chicago. Raised to love Judaism and to have a commitment to service, Daniel found his own path into Jewish tradition beginning in college in the writings of Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Rabbi Arthur Green, and the Hasidic masters. After teaching middle school and high school social studies at a Jewish Day School in New Jersey, Klein entered the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College and was ordained in 2010. In addition to being the Dean of Students, Klein 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.
Selected Publications and Presentations
- 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)
Rabbi Ebn Leader
Faculty, Rabbinical School (on sabbatical)
eleader@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8635
Education
Rabbinic Ordination, Private
Biography
Rabbi 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 Rabbi Art Green, former rector of Hebrew College, from whom he 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 fellow Hebrew College professor Rabbi Or Rose, of God in All Moments: Mystical and Practical Wisdom From Hasidic Masters.
Selected Publications and Presentations
- “The Benefits of Taking Steps” (video) from the Hebrew College Elul Together Project (5781)
Rabbi Allan Lehmann
Associate Dean, Rabbinical School
Co-director, Beit Midrash
alehmann@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8628
Education
Rabbinic Ordination, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College
Biography
Whether in his office, the beit midrash, or the classroom, Rabbi 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
Stone-Teplow Families Professor of Jewish Thought
bmesch@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8613, 617.559.8616
Education
Ph.D., Brandeis University
Biography
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. 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.
Susan Morrel
Senior Advisor and Director of Field Experiences in the Master of Jewish Education Program at Hebrew College
smorrel@hebrewcollege.edu
Education
Executive Master Degree in Religious Education, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR)
Biography
Susan Friedburg Morrel is a Jewish educational leader with over 25 years of congregational education experience, as well as experience working in Jewish camps and organizations.
In addition to her work at Hebrew College, Susan is a consultant for Gateways: Access to Jewish Education where she coaches educators in providing special education support to enable students with diverse learning needs to succeed in Jewish learning and living. Morrel is also a teacher-educator in Philosophical Inquiry in Jewish Education (PIJE) and Instructional Leadership who specializes in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) and consults nationally.
Rabbi Nehemia Polen
Professor of Jewish Thought
npolen@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8616
Education
Rabbinic Ordination, Ner Israel Rabbinical College
Ph.D., Boston University
Biography
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; a translation of Malkah Shapiro’s The Rebbe’s Daughter: Memoir of a Hasidic Childhood, a project that originated in Polen’s research as a National Endowment for the Humanities fellow and recipient of a National Jewish Book Award; Filling Words With Light: Hasidic and Mystical Reflections on Jewish Prayer; and From Tiberias, With Love: A Collection of Tiberian Hasidism, Volume I: Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk. His most recent book, most recent book Stop, Look, Listen: Celebrating Shabbos Through a Spiritual Lens (Maggid 2022), was named a finalist for the 72nd Jewish Book Council’s Myra H. Kraft memorial Award for Contemporary Jewish Life & Practice.
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
Co-director, Beit Midrash
srhodes@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8765
Education
Rabbinic Ordination, Hebrew College (Class of 2008)
Biography
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
orose@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8636
Education
Rabbinic Ordination, Private
Biography
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 for Informal Education 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) and has taught for Hebrew College’s Me’ah Classic program.
In addition to his work at Hebrew College, Rose has taught for the Bronfman Youth Fellowships, The Wexner Graduate Fellowship, and in a variety of other academic, religious, and civic contexts throughout North America, and in Asia, Europe, and Israel. A prolific author and editor, his writings have appeared in Beliefnet; the Forward; The Huffington Post; Interfaith America; the Jewish Telegraphic Agency; Patheos; MyJewishLearning; Religion News Service; The Times of Israel; Tikkun; Sh’ma; The Washington Post; as well as various scholarly publications. Rose is the senior Publisher of The Journal of Interreligious Studies, as well as co-editor of Speaking Torah: Spiritual Teachings from Around the Maggid’s Table, and the award-winning anthology, My Neighbor’s Faith: Stories of Interreligious Encounter, Growth, and Transformation. His most recent publication is the co-edited volume, Rabbi Zalman Schachter: Essential Teachings. Rose is currently working on two new anthologies: a contemporary multifaith commentary on the Psalms, tentatively entitled The Book of Psalms: Here & Now (Paraclete Press, 2023) and With the Best of Intentions: Interreligious Missteps & Unexpected Learnings (Orbis 2023).
Selected Publications and Presentations
- “PsalmSeason: A Soundtrack for a Time of Upheaval” (with Rev. Paul Raushenbush)
- “Psalm: 114—On Liberation & Connecting to the Earth” (with Ruth Messinger)
- “Elijah the Prophet & Intergenerational Connection”
- “Building Bridges of Compassion: Preparing for Passover & Easter Virtually”
- “Life in the World House: Cultivating Leaders for a Pluralistic Age”
Rabbi Shoshana Rosenbaum
Education
Rabbinic Ordination, Hebrew College (Class of 2021)
B.A. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandeis University
Biography
Rabbi Shani Rosenbaum joined the Hebrew College faculty in 2021. Her teaching focuses on rabbinic and halakhic literature.
