Hebrew College Spring 2024 Celebration Recap

Jehuda Reinharz, PhD
President and CEO
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation

Jehuda Reinharz, PhD was born in Haifa, Israel, in 1944. He received his high school education in Germany and immigrated to the United States as a teenager in 1961.

Dr. Reinharz earned concurrent bachelor’s degrees from Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He earned his master’s degree in medieval Jewish history from Harvard University in 1968 and his doctorate in modern Jewish history from Brandeis University in 1972. From 1972 to 1982, he was professor of Jewish history at the University of Michigan.

In 1982, he became the Richard Koret Professor of Modern Jewish History in the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University. From 1994-2010, he served as the seventh president of Brandeis University. In January 2011, Dr. Reinharz assumed the presidency of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation.

With Jehuda’s leadership and vision, the Mandel Foundation awarded Hebrew College a challenge grant of $1 million early in our capital campaign. His early support helped galvanize our efforts, inspiring others to join, and we are thrilled to honor him as we celebrate the conclusion of the campaign and begin our next chapter.

Dr. Reinharz is the author or co-author of more than one hundred articles and thirty-four books in various languages. His Jew in the Modern World, (3rd edition 2011), co-edited with Paul Mendes-Flohr, is one of the most widely adopted college texts in modern Jewish history. His two-volume biography of Chaim Weizmann, the first president of Israel, has won many prizes in Israel and the United States. His current book deals with the history of the Jordan River.

Dr. Reinharz is the recipient of nine honorary doctorates. He served as chairman of the International Board of the Weizmann Institute of Science from 2018 to 2021 and serves on a number of other boards and advisory committees.

Rabbi Adina Allen `14
Cofounder and Creative Director
Jewish Studio Project

Rabbi Adina Allen ’14 is a spiritual leader, writer, and educator who grew up in an art studio where she learned firsthand the power of creativity for connecting to self and to the Sacred. She is cofounder and creative director of Jewish Studio Project (JSP), an organization that is seeding a future in which every person is connected to their creativity as a force for healing, liberation and social transformation. Hebrew College is delighted to honor Adina this year as we celebrate the role of Jewish creativity and the arts within our institution and prepare to partner with Jewish Studio Project on the launch of their work in Boston.

Based on the work of her mother, renowned art therapist Pat B. Allen, and her time in the Hebrew College beit midrash, Rabbi Allen developed the Jewish Studio Process, a methodology for unlocking creativity, which she has brought to thousands of activists, educators, artists, and clergy across the country. A national media contributor, popular speaker, and workshop leader, Adina’s writing can be found in scholarly as well as mainstream publications, and on her website at adina-allen.com. Her original research on using creative process to generate contemporary midrash was published in the CCAR Journal in 2013 and her chapter, “What Else Could This Be?” appeared in the edited volume Creative Provocations: Speculations on the Future of Creativity, Technology & Learning, Spring Press 2023. She is a recipient of the Covenant Foundation’s 2018 Pomegranate Prize for emerging Jewish Educators and is a fellow of the Open Dor Project for spiritual Jewish entrepreneurs.

Rabbi Allen’s first book, The Place of All Possibility: Cultivating Creativity Through Ancient Jewish Wisdom (Ayin Press) is forthcoming this spring. She was ordained in the Hebrew College Rabbinical School in 2014.

Rabbi Allen and her family live in Berkeley, CA.

David Hoffman
Treasurer, Hebrew College Board of Trustees; Global Energy Head, Oliver Wyman, ret.

David Hoffman enjoyed a rewarding 30-year career consulting with clients worldwide as the leader of the Global Energy practice at Oliver Wyman, where he specialized in strategic planning, organization transformation, post-merger integration and operational improvement. Hoffman holds expertise in competitive diagnostics, customer/market segmentation, organization design, and growth assessment methodologies. In retirement, David pursues a diverse set of passions including studying diplomacy and fostering the perpetuation and growth of the Jewish community.

