A Visual Interpretation
Hebrew College’s Arts Initiative is honored to have recently received two lithograph folios by Israeli artist Rueven Rubin for our permanent collection: one is about King David, and the other is “Views of Israel!” We are currently preparing a new exhibit to showcase the King David artwork this winter. Stay tuned for more details about our opening event at our collaborative campus in Newton.
(Pictured below: The artist’s personal dedication on the cover of one of the folios, accompanied by a photograph of Reuven with his wife Esther showing the David lithographs to David Ben Gurion.)
Chanukah Art-Making, Learning & Spirituality
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Facilitated by Josh Conescu
Hankus Netsky is multi-instrumentalist, composer, and ethnomusicologist, Dr. Hankus Netsky is co-chair of New England Conservatory’s Contemporary Musical Arts Department, founder and director of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and former Vice President for Education at the Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA. He has composed extensively for film, theater, and television, collaborated closely with Itzhak Perlman, Robin Williams, and Joel Grey to name a few. He has taught at McGill University, Hampshire College, Wesleyan University, Hebrew College, and for Silkroad’s Global Musician Workshops. His essays on Jewish and improvisational music have been published by the University of California Press, the University of Pennsylvania Press, Indiana University Press, the University of Scranton Press, Hips Roads, and the University Press of America. He edited “The Hoffman Book,” a collection of 161 klezmer tunes that formed the basis of Philadelphia’s early 20th Century klezmer repertoire published in 2023, and Temple University Press published his book Klezmer, Music and Community in 20th Century Jewish Philadelphia in 2015.
Jessica Kate Meyer `14 is the Artist-in-Residence and Rosh Tefillah at Hebrew College. She has served at Congregation Chizuk Amuno in Baltimore, The Kitchen SF, and Romemu in NYC. While visiting communities worldwide, Jessica has built community through soulful prayer and song. She has inspired people of all religious and music backgrounds to find their voice in prayer and to attune their ears in listening. She has studied sacred Jewish music with masters from Ashkenazi and Mizrahi traditions and has performed as a vocalist with ensembles across the US and Israel. In a previous life, Jessica appeared in film, theater, and television projects in Europe and the United States: most notably as a principal role in the Oscar-winning film “The Pianist.” Rabbi Meyer received her undergraduate degree from Wellesley College, her 
Currently based in Boston, Israeli clarinetist and composer Itay Dayan is considered one of today’s most promising klezmer musicians. His recent album, “Hoffman’s Farewell”, demonstrates Itay’s proficiency within the traditional klezmer idiom and his pursuit in looking for new sounds and options for his music. Drawing inspiration from different musical worlds, Itay played with various ensembles such as the Klezmer Conservatory Band, Meitar Ensemble and the Israel Klezmer Orchestra, with which he has toured internationally. While studying for his M.Mus at New England Conservatory and his B.Mus at the Jerusalem Academy of Music, Itay won scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Ronen Foundation, Ima Foundation, and the Zvi and Ofra Meitar Family Foundation. Notably, Itay is a recipient of the Siday Fellowship for Musical Creativity by the Jerusalem Institute of Contemporary Music, and of the Peter Row Global Musician Award.
Neta Weiner is a musician, actor, and director based in Jaffa. He is the founder, lead singer, and accordionist of System Ali, a multilingual Jewish-Arab Hip-Hop project. Weiner is also the artistic director of the Beit System Ali social educational movement. He has created several critically acclaimed and award-winning plays that have been produced for festivals and significant theaters worldwide. As an actor, he has appeared in several Israeli films and television shows and wrote the soundtrack for the anticipated series “Madrase”. Weiner released his second solo album, “PINUI BINUI” last year, written in Hebrew, Arabic, Yiddish, and English. Additionally, he has been practicing martial arts for over 20 years and is a licensed teacher of Wing Tsun Kung Fu.
In his new book, The Triumph of Life: A Narrative Theology of Judaism, Rabbi Yitz Greenberg tells the story of God’s relationship with humanity, and illuminates the Jewish vision of God as a force of life and love. He explores how the covenant, this partnership between us and God, empowers us to prioritize repair and work towards a world in which every person lives with dignity.
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg
Rabbi Sharon Cohen-Anisfeld