Faculty

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 of 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). She is also currently pursuing a rabbinic degree through Hebrew College. 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
• “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/

• “From the Cleft of the Rock: The Eclipse of God in the Bible, Midrash and Post-Holocaust Theology,” in  Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh (New York: New Paradigm Matrix Publishing, 2019), 169-192; also in Be-Ron Yahad: Studies in Jewish Thought and Theology in Honor of Nehemia Polen, eds. Ariel Evan Mayse and Avraham Yitzhak Greek (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2019), 50-73.

• Other 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 Shoshana Meira Friedman `14

Rabbi Shoshana Meira Friedman serves as Director of Professional Development at Hebrew College, where she manages the rabbinic and cantorial internship program, and teaches in the Spirituality & Social Justice track. Directly prior to coming back to Hebrew College, she served as the Associate Rabbi at Temple Sinai of Brookline. 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. She is a contributing author to Rooted & Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019), and her own  blog Beloved On The Earth: Honest Reflections from a Beautiful & Unsafe World can be found at rabbishoshana.com.

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

Personal Web Page

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 of Graduate Leadership Programs
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 Gita Karasov`20

Rabbi Gita Karasov`20
Director of Admissions & Student Life, Rabbinical and Cantorial Programs
gkarasov@hebrewcollege.edu

Specialization
Admissions

Education

• Rabbinic Ordination, Rabbinical School of Hebrew College
• MJEd, Hebrew College
• B.A., University of Maryland

Originally from Minnesota, Gita spent her time prior to rabbinical school serving as Director of Engagement and Education at University of Michigan Hillel. Gita’s passion has always been at the intersection of relationship building and Jewish education. She is thrilled to be working in this capacity, accompanying prospective and current students along their own spiritual and intellectual journeys.

Rabbi Daniel Klein`10

Dean of Students
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 to have a commitment to service, 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 of Hebrew College and was ordained in 2010. In addition to being the Dean of Students, Daniel 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
• From Text to Tefillah: An Introduction to the Siddur
• Maavar: A Seminar for Shanah Heh on the Transition to the Rabbinate

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.

Amy Lieberman

M.M., Yale University

Amy Lieberman teaches in the Hebrew College Cantorial Program 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.

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; Filling Words With Light: Hasidic and Mystical Reflections on Jewish Prayer (Jewish Lights Publishing, 2004), written with Lawrence Kushner; and From Tiberias, With Love: A Collection of Tiberian Hasidism, volume I: Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitebsk, edited by Aubrey Glazer (Fons Vitae Press, 2020.) 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 `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.

A prolific author and editor, his recent publications include: Words To Live By: Sacred Sources for Interreligious Engagement (co-editor, Orbis) and Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi: Essential Teachings (co-editor, Orbis). Rabbi Rose is also the creator of the weekly scriptural commentary series 70 Faces of Torah, curator of the web-based project PsalmSeason, and co-publisher of the Journal of Interreligious Studies.

Read Rabbi Rose’s recent blog posts:

• “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 Micha'el Rosenberg

Associate Professor of Rabbinics
Rabbinic Ordination, Chief Rabbinate of Israel
Ph.D., Jewish Theological Seminary
mrosenberg@hebrewcollege.edu | 617.559.8804

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`18

Rabbinical Ordination, Hebrew College

Before matriculating in the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in 2014, Jordan taught Yiddish language and literature 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 20^th and 21^st 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.

Rabbi Michael Shire

Academic Director, Master’s in 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 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.

Current Research

Current research includes “Constructivist Spiritual Education for Jewish Early Childhood Settings, in publication 2021.”

Current Professional Appointment

2020-2021 Fellow of the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning: Engaging Imagination as Theological School Faculty.  2018-2019 Fellow of the Lippman Kanfer/JTS Applied Jewish Wisdom Fellowship. High Holyday Pulpit Oxford Jewish Centre, UK.

Courses

• Foundations of Jewish Education
• 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

• Judaism and Childhood, The Sage Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood Studies (Sage Publishing, 2020)
• 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
• Shire and Skolnick Einhorn, “The Master’s Degree as a Way to Deepen the Talent and Motivation of Teachers” Prizmah’s HaYidion Magazine, summer 2019
• “Torah Godly Play: An Innovative Approach to Religious Education for Shlemut”  in “Gleanings: A dialogue on Jewish Education” Volume 6:2 2019
• “Torah Godly Play: Godly Play for Jewish Education” in The Circle, Godly Play Foundation, September 2017
• “Hayom Harat Olam”, Hebrew College High Holiday Companion, 2017.
• Book Review of E.Holzer, Attuned Learning in Journal of Jewish Education, Vol 83, No. 3, 2017.
• 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 `12

Head of Vocal Arts and Adjunct Instructor, Hebrew College Cantorial Program
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

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 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 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 also 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.