Over the past six years, Hoffman’s profound dedication to Hebrew College has helped to reshape our institution and secure our financial future. As a member of the Strategic Planning Committee, Board of Trustees, and most recently as Treasurer, his time and expertise in organization transformation and operational improvement have proved essential to Hebrew College’s success. He has been involved in the oversight and betterment of the College’s financial and operational activities, including: strategic planning, a department-by-department review and enhancement of non-philanthropic revenue, and the implementation of our new Student Information System.

Beyond Hebrew College, Hoffman’s commitment to the Jewish community of Greater Boston is evidenced by his tenure on the board of Boston University Hillel, including a stint as Finance Chair, and his consultation work with area day schools to develop growth-focused strategic plans.

Hoffman received his BS and MBA from Boston University where he was an active member of BU Hillel. He and his wife, Beryl, of more than 35 years, enjoy traveling and spending time with their two grown children, daughter-in-law and two grandsons.

President Anisfeld’s Blessing for Jehuda Reinharz, PhD

President Anisfeld’s Blessing for Rabbi Adina Allen `14

President Anisfeld’s Blessing for David Hoffman

Esther Award Winner: Rachel Fish, PhD

Rachel Fish, PhD
Cofounder of the nonprofit Boundless

Rachel Fish, PhD cofounded the nonprofit Boundless, a think-action tank partnering with community leaders across North America to revitalize Israel education and take bold collective action to combat Jew-hatred. Dr. Fish also serves as Special Advisor to The Brandeis University Presidential Initiative to Counter Antisemitism in Higher Education. She is also an associate research professor at the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies. In addition, Dr. Fish teaches Israeli history and society at The George Washington University as Visiting Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership in the Graduate School of Education and Human Development.

AWARD Presentation by Rabbi Dan Judson, Hebrew College Provost

Panelist Bios

Susie Tanchel, PhD (moderator) 
Hebrew College Vice President 

Dr. Susie Tanchel joined Hebrew College in the summer of 2020, after serving as the head of school at JCDS, Boston’s Jewish Community Day School. During her nine-year tenure at JCDS, Tanchel was an accomplished and deeply beloved leader, guiding the school to preeminence as a national model of excellence in pluralistic Jewish education, and creatively embodying its abiding commitments to community, centrality of Hebrew language, and teaching the whole child. 

Rabbi Getzel Davis `13
Harvard University Campus Rabbi

Rabbi Getzel has been serving the Harvard community for 11 years. Over time, he has been continually inspired by the impact of Hillel on the moral and spiritual development of Jewish students at Harvard. Students emerge from their higher education happier, more sure-footed in who they are becoming, and more connected to their communities and world. Rabbi Getzel has semichah (Rabbinic Ordination) and a Masters in Jewish Education from Hebrew College. He is also certified in Family Systems Therapy and has a small private practice for individuals and couples in Cambridge, MA. Rabbi Getzel is passionate about egalitarianism, mysticism, Talmud, and pluralistic Jewish practice. Getzel is married to Leah, an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and is ‘Tatti’ to three young children, Asher, Esther, and Binah.

Gavi Berkman
Hebrew College Dignity Project Fellow

Gavi Berkman was a 2023-24 Dignity Project fellow and is a graduating senior at Newton North high school. He will be studying political science and international relations with a minor in Jewish Studies at McGill University starting this fall. He takes pride in his Jewish identity and has a passion for learning about other beliefs and cultures.

Rabbi Jessica Lowenthal`19
Rabbi and Education Director, Temple Beth Shalom, Melrose, MA

Rabbi Lowenthal was ordained in 2019 at Hebrew College. Before attending rabbinical school, Rabbi Lowenthal was Assistant Regional Director at the Anti-Defamation League in Boston, working with partners like MIRA (Mas-
sachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition) and MassEquality. She holds an MBA in non-profit management and MA in Jewish Leadership from the Hornstein program at Brandeis University and a BA from George Washington University in Religion and Judaic Studies.

