Hebrew College Hillson/Bronstein and Shevach Awards

Annual Commencement Awards

Hebrew College is honored to celebrate notable change makers in our local, regional, and national community at our Commencement and Ordination ceremonies by presenting two awards:

  • The Sidney Hillson/Rose Bronstein Memorial Award
  • The Benjamin Shevach Award for Excellence in Jewish Educational Leadership

These awards were initially created by members of the Hillson, Bronstein, and Shevach families to celebrate their family members’ legacies at Hebrew College and across our broader community. The Sidney Hillson Memorial Award for Distinguished Leadership in and Commitment to Jewish Education was first provided in 1988, the Bronstein in 2004 for distinguished leadership and commitment to the centrality of the Hebrew language in Jewish education and for the advancement of Jewish culture and civilization. They merged in 2011. Read about Rose Bronstein below.

The Dr. Benjamin J. Shevach Memorial Award for Distinguished Leadership in Jewish Education was created in 1978. Dr. Shevach left an indelible mark on Jewish education in Boston, and the award that bears his name is the highest award that Hebrew College bestows for achievement in the field of Jewish education. Read more about Benjamin Shevach below. We are grateful to the numerous donors who made these awards possible over the years.

(Pictured above: Joni Blinderman, 2024 Benjamin Shevach Award recipient.)

Award Recipients

1988: Carol K. lngall
1995: Mildred (“Millie”) Levitt `49
1996: Carolyn Keller
1998: Dr. Bernice Lerner
1999: Dr. Vardit Ringvald
2004: Mildred (“Millie”) Levitt `49 AND daughter Sheryl Schwartz `78
2005: Paula Korman MAJS `93
2007: Dr. Jonathan Golden

2011: Arnee Winshall
2013: Dr. Naomi Stillman
2014: Dr. Susie Tanchel
2015: Shirah Rubin
2016: Tzilla Barone
2017: Harvey N. Bock
2018: Lewis Gilnert, PhD
2019: Ross B. Levine
2023: Rabbi Andrew Ergas
2024: Rabbi David Gedzelman

1979: Rose Bronstein
1980: Pearl Tarnor
1981: Rabbi Alvan H. Kaunfer
1982: Dr. Sampson A. Isserof 1983: Abraham Spack
1984: Miriam Libenson and Chana Shanfeld
1986: Walter Ackerman
1988: Michael Libenson
1989: Robert Abramson
1990: Anne Lapidus Lerner
1991: Paula Hyman
1992: Warren Bargad
1994: Josha Jacobson
1995: Israel Sheffler
2000: Professor Jonathan Sarna
2001: Rabbi Daniel Lehmann, Ph.D. 2011: Gail T. Reimer
2012: Ilan Troen
2013: Charlotte Abramson
2014: Rav-Hazzan Scott M. Sokol
2016: Rabbi Alan M. Ullman
2017: Marion Gribetz
2018: Dr. Marc Kramer
2019: Sefaria co-founders Joshua Foer and Brett Lockspeiser accepted the prize on behalf of their team.
2022: Dr. Deborah Skolnick-Einhorn
2023: Merle Feld
2024: Joni Blinderman

*If you or a member of your family were a recipient of one or both of these awards and are not listed here, we would be honored to update this list! Please contact us at advancement@hebrewcollege.edu with details.

About Rose Bronstein

Rose Bronstein z”l (Prozdor 1941, Bachelor of Hebrew Literature 1945, Master of Hebrew Letters 1970) was born in 1923 and passed away in 2011. She was known and beloved throughout the Boston area, and throughout the wider Jewish educational community, as a role model and teacher par excellence. Her 51 years in the field of Jewish education ranged from teaching the alef-bet at the Beth El Hebrew School in Dorchester to teaching Hebrew literature in the Prozdor of the Hebrew College to serving as a master teacher in the Hebrew College. After her retirement in 1996, Bronstein continued to share her love of the Hebrew language by leading Hebrew College’s Chug Ivri. During her long career, she garnered numerous accolades and awards, including the Keter Torah Award presented by Boston’s Bureau of Jewish Education and the Benjamin Shevach Award presented by Hebrew College.

About Dr. Benjamin Shevach

Dr. Benjamin J. Shevach z”ll became widely known in the Boston Jewish community when he succeeded Hebrew College founding dean, Louis Hurwich z”ll, at the Bureau of Jewish Education (BJE, predecessor of today’s Combined Jewish Philanthropies) in 1947. Hurwich’s retirement from the BJE coincided with his retirement from Hebrew Teachers College, of which he was Dean since 1932. Learn more about the College’s history here.

Shevach strengthened cooperation between the United Hebrew Schools (UHS), an organization founded in 1945 with lay leadership to promote intensive Jewish education; the Hebrew Teachers and Principals Association (the two separate entities merged in 1948 to form one organization); and the BJE. The UHS worked closely with the BJE to ensure the Jewish education curriculum in the city of Boston was similar to the curriculum taught in the suburbs. The organization also developed a Code of Practice to help govern professional qualifications for teachers and principals, as well as developed standards of achievement and personnel relations. Shevach retired from the BJE  in 1973. (Source: The Jewish Heritage Center)

With his wife Anne z”l, Shevach raised two children in Brookline, Drs. Ethan Shevach (Prozdor 1959) and David Shevach. Mrs. Shevach’s sister, Eunice Kazis z”ll,  graduated from Prozdor 1933 and received a Bachelor’s in Jewish Education in 1938.

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