Winter/Spring 2025 Faculty On the Road
Faculty Lectures, Speeches, and Teaching
Learning at Hebrew College is a unique experience, just ask anyone who has stepped into the Beit Midrash or attended an online class. But our faculty go beyond our classrooms to bring compelling, relevant and creative ideas to your community built on our Jewish tradition and a pluralistic perspective. We share our love of Torah, commitment to communal and social responsibility, and spiritual and cultural creativity to ask and provide a framework to help guide answers to the most challenging questions of our tradition and of our time. Our faculty inspire, enlighten and entertain.
Each semester, Hebrew College faculty members speak and teach regularly at synagogues, conferences, or institutions across Greater Boston, North America and beyond. Below, find a sample of programs near you in the coming months.
FEBRUARY
Who: Rabbi Nehemia Polen, Professor of Jewish Thought
Where:Congregation Kadimah Toras Moshe, Brighton, MA
When: Friday, February 7, 2025
What: “Shabbat and the Spirituality of Song –The Song at the Sea and the Song of All Creation.” What a song does is align our actions and our being, so that we trace/track our steps back to our origin in divine vitality, the ever-new Source of all being. The shira leads to shura — alignment. (Based on a teaching of Sefat Emet.)
Who: Rabbi Or Rose and Rev. Rob Schenck
Director, Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership of Hebrew College, and Hebrew College Visiting Professor
Where: National Cathedral, Washington, DC
When: Sunday, February 9, 2025
What: “One Nation, One Peace: An Interfaith Service Unifying Through Nonviolence and Building Communities of Trust,” an interfaith service uniting people from all walks of life in a powerful stand for nonviolence, justice, and trust. Set against the majestic backdrop of Washington National Cathedral. The historic event gathered world leaders, activists, faith communities, and advocates for peace to inspire change and foster dialogue. Learn more.
Who: Rav Rachel Adelman
Where: Conference on Jewish Responses to October 7th, Sde Boker, Israel
When: February 28, 2025
What: “And God’s Breath Hovered over the Face of the Deep”: Modern Midrashic Responses to October 7th. In response to ‘The Black Sabbath’ of October 7th, there was a great out-pouring of lament. New songs were written and old songs were renewed. But a lesser known source of creativity came from the corner of the feminist Beit Midrash world, initiated by Tamar Biala, editor of the collection of feminist contemporary midrashim, “Dirshuni”. After October 7th, Biala reached out to women from kibbutzim in the Gaza envelope —teachers and writers who survived the massacre—and commissioned them to write midrashim in response to the catastrophe. In the mode of Eicha Rabbah and the Kinot (poetic laments) of Tisha be’Av, these modern compositions speak to the moment in classical forms. In this paper, Adleman will present an analysis of two works—one by Nurit Hirschfeld-Skupinsky, a survivor of the slaughter in Kibbutz Nahal Oz and the other by Liora Eilon, of Kibbutz Kfar Azza. Both have incredible stories to tell and choose to express their lament and hope in the form of classical rabbinic midrash.
MARCH
Who: Devora Steinmetz, PhD
Where: Temple Beth Zion, Brookline, MA
When: March 1, 2025
What: Kiddush talk discussing her recent book, Why Rain Comes From Above: Explorations in Religious Imagination.
Who: Devora Steinmetz, PhD
Where: Valley Beit Midrash, Phoenix, AZ
When: March 27, 2025
What: “From History to Story: The Hagada’s Invitation to Imagination.” The Passover seder challenges us to see ourselves as participants in an ancient story. In this session, we will look at a variety of ways in which the hagada helps us enter into our ancestors’ story and make it our own.
Who: Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, President, Hebrew College
Where: Society Hill Synagogue in Philadelphia, PA.
When: March 29, 2025
What: Scholar-in-Residence for Shabbat of March 28-29, 2025
APRIL
Who: Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, President, Hebrew College
Where: Nazareth Interfaith Centennial Summit at Nazareth College, Rochester, NY
When: April 6, 2025
What: Shannon Lecture Series speaker. Learn more here.
Who: Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, President, Hebrew College
Where: Adas Israel Congregation, Washington, DC, for Makom DC: End of Year Siyyum
When: April 25, 2025
What: “Shouts and Whispers: On Saying ‘We Jews'”. Over a hundred years ago, in an essay entitled “Renaissance of Jewish Learning and Living,” Franz Rosenzweig wrote about the subtle act of commitment and transformation that takes place “when in the confusion of the world we once quietly say, ‘we Jews.’ In this session we will explore the significance of saying ‘We Jews.’ What does it mean, why does it matter, what gets in the way, and what possibilities emerge when we shout it, when we sing it, and when we whisper it – to ourselves and to each other? Learn more here.
Who: Dr. Susie Tanchel, Vice President, Hebrew College
Where: Temple Emunah, Lexington, MA
When: April 25-26, 2025
What: Glatzer Shabbat Scholar-in-Residence. This year marks the 47th year since the inception of the Glatzer Fund and the initiation of Glatzer Memorial Weekend at Temple Emunah, an annual event that honors the memories of Anne and Nahum Glatzer, distinguished and active members of Temple Emunah. In their spirit, we bring eminent Jewish scholars to teach us and study with us. Learn more here.