Musical Ensemble

Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer `14 (voice, violin) Hebrew College Rosh Tefillah & Artist-in-Residence
Julia Sabra (voice, guitar) Hebrew College Rabbinical Student
Sam Tygiel (voice, guitar, flute) Hebrew College Rabbinical Student
Hankus Netsky (piano)
Grantley Smith (percussion)

Klimovitcher Nigun, Chabad

Haomnam /האמנם (At Telchi Basadeh/את תלכי בשדה)  

Poem by Leah Goldberg/Music by: Chaim Barkani

Hodu/הודו (Text from psalms 114 + 118, from Hallel) 

Music by Sam Tygiel, Hebrew College Rabbinical Student 

Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld
Nancy Kaplan Belsky
Rosa Franck
Laure Garnick
Wendy Linden
Rabbi Jessica Lowenthal `19
Rabbi Dan Judson
Susan Morrell
Suzanne Priebatsch
Rabbi Or Rose
Myra Snyder

Honorary Host
Suzanne Priebatsch, Hebrew College Trustee

Host Committee
Geraldine Acuña Sunshine
Susan and Aron Ain
Pat and John Allen
Rabbi Sharon and Shimon Cohen Anisfeld
Mark Atkins and Miho Sato
Joan and Steve Belkin
Michelle and Darren Black
Helaine and Bill Braunig
Dorothea and Sheldon Buckler
Ellen Carno and Neil Liefer
Harvey and Marsha Chasen
Carol and Carl Chudnofsky
Ellen Cohen Kaplan and Jeff Kaplan
The Cutler Family
Rabbi Jevin Eagle
Ruth Ann and Edward Feinberg
Deborah and Ron Feinstein
Renée and Steven Finn
The Fish Family
Fern Fisher and Jack Eiferman
Linda and Michael Frieze
Elkan and Zelda Gamzu
The Gann Family
Laure and Hal Garnick
Mike and Catharyn Gildesgame
Louise Goldberg Citron
Lillian and Richard Gray
Dara and David Grossman
Louis Grossman and Amy Gerson
Sheri Gurock
Rabbi Maury Hoberman, MD
Ari, Sandra, Adam, and Ben Hoffman; Molly Hoffman; Beryl Hoffman
Elizabeth and Daniel Jick
Rabbi Dan Judson and Dr. Sandy Falk
Nancy Kaplan Belsky and Mark Belsky
Bob Karasov and Hanna Bloomfield
Jeffrey Kasowitz
Robin and Mark Kasowitz
Judith and William Kates
Rabbi Avi and Robert Killip
Drs. Edwin & Roselyn Kolodny
Michele Koppelman
Larry Kraus and Sara Smolover
Lizbeth and George Krupp
Lydia Kukoff
Alice and Rabbi Van Lanckton
Ruth Langer and Jonathan D. Sarna
Sara S. Lee
Marcia and Alan Leifer
Diana Lloyd and Jordan Hershman
Yitz Magence
Anne and Rabbi Rim Meirowitz
Annette and Michael Miller
Daniel Miller
Tara Mohr and Eric Ries
Beth and Michael Moskowitz
Myra Musicant and Howard Cohen
Jessica and Chuck Myers
Rabbi Suzanne and Andy Offit
Robin Paige Polishook
Seth Priebatsch, Daniella Priebatsch Place and Skyler Place
Suzanne Priebatsch
Shulamit Reinharz
Terry Rosenberg and Elliot Schildkrout
Rabbi Sonia Saltzman and Dr. Ned Saltzman
Rabbi Ma’ayan and Rick Sands
Susan and Bob Schechter
Rosalie and Jim Shane
Judy and Mark Shankman
Susan Shevitz and Lawrence Bailis
Amy and Ross Silverstein
Rabbi Becky Silverstein and Naomi Sobel
Polly Gambrill Slavet
Diana Smith and Barry Cohen
Myra Snyder, MAJS`00, Me’ah`97 and Robert Snyder
Sarah Sonnenfeld Noked
Laurene Sperling
Carol and Steven Targum
Drs. Bob and Shari Thurer
Suzy and Herb Tobin
Diane Troderman
Julie and Steven Weil
Laura Wiessen and Rabbi Steven Lewis
Arnee R. and Walter A. Winshall

Hebrew College Faculty & Staff