Tamid of Hebrew College Adult Learning GROW Series: Secular Judaism (September 18)

Join us again this academic year for Tamid of Hebrew College Adult Learning’s free, monthly GROW series.  For our first program, we will examine the religious origins of secular Judaism. We hope you will spend an hour with us for this and future programs in our series, to gather, reflect, observe, and wrestle with topics that will deepen your Jewish learning.


September Program

Program: The Religious Origins of Secular Judaism 
Date: Wednesday, September 18, 2024 | 12-1 PM/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Instructors: Rabbi Leonard Gordon, D. Min.
Join us: Register now

With Kafka (1883-1924) and Spinoza (1632-1677) as our guides, we will explore the origins of modern secular Judaism.  If God is ultimately unknowable or identifiable with the natural order what does that say about the state of Jewish belief?  Join us for an hour of learning and exploration.

Our Instructor

leonard-gordonDr. Rabbi Leonard Gordon is the chair of the National Synagogue Council (NCS) and a frequent teacher in MEAH since 2017. The NCS organizes interfaith dialogues between the American Jewish community and the Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Muslim communities. He served as rabbi at congregation B’nai Tikvah in Canton, MA through June, 2023. Fascinated by the unique Jewish experience in Sepharad, he currently leads trips to Spain and Morocco for interfaith and Jewish heritage groups, including a planned MEAH trip to Spain in May, 2024.

Gordon received rabbinic ordination and an MA from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He also holds a BA and M Phil from Columbia University, and an MA in Religious Studies from Brown University. In 2018, he earned a Doctor of Ministry degree in Interfaith Studies at the Andover Newton Theological School.


save the dates!

Future Free, Monthly GROW Programs

Rabbi Dan JudsonProgram: Future of Liberal Zionism
Date: Wednesday, October 9, 2024 | 12-1 PM/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Instructor: Rabbi Dan Judson, PhD
Join us: Register now

Join historian and Hebrew College Provost, Rabbi Dan Judson, Ph.D. for a lecture and discussion on the past and future of liberal Zionism. One of the casualties of the ongoing crisis in Israel has been for some a loss of faith in the possibility of a Zionism rooted in a liberal worldview. We will explore history to define what we mean by liberal Zionism, and then try to discern the pathway forward for those committed to a Jewish state and humanistic values.

Natan+MargalitProgram: “When Arguing Works, It Hurts, and How to Tell the Difference”
Date: Wednesday, October 30, 2024 | 12-1 PM/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Instructor: Rabbi Natan Margalit
Join us: Register now

In our times of polarization and social fragmentation, we are searching for ways to disagree productively and respectfully. In this we have much that we can learn from the classic Jewish sources ranging from the Talmud to Hasidic mysticism. In this session we’ll explore some examples and discuss how we can apply Jewish insights into our own lives.

medievall spain frescoProgram: Memory & Memory Enhancement in Medieval Ashkenaz
Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2024 | 12-1 PM/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Instructor: Susan Einbinder
Join us: Register now

Anyone who has crammed for an exam, or left home without whatever you vowed not to forget, has strategies for enhancing memory.  For Late Antique and medieval Jews, an excellent memory was as key to social status as religious authority, and Jewish emphasis on study encouraged the cultivation of memory.  Beginning with a survey of ancient memory enhancement practices, I look at some Jewish responses to the need to memorize and retain quantities of text. Where memory fell short, magic was also an option. Remarkably, elements of early Jewish memory magic survived into medieval Ashkenaz in the rituals that marked a Jewish boy’s first day of school.  What might the persistence of these rituals in Jewish life tell us about Jewish attitudes toward learning and how they may differ from modern emphases?

kaballahProgram: “Kabbalah, Darkness, and Light — Hanukkah’s Season of Balanced Hope”
Date: Wednesday, December 18, 2024 | 12-1 PM/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Instructor: Yaakov Ginsberg-Schreck
Join us: Register now

As far back as the Garden of Eden, we humans have feared the dark and yearned for periods of light. This Hanukkah season, for our people’s ancient winter solstice celebration, what darkness are we being asked to release in order to rededicate our lives and communities in the light of eternal hope?


Tamid of Hebrew College is your home for Jewish learning and exploration for your mind, body, heart and soul. The Hebrew word Tamid, which can be translated as “continuous” or “eternal”, links us to our past, honors our present, and connects us to the future. We believe in a continual process of growth and learning and are excited to offer our you a wide array of courses and experiences to expand your thinking, build connection to Jewish tradition and the Jewish people, and nourish your soul. Explore our programs and online course catalog.