Shani holds a B.A. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University and rabbinic ordination from her teachers at Hebrew College. She has also pursued immersive Torah study in a range of yeshiva settings, including Midreshet Lindenbaum, Matan, Beit Midrash Har’el, Yeshivat Hadar, Yashrut, and the Pardes Kollel.
Rosenbaum spent her early career working on the programming teams of several organizations pursuing justice through a Jewish lens, including Encounter and OLAM, where she produced the Global Torah podcast. In 2020, she conducted a “Jewish Law and Ethics Hackathon for the Age of COVID-19” for T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights.
In addition to her courses in the Rabbinical School, Rosenbaum teaches Talmud, Halakha, and Midrash through Hebrew College Open Circle Jewish Learning, and has represented the Hebrew College faculty at Hadar and Hebrew College’s annual Halakha Intensive in New York. She served as managing editor for Hiddushim: Celebrating Hebrew College’s Centennial, a volume of essays on Jewish studies and education, which was published by Academic Studies Press in 2022.
Rosenbaum lives in Somerville, MA, with her spouse, Aaron, and the occasional borrowed cat or dog.
Rabbi Jordan Schuster
Education
Rabbinic Ordination, Hebrew College (Class of 2018)
Biography
Before matriculating in the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in 2014, Jordan taught Yiddish at Columbia University, managed a yoga studio in San Francisco, and tended the gardens and greenhouse of a small grocery store in southeastern Wisconsin.
After his ordination in 2018, Jordan worked for Hebrew College’s Adult Education Department, then joined the Rabbinical School as a full-time faculty member and advisor a year later.
Currently, Jordan teaches courses in Tanakh, Mishna, and Classical Jewish Thought. His frameworks for analysis are often influenced by 20th and 21st century poetics, queer theory, Hasidic drashot, and a neo-Buberian (relational) mode of reading. His approach to class facilitation and student advisement is primarily influenced by a feminist ethics of care, first learned בכתב from Carol Gilligan and Nell Noddings, and שבעל פה from Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, Rabbi Dan Judson, and Kohenet Alumah Schuster.
Selected Publications and Presentations
- “We Who Fall Asleep, We Who Wake Up” (video) from the Hebrew College Elul Together Project (5781)
Michael Shire
Academic Director, Master’s in Jewish Education
mshire@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8617
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
Biography
Rabbi Michael Shire grew up in Birmingham England and completed his B.A. 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 M.A. and Ph.D. 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 the 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 as chief academic officer of Hebrew College from 2015-2020. 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 trustee of the Pursuit of History, the Association of Institutions of Graduate Jewish Education.
Selected Publications and Presentations
- Judaism and Childhood, The Sage Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood Studies (Sage Publishing, 2020)
- Mazal Tov: The Rituals and Customs of a Jewish Wedding, Frances Lincoln (UK) and Stuart, Tabori and Chang (USA), 2003.
- The Illuminated Haggadah, Frances Lincoln (UK) & Stuart, Tabori and Chang (USA), 1998 (Co-productions in Germany, Holland, France, Russia and Israel).
- “Responding to the Questions of Uncertainty Online,” Wabash Center website, May 12, 2020
- “Torah Godly Play: An Innovative Approach to Religious Education for Shlemut” in “Gleanings: A dialogue on Jewish Education” Volume 6:2 2019
- Leo Baeck and Oppeln, Poland in Manna Spring 2011
- Rabbinic Training and the Interfaith Imperative in Open Theology No. 11 December 2011
Dr. Devora Steinmetz
Education
Ph.D. in Comparative Literature, Columbia University
M.A. in English Literature, Fordham University
B.A. in Biology, Barnard College
Biography
Devora has taught at Drisha, Yeshivat Hadar, the Jewish Theological Seminary, and Havruta: a Beit Midrash at Hebrew University. She serves on the faculty of the Mandel Institute for Nonprofit Leadership and has recently been involved in establishing Drisha’s new yeshiva in Israel. Dr. Steinmetz is the founder of Beit Rabban, a Jewish day school profiled in Daniel Pekarsky’s Vision at Work: The Theory and Practice of Beit Rabban.
She is the author of scholarly articles on Talmud, Midrash, and Bible and of two books, From Father to Son: Kinship, Conflict, and Continuity in Genesis and Punishment and Freedom: The Rabbinic Construction of Criminal Law.
