Join us virtually on Wednesday, February 21 at 7 p.m. EST as we gather online to share remembrances of beloved instructor Norman H. Finkelstein z”l and, together with his family, recognize the closing of shloshim (the first month of mourning following the funeral).
The Zoom link will be provided to all who register as we get closer to the event.
Hebrew College
1860 Washington Street
Newton, MA 02466
Commencement: 12-1 PM | Rabbinical Ordaintion: 1:30-3:30 PM | Reception: 3:30 PM
Read about our ordainees and consider a gift in their honor to the Rabbinical School Scholarship Fund.
Watch the ceremonies live on Sunday, June 2, 2024 begginning at noon on our Commencement web page here.
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, dedicated advocate in the struggle for universal human rights; senior rabbi of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in New York City; and commissioner on President Biden’s United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.
Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, expert on international law, human rights, and feminist theories; law professor at the Reichman University and the Davis Institute for International Relations at Hebrew University; and founder and head of the Dvora Institute for Gender and Sustainability Studies.
Parker J. Palmer, writer, speaker and activist who focuses on issues in education, community, leadership, spirituality and social change. He is founder and Senior Partner Emeritus of the Center for Courage & Renewal.
Read the honorees’ full bios here.
Join us for a Taste of Me’ah ClassicWe invite you to join us for a virtual “Taste” of Me’ah Classic on Monday evening, March 25, 2024 from 7-8 p.m. on Zoom.
During this one-hour program, you will learn more about Hebrew College’s Me’ah Classic program with one of our instructors, Rabbi Benji Samuels. Me’ah Classic takes adult learners on a fascinating journey through the narrative of the Jewish people from ancient to present times. Me’ah Classic is a comprehensive, engaging, and in-depth adult learning experience open to adults of all ages. Students take a 100-hour (“Me’ah” is Hebrew for 100), two-year journey through the narrative of the Jewish people. Classes are led by outstanding faculty who empower students to become part of the conversation.
The evening will be facilitated by Rabbi Benjamin Samuels, a wonderful and long-time instructor in our Me’ah Classic program.
Rabbi Samuels has served since 1995 as rabbi of Congregation Shaarei Tefillah in Newton, Mass., and has been a member of the Me’ah faculty since 1996. He received his bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University and is an alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship program. Rabbi Samuels earned his PhD in Science, Philosophy and Religion at Boston University.
If you know of others who may be interested in this program, feel free to invite them to join us for this session.
If you are unable to attend this upcoming Taste of Me’ah but would like additional information, please watch a recording of a previous Taste session from earlier this year on the Me’ah Classic home page.
Hebrew College’s Me’ah program is supported by Combined Jewish Philanthropies.
With the Best of Intentions and Pluralism in Practice are two new groundbreaking books that utilize the case method to explore interfaith relations.
With the Best of Intentions documents cases of missteps and outright failures in interfaith encounters, drawing upon the perspectives of more than three dozen scholars and practitioners. Each case also provides critical discussion of what went wrong, and why.
Pluralism in Practice features decision-based case studies of civic and religious leaders as they navigate the dilemmas and disputes of our multireligious society. Both books encourage discussion and reflection as they take on complex and challenging issues.
Lucinda Mosher, ThD, is director of the MA in interreligious studies program at Hartford International University for Religion and Peace and senior editor of the Journal of Interreligious Studies. Her many books include the award-winning co-edited volume Hindu Approaches to Spiritual Care.
Elinor (Ellie) Pierce is the research director for the Pluralism Project at Harvard University and a documentarian whose most recent film, Abraham’s Bridge, is now in late production. She is also the author of Pluralism in Practice.
Rabbi Or Rose is the founding director of the Betty Ann Greenbaum Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership of Hebrew College and co-editor of the award-winning anthology, My Neighbor’s Faith: Stories of Interreligious Encounter, Growth, and Transformation.
This event is co-sponsored by Hebrew College, Hartford International University for Religion & Peace, and the Pluralism Project at Harvard University.
Join us on February 6 at 1:30 p.m. at Hebrew College when Israeli educator and guide Lyana Rotstein will update us on Israel’s war against Hamas, how it has impacted her family, community, and Israelis. Rotstein will take questions and:
There is no charge to attend this event, however you will have an opportunity to make a donation to FIDF, JNF and other Israel Emergency Funds.
Lyana Rotstein is an articulate public speaker and educator — an expert in the history of the Jewish people through biblical times and the connection to the land of Israel. She has guided and enlightened a wide variety of global leaders, congress people and senators, led community and national leadership missions, political groups, interfaith and intergenerational groups, among others to Israel.
We invite you to visit Hebrew College’s winter art exhibit “Hope Diaries: A Collaborative Art Project” through Febraury 29, 2024.
The exhibit features diary covers created by Boston-based fifth through eighth graders, reflecting on what hope means and what gives them hope — these Hope Diaries were sent to the Jewish Israeli and Israeli Arab students at the Yad B’Yad (Hand in Hand) School in Haifa. In the midst of these very difficult times, this project will deliver a measure of hope to students in Israel through art created by students in Boston.
Read a “Hope Through the Power of Art” | Read the press release
Shirah Rubin, a Boston artist, convened students from around Boston at four different Jewish institutions (Jewish Community Day School of Boston, Solomon Schechter of Boston, Temple Beth Zion, and Metrowest Community Day School). Through a collaborative art making process, the 50 students explored their interpretations of hope, assembling collage covers for these sketchbooks responding to the prompt: “What does hope look like for you?” The diaries were then sent to children in the Yad B’Yad (Handin Hand) School in Haifa — where Arab-Israeli and Jewish-Israeli youth learn together “hand-in-hand.” Yad B’yad is committed to building inclusion and equality between Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel through a growing network of bilingual, integrated schools and communities.
The Hope Diaries offer a “container” for each child’s expression and imagination during this most difficult time.
Special thanks to Shirah Rubin, the Jewish day schools involved, Temple Beth Zion, Rav Claudia Kreiman, and CJP.