Tamid Adult Learning Classes Professional Development Support Our Work

Workshops: The Heart of Selihot with Hazan/Paytan Roni Ish-Ran

The Heart of Selihot with Hazan/Paytan Roni Ish-Ran

roni ish-ranWorkshops: September 4 & 11 | 3-5 p.m.

Begin your High Holy Day preparation with Hebrew College. Study the music and text of the Sephardi-Yerushalmi Selihot service with Jerusalem-based master musician and teacher, Roni Ish-Ran, and faculty of Hebrew College Rabbinical School. Join us for one session or all three.

Cost

Hebrew College students: Free
Non-Hebrew College students $18
General public $36

Registration


You may also be interested in…

HC Community Selihot Services (beginning Rosh Hodesh Elul) with Hazan/Paytan Roni Ish-Ran
September 4, 5 9, 10, 11, 12 at 7 a.m. | Hebrew College Mascott Beit Midrash

Awake! When Elul comes, it’s time to wake up. Join the Hebrew College community to sing, pray and ask for forgiveness at Selihot services. Coffee provided.

DATE CHANGE!
September Soul Sounds Concert
Date:
Sunday, September 8
Time: Pre-concert refreshments 6:30 p.m. | Concert: 7 p.m.
Location: Hebrew College
Tickets: $5, $18, $36 | Purchase tickets
Hebrew College students and faculty: Free. Please email dron@hebrewcollege.edu to make your reservation.

Join us for the first Soul Sounds concert of the academic year. One of the greatest living interpreters of Syrian, Turkish, and Sephardi-Yerushalmi piyyutim, musician Roni Ish-Ran will lead us into the High Holy Days with music and prayer from Jerusalem. This concert will also feature Yoni Battat, Anat Halevy Hochberg, Rabbi Arielle Lekah-Rosenberg `17, Fabio Pirozzolo, and Hebrew College Rosh Tefilah & Artist-in-Residence Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer `14. Learn more about the muscians.

 

Joan Leegant: Author Talk & Book Signing

Joan Leegant and her book

Date: Tuesday, December 3, 2024
Time: 7:30-9 p.m.
Where: Hebrew College
Cost: Free

Join us for a special author talk and book signing with Joan Leegant. Author of the new story collection, Displaced Persons, the book shines a light on Israel and American Jewish life, especially relevant in these times. Leegant is the winner of the PEN/New England Book Award, the Wallant Award for Jewish Fiction, and Finalist for the National Jewish Book Award.

Books will be available for purchase and signing. For more about Joan and her work visit  joanleegant.com

Musician/Composer/Paytan Roni Ish-Ran In Residence: Concert, Workshops, and Prayer for the Month of Elul

September Soul Sounds Concert, Learning, and Prayer

In September, join us for three exciting programs with Hazan/Paytan Roni Ish-Ran, during his residency at Hebrew College.

  • DATE CHANGE! Sunday, Sept. 8: Join us for a Soul Sounds concert with Roni Ish-Ran & Friends.
  • Sept. 4 & 11: Participate in workshops on the music and language of Selihot with Roni Ish-Ran
  • Sept. 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12: Pray with the Hebrew College community as Roni Ish-Ran leads Sephardic Selihot services during the first two weeks of Elul.

roni ish-ranMusician, paytan, and composer Roni Ish-Ran grew up steeped in the music of Syrian, Turkish, and Sephardi-Yerushalmi synagogues of Jerusalem. He received his degree from the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem, in Arabic music. He is the founder and music director of Ensemble Shaharit, a group of paytanim bringing traditional Mizrahi prayer music into the present moment. He composes liturgical and instrumental music. He has written academic papers on Maqam and Piyut, and a curriculum for the Open University, titled: “Performance in Arabic Music as a Creative Process.” He is a beloved teacher and master of piyyut, with students all over the world, and a sought- after musical director for concerts throughout Israel.


SOUL SOUNDS CONCERT

Sounds of Awe: A Concert for Elul with Hazan/Paytan Roni Ish-Ran and Friends
Date: Sunuday, September 8, 2024
Pre-concert: Light refreshments 6:30 p.m.
Concert: 7 p.m.
Tickets: $5, $18, $36;
Hebrew College students and faculty: Free. Please email dron@hebrewcollege.edu to make your reservation.

With deep gratitude to our series sponsors anonymous, Susan and James Snider, and Diane Troderman.