Dr. Susie Tanchel
Vice President
stanchel@hebrewcollege.edu
Education
Ph.D., Brandeis University
B.A., Brandeis University
Biography
Dr. Susie Tanchel joined Hebrew College in the summer of 2020, after serving as the head of school at JCDS, Boston’s Jewish Community Day School.
During her nine-year tenure at JCDS, Tanchel was an accomplished and deeply beloved leader, guiding the school to preeminence as a national model of excellence in pluralistic Jewish education, and creatively embodying its abiding commitments to community, centrality of Hebrew language, and teaching the whole child.
She was a recipient of the 2018 Covenant Award for Jewish Educators.
Selected Publications and Presentations
- “A Reflection on Teshuvah” (video) from the Hebrew College Elul Together Project (5781)
Cantor Lynn Torgove
Director, Hebrew College Cantorial Program
ltorgove@hebrewcollege.edu
Education
- Cantorial Ordination, Hebrew College (Class of 2012)
- Master of Jewish Studies, Hebrew College (Class of 2012)
- 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 was the head of vocal arts from 2012-2020 before becoming the program director in fall 2020. 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. She 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 Master’s in Jewish Studies and ordained a cantor by Hebrew College in 2012. Her 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.
Cantor Louise Treitman
Cantorial Ordination, Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion
ltreitman@hebrewcollege.edu
Education
Cantorial Ordination, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR)
Master of Music, New England Conservatory of Music
Biography
Cantor Louise Treitman helped to create the Jewish Music Institute at Hebrew College in the 1980s, which subsequently became the School of Jewish Music (SJM). She has continued her connection with Hebrew College since then in various capacities—as the former associate dean of the School of Jewish Music, and currently as a part-time faculty member in the rabbinic and graduate Jewish education programs and as a teacher, advisor and cantorial coach in the cantorial program. Cantor Treitman served Temple Beth David in Westwood, MA for 20 years and is honored to be their Cantor Emerita. She has served as the High Holy Day cantor at Beth Hillel in Rome, Italy, as well as Shir Hadash Firenze in Florence, both members of the World Union for Progressive Judaism. With degrees from Wellesley College and the New England Conservatory of Music, she received her Certification as an Invested Cantor through HUC-JIR in New York. Cantor Treitman was the president of the Jewish Ministers Cantors Association of New England and the founding president of the New England Board of Cantors. In addition to singing with the Zamir Chorale of Boston, she is co-founder/director of the vocal octet ‘Il Concerto di Salamone Rossi Hebreo.’ Louise lives in Lexington with her husband, Rick, and dog, Gracie Slick. She has three grown daughters and four grandchildren—so far.
Selected Performances
- “The Liturgy and Melodies of the New Year” (video) from the Hebrew College Elul Together Project (5781)
Adjunct Faculty
Edward Breuer Adjunct Faculty, Jewish Education
Cantor Vera Broekhuysen `16 Adjunct Faculty, Cantorial Program
David Brody Adjunct Faculty, Jewish Education
Rachel Figurasmith Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Jewish Education
Rabbi David Frankel Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Jewish Education
Sandy Gold Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Jewish Education
Joshua R. Jacobson Senior Advisor and Adjunct Faculty, Cantorial Program
Andrea Rose Cheatham Kasper, MJEd`12 Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Jewish Education
Cantor Becky Wexler Khitrik `14 Adjunct Faculty, Cantorial Program
Cantor Jeff Klepper Adjunct Faculty, Cantorial Program
Orah Levin-Minder Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Jewish Education
Amy Lieberman Head of Vocal Arts
Rabbi Richard (Rim) Meirowitz Adjunct Faculty, Rabbinical School
Rabbi Margot Meitner, LICSW, MSW Adjunct Faculty, Rabbinical School
Barbara Merson, PhD Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Jewish Education
Rabbi Carl Perkins Adjunct Faculty, Rabbinical School
Judith S. Pinnolis Adjunct Faculty, Cantorial Program
Nina Price Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Jewish Education
Ina Regosin Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Jewish Education
Cantor Ken Richmond Adjunct Faculty, Cantorial Program
Susie Rodenstein Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Jewish Education
Francine Ferraro Rothkopf, MJLS'10 Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Jewish Education
Rabbi David Starr Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Jewish Education
Rabbi Jeffrey Summit Director, Hebrew College Innovation Lab
Sam Zerin Adjunct Instructor, Cantorial Program
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 `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.
(Not teaching during 2020-2021 academic year)
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.
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 served for 45 years as professor of music and director of choral activities at Northeastern University, including 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. She holds an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership at Northeastern University. She has lived in five countries and loves exploring the world with her family.
Cantor Becky Wexler Khitrik `14
Cantor Becky Wexler Khitrik `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.
