Category: Events

Commencement & Ordination 2024/5784

Ceremonies: June 2, 2024 | 25 Iyar 5784

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 Livestream

Watch the ceremonies live on Sunday, June 2, 2024 begginning at noon on our Commencement web page here.

Honorary Degree Recipients

Sharon-KleinbaumRabbi 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.

 

CochavElkayamLevyDr. 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-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.

More information

Taste of Hebrew College Me’ah Classic

old textJoin us for a Taste of Me’ah Classic

We 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.

Our Instructor

Samuels_Benjamin 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.

Register

> > Learn more & register 

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.

CJP_Badge_ColorHebrew College’s Me’ah program is supported by Combined Jewish Philanthropies.

The Oys & Joys of Interreligious Engagement: A Conversation and Book Launch

Presenters: Dr. Lucinda Mosher, Elinor Pierce, and Rabbi Or Rose

best-of-intentions-book-coverWith 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.

PluralisminPractice book coverPluralism 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.

With the Best of Intentions Co-editors

Lucinda MosherLucinda 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.

ellie_pierce 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 RoseRabbi 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.

Co-Sponsors

This event is co-sponsored by Hebrew College, Hartford International University for Religion & Peace, and the Pluralism Project at Harvard University.

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Update on the War in Israel with Educator & Guide Lyana Rotstein

Save the Date

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:

  • Explain the conflict in the historical context of the Jewish people and the land of Israel,
  • Inspire us with the many volunteer efforts and bravery of the Israeli people and soldiers,
  • Describe how American Jewry is supporting Israel, and how global antisemitism affects Israelis as well, and
  • Give us tools to talk to people who may be influenced by biased anti-Israel reporting.

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.

about the speaker

smiling IsraeliLyana 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.

Hope Diaries Art Exhibit

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

About the Hope Diaries Project

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.

Samples of artwork from the exhibit

March Soul Sounds:
Jewish Melodies from a Carpathian Farming Village

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Jewish Melodies from a Carpathian Farming Village
with Hankus Netsky and Jessica Kate Meyer

Join us for our second Soul Sounds concert on March 7 at Hebrew College. Hankus Netsky and Hebrew College Rosh Tefillah & Artist-in-Residence Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer share spiritual Jewish melodies passed down to them by Morris Hollender z”l, the sole survivor of his musical village.

A survivor of Auschwitz concentration camp, Morris Hollender came to the Boston area from Czechoslovakia in 1967. A child from a renowned musical family in the Munkacs/Beregsacz region, he learned nusach and melodies from his Uncle Shloyme, Yiddish folk songs from his mother and extended family, and nigunim from his father and his Uncle Berl. Hollender’s role as Ba’al Tefile and Ba’al Koreh at Temple Beth Israel in Waltham became the cornerstone of his musical legacy in the United States and across the world. His repertoire is a rare gift among the contemporary musicians, contributing to the international resurgence of Eastern European Jewish musical culture.

6:30 p.m. — Doors open. Light refreshments available
7:00 p.m. — Concert begins

Event organizational partners: Jewish Arts Collaborative (JArts), Base Boston, and Temple Beth Israel in Waltham.

Tickets

Purchase tickets here.

Thank you to our Series Underwriters

The Rita J. and Stanley H. Kaplan Family Foundation
Kavod Boston and the Kavod Jews of Color, Indigenous Jews, Sephardi, and Mizrahi Caucus (JOCISM)
Suzanne Priebatsch
Susan and James Snider
The William Davidson Foundation and The Wexner Foundation

>> DOWNLOAD THE SOUL SOUNDS SERIES FLYER

 

Our Musicians

A multi-instrumentalist, composer, and ethnomusicologist, Hankus Netsky is co-chair of New England Conservatory’s Contemporary Musical Arts Department and founder and director of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, an internationally renowned Yiddish music ensemble. He has composed extensively for film, theater, and television, collaborated closely with such artists as Itzhak Perlman, Robin Williams, Joel Grey, Theodore Bikel, and Robert Brustein, and produced numerous recordings, including 10 by the Klezmer Conservatory Band. He has also recorded with Ran Blake, Marty Ehrlich, Rosalie Gerut, Linda J. Chase, Theodore Bikel, Margot Leverett, and Cantor Jeff Warschauer. He received the Yosl Mlotek Award and a “Forward Fifty” award for his role in the resurgence of traditional Eastern European Jewish ethnic musical culture. He was also awarded a New England Conservatory Outstanding Alumni award, along with the school’s Louis Krasner and Lawrence Lesser awards for Excellence in Teaching.

Listen to our Speaking Torah podcast episode featuring Hankus here! podcast icon

Jessica Kate MeyerJessica 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.

Itay-DayanItay Dayan is an Israeli clarinetist currently based in Boston, Massachusetts. Itay played with various ensembles spanning different musical worlds, such as the Klezmer Conservatory band, Meitar Ensemble and the Israel Klezmer Orchestra. His most recent endeavor, Hoffman’s Farewell, is a new and unique klezmer album drawing inspiration from traditional and contemporary sources. Currently pursuing his Master’s degree at the New England Conservatory, Itay won scholarships from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, Ronen Foundation, Ima Foundation, and the Zvi and Ofra Meitar Family Foundation. Itay is also a recipient of the Siday Fellowship for Musical Creativity by the Jerusalem Institute of Contemporary Music.

Save these Dates!

Spring Soul Sounds Concerts

April 18, 2024: Until Love Pleases: Piyutim of Shir HaShirim and Pesah with Kedma
Featuring Yoni Battat, Anat Halevy Hochberg, and Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer
6:30 p.m. — Doors open. Light refreshments available
7:00 p.m. — Concert begins

“I adjure you, O maidens of Jerusalem!
If you meet my beloved, tell him this:
That I am sick with love.”

A night of piyyutim (liturgical poetry) inspired by the Song of Songs (Shir HaShirim) and Pesah.

>> Learn more & purchase tickets

May 5: Catalan Mahzor Suite
Featuring Ira Klein (Composer, Guitar), Rachel Linsky (Choreographer, Dance) and Beth Bahia Cohen (Violin, Yayli Tanbur)
6:30 p.m. — Doors open. Light refreshments available
7:00 p.m. — Concert begins

Inspired by The Catalan Mahzor, a micrographical anthology of psalms and medieval Judeo-Spanish poetry, this one-of-a kind music, dance, and art experience fuses influences from Judeo-Spanish and Middle-Eastern music with the contemporary sounds of jazz and folk music.

(This concert is also in commemoration of Yom HaShoah.)

>> Learn more & purchase tickets

June 6: The Rabbi’s Family Band
Featuring multi-instrumentalists and vocalists Lisa Mayer, Rabbi Sruli Dresdner and Zachary Mayer
7:30 p.m. — Doors open. Light refreshments available
8:00 p.m. — Concert begins

Steeped in tradition but with a fully modern and inclusive sense of Yiddishkeit, the trio has performed their beautiful and authentic nigunim (wordless melodies) all over the world. 

>> Learn more & purchase tickets

series Organizational partners

 

 

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