Join us for our first Soul Sounds concert of the academic year. One of the greatest living interpreters of Syrian, Turkish, and Sephardi-Yerushalmi piyyutim, musician Roni Ish-Ran will lead us into the High Holy Days with music and prayer from Jerusalem. This concert will also feature Yoni Battat, Anat Halevy Hochberg, Rabbi Arielle Lekah-Rosenberg `17, Fabio Pirozzolo, and Hebrew College Rosh Tefilah & Artist-in-Residence Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer `14.

Thank you to our Soul Sounds Series organizational partners: Base Boston, Jewish Arts Collaborative, Temple Beth Zion,  and Temple Reyim.

yoni-battatYoni Avi Battat (he/him) brings Arab music into the soundscape of American Jewish life through composition, education, prayer, and performance on viola, violin, oud, and vocals. Described as “an education for the ear and the soul,” his debut album Fragments seeks to find new pathways to connect with ancestry and find healing around our fragmented identities. Yoni’s newest project is Kedmah: The Rising Song Piyyut Project, which preserves and reimagines traditional repertoire for Syria, Iraq, Jerusalem, Turkey, Yemen, and Morocco. Their first album, Simu Lev, was released on Rising Song Records in Spring, 2024. From 2021-2022 Yoni toured nationally as an actor and violinist with the Tony Award-winning musical, “The Band’s Visit.” Yoni lives in Boston, MA, working locally and nationally to uplift Mizrahi identity in American Jewish communities.

Anat-HochbergAnat Halevy Hochberg (she/her) is a musician, teacher, and ritual leader based in Boston. Her passions include leading song, empowering others to raise their voices, and working to reclaim the Yemenite melodies of her heritage. She has taught and led ritual at Eden Village Camp, Let My People Sing!, Hadar’s Rising Song Intensive, and Linke Fligl. She co-produced Tishrei: the end is the beginning and Elul: Songs for Turning, and her debut album How can I keep (from) singing? was released in 2020. Learn more about her work at anathalevyhochberg.com.

arielle-lekachRabbi Arielle Lekach-Rosenberg`17 serves as the lead rabbi of Shir Tikvah, a justice-seeking, song-filled congregation in South Minneapolis. She was ordained by the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in June 2017. She has worked as a community organizer, Jewish educator and accordion busker. She trained as a full-time rabbinic fellow at B’nai Jeshurun in New York City.

Rabbi Arielle is a classically trained singer, an accordion aficionado, and a student and performer of piyutim. She is a former Rising Song Fellow and a Clergy Leadership Incubator Fellow. She performs, leads tefilah and teaches around the country, and treasures chances to cultivate songful spaces in the Twin Cities.

jessica kate meyerRabbi Jessica Kate Meyer `14, Hebrew College Rosh Tefillah & Artist-in-Residence, is a prayer leader, storyteller, vocalist, and rabbi, who served as rabbi-hazzan at Romemu in NYC, and most recently, at The Kitchen in San Francisco. She has studied sacred Jewish music with masters from Ashkenazi and Mizrahi traditions and has performed as a vocalist with ensembles in the United States 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.

fabio-pirozzoloFabio Pirozzolo is an Italian drummer, multi-percussionist and singer currently based in Boston, Massachusetts. Originally from Terracina, Italy, he started his career as a folk percussionist, playing Italian frame drums tamburello and tammorra, in one of the most famous folk groups in his area. Fabio performs in virtually any genre of music from jazz to world music to rock. He’s the co-founder of the world music ensembles Sawaari and Grand Fatilla and Italian folk music ensemble Newpoli. Fabio is currently the drummer for Vanessa Trien and The Jumping Monkeys and the Union United Methodist Church Band. He’s also the percussionist for Revma Greek Ensemble and Musaner. He taught master classes at Berklee, Harvard and Tufts University.


HC Community Selihot Services (beginning Rosh Hodesh Elul) with Hazan/Paytan Roni Ish-Ran
September 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12 at 7 a.m. | Hebrew College Mascott Beit Midrash

Awake! When Elul comes, it’s time to wake up. Join the Hebrew College community to sing, pray and ask for forgiveness at Selihot services.


The Heart of Selihot with Hazan/Paytan Roni Ish-Ran
Workshops: September 4 & 11 | 3-5 p.m.
Hebrew College students: Free
Non-Hebrew College students $18 |  General public $36

Begin your High Holy Day preparation with Hebrew College. Study the music and text of the Sephardi-Yerushalmi Selihot service with Jerusalem-based master musician and teacher, Roni Ish-Ran, and faculty of Hebrew College Rabbinical School. Join us for one session or all three. Free for Hebrew College students & faculty; $18 for students (non-Hebrew College); $36 for general public.