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
She is on the faculty of Hebrew College, where she conducts Kol Arev Chamber Choir, coaches art song, and teaches conducting. Kol Arev has appeared throughout New England, including performances on the Byzantine Music Festival, a collaboration with Seraphim Singers exploring choral music about Jerusalem, a Boston Jewish Music Festival collaboration with Zamir Chorale focusing on music of Yehudi Wyner, Samuel Adler, and their fathers, a Leonard Bernstein 100th Birthday Celebration on the Arts Emanu-El Series at Temple Emanu-El (Providence, RI), and numerous performances of the ensemble’s Klezmer Kabbalat Shabbat service, with klezmer band.
For five years she was Director of Choral Activities at New England Conservatory of Music, where she led performances with the Chamber Chorus, Concert Choir, Sinfonietta, Symphony, Bach Ensemble, Percussion Ensemble, and Jazz Orchestra. She has been Visiting Assistant Professor of Conducting at Berklee College of Music, and she was Director of Choral Activities and Music Director of Musical Theater at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania. She is also Artistic Director of ArtsAhimsa, an organization dedicated to the promotion of non-violence through the arts; she conducts the chorus at ArtsAhimsa’s summer festival in the Berkshires and has given master classes in Kolkata and New Delhi, India.
She has appeared as guest conductor with Boston Cecilia, Northeastern University Choral Society, Zamir Chorale, Cappella Clausura (Boston), Lexington Symphony (MA), Portsmouth Symphony (NH), Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra (FL), and Boston Summer Sings, and she appeared several times as guest conductor on the New Music New Haven series. She has served as assistant conductor for the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Cantata Singers & Ensemble, and Boston University Tanglewood Institute’s Young Artists Orchestra. Ms. Lieberman has been engaged as pre-concert lecturer with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cantata Singers, Concord Chamber Music Society, and Rhode Island Philharmonic.
While on the faculty of NEC, she was a member of the NEC Jewish Music Ensemble and served as faculty advisor to the school’s Hillel chapter. She has been a member of the professional choir at Temple Emanu-El in Providence for nine years, and this year she will join the professional vocal quartet of the Central Reform Temple of Boston. Since 2017, she has guest conducted Wellesley’s Temple Beth Elohim Choir. Ms. Lieberman was also lead singer of Freylochs and Bagels, a klezmer band in residence at the Wilkes-Barre Jewish Community Center.
She holds degrees from Stanford University (AB), Boston University (MusM in Orchestral Conducting), and Yale School of Music (MusM in Choral Conducting). She also studied conducting at the Aspen Music Festival and at the Prague Conservatory in the Czech Republic. She is also a 1989 graduate of Hebrew College’s Prozdor program.
Cantor Dr. Brian Mayer Cantor Dr. Brian Mayer
Brian J. Mayer, a recognized scholar of hazzanut (cantorial music), served as Dean of the School of Jewish Music from 2009 through 2019. Prior to his appointment at Hebrew College, Mayer taught for 14 years at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York as an assistant professor of hazzanut. Since 1989, he has also served as cantor of Temple Emanu-El in Providence, R.I. Mayer was featured in the ABC-TV documentary “To God’s Ear,” which was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2002. In 2008, he was the artistic director of “Shining Through Broken Glass: Kristallnacht Concert,” a highly acclaimed multimedia production featuring Leonard Nimoy. In 2003, he produced the CD Kolot Emanu-El.
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.)
(Not teaching during 2020-2021 academic year)
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.
(Not teaching during 2020-2021 academic year)
Nina Price
Nina Price is an experienced educator with graduate degrees in Jewish education and special education. Her career has involved work in synagogue settings, Jewish camps, Jewish Federations, and public schools. In all of her professional roles she has worked to create inclusive learning environments that are learner-centered and focus on optimizing education as a tool to build community.
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.
(Not teaching during 2020-2021 academic year)
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.
Rabbi David Starr
PhD. and Rabbinic Ordination, Jewish Theological Seminary
David Starr, Ph.D. is the Executive Director of Tzion, a Program for Israel Literacy, and a Research Associate of the Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry, Brandeis University. He teaches in the faculties of Hult International Business School, Hebrew College, and the Wexner Heritage Program. 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. 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 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), as well as “Knowing how to Tell a Story” in Voices of the Field: Pathways in Public Ethnomusicology (Oxford University Press, 2021) and “Searching for a Metaphor: What is the Role of the Shaliach/Shalichat Tzibur (Leader of Prayer)?” in Studying Congregational Music: Key Issues, Methods, and Theoretical Perspectives (Routledge, 2021). In addition, his articles “Reimagining Spiritual Experience and Music: Perspectives from Jewish Worship in the United States” will be published in the forthcoming Oxford Handbook of Jewish Music (Oxford University Press) and “Singing God’s Words: Contemporary Perspectives on Chanting Torah” will be published in Contemporary Jewish Music in America, 2000 – 2022, a special edition of The Journal of Synagogue Music (The Cantors’ Assembly of America). 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.