Sept. 4: Study with Rabbi Allan Lehmann
Sept. 11: Study with Rav Rachel Adelman

Register: Click here
Hebrew College students: Sign up via this Google form.


 

Jewish Studio Project Book Talk and Signing: Rabbi Adina Allen in Conversation with Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld

book coverCreativity offers us a portal to transformation, spiritual connection, and revelation. It is there for us when we feel stuck, divided, or disconnected. In her highly anticipated first book, Hebrew College 2014 alumni and Jewish Studio Project (JSP) Co-founder and Creative Director Rabbi Adina Allen `14 delivers a paradigm-shifting and powerfully accessible reading of Torah as a contemporary guidebook for creativity and invites us to rethink and transform ourselves, our lives, and the world around us.

Join Hummingbird Books to discuss The Place of All Possibility by Rabbi Allen, who will discuss her new book with Hebrew College President Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, followed by Q+A and book signing.

Tickets:
$22 (includes a copy of The Place of All Possibility) | $11 (Admission Only)
Time: 7-8:30 pm
Location: Hummingbird Books, Chestnut Hill, MA

In August 2024, Berkeley-based JSP and Hebrew College announced that JSP is opening a new creativity studio on Hebrew College Newton campus, becoming Hebrew College’s newest campus partner. Read more here.

 

Ta Sh’ma (Come & Hear) 2024 Virtual Open House for Prospective Rabbinical Students

Ta Sh'ma graphic

Join us online!

Have you thought about becoming a rabbi? Join us online for Ta Sh’ma (Come & Hear) to experience the vibrant pluralistic communities of Hebrew College’s pioneering rabbinical program. We hope you’ll take this opportunity to learn, pray and grow with our students and faculty.

ONLINE
Sunday, December 8, from 2-5 p.m.

  • Learn with Hebrew College faculty, including Hebrew College President Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld; Rabbi Jane Kanarek, PhD; Rabbi Daniel Klein, Dr. Devora Steinmetz; Rav Rachel Adelman; Rabbi Nehemia Polen, PhD; Rabbi Dan Judson, PhD; Rabbi Or Rose; and Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer.
  • Join with current students for an inspiring day of learning, conversation, music and prayer.
  • Enjoy plenty of breaks and opportunities for small group conversations.
  • If you would like to attend but can’t make it on Dec. 8, consider joining us in person on Nov. 18 or please be in touch to find other ways to connect with our community

IN PERSON OPTION
Monday, November 18 (special programming) with an option to stay Tuesday, November 19 for regular classes.


Contact Us

Please contact Rabbi Gita Karasov, Dean of Students & Admissions, if you have questions at gkarasov@hebrewcollege.edu.


Meet Our Students & Alumni

Our students share their perspectives on Hebrew College’s learning community!

Read more…


What kind of RABBI will you be?

Educator, author, artist, musician, activist, organizer, poet, professor, pastoral caregiver, facilitator, counselor, healer, caretaker, spiritual guide, community builder, prayer leader, farmer, host, Eved Hashem, translator, peacemaker, performer, darshan, midwife, officiant, fundraiser, preacher…YOU!

When we asked our rabbinical alumni to describe their rabbinates, their responses were a reminder of the breadth and depth of rabbinic work—and how they each have taken their Hebrew College education out into the world to create a rabbinate that reflects their unique passions and gifts. Across the board, their descriptions reflect deep creativity, commitment, love of Torah, social action, and innovative spiritual and prayer leadership.

Meet our alumni


Student Kavanah in 60 Teachings

The Hebrew College Kavanah in 60 digital platform is a place for rabbinical and cantorial students to share “short teachings” (~60 seconds) coinciding with Jewish and secular holidays. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for notifications about future videos.


hebrew college Seventy Faces of Torah blog

david-mahfoudaRead Torah commentary by our rabbinical students.

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Learning in “hevrutot” [pairs] is a hallmark of Hebrew College. Meet three pairs of Hebrew College alumni, who work together as spiritual leaders of their respective synagogues, and have extended that model to their professional lives.

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Giulia Fleishman` 22 deepened her rabbinical training and community connection through rabbinical internship training.

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Rabbinical Internships

For Rabbi Ryan Leszner `23, internships were an opportunity to experience real life as a rabbi before he had his own congregation.

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naomi-gurt-lindRabbinical School & Parenthood

Hear from rabbinical student Naomi Gurt Lind about balancing rabbinical school and motherhood.

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