Our Community of Purpose and Belonging

2024 Annual Impact Report Stories

Rabbi Sharon Cohen AnisfeldWe are living in a time when it is so easy to feel buffeted by the news and noise coming at us from every direction. To be part of the Jewish story is to be part of the people who faithfully tend the “perpetual flame” of the Ner Tamid. It is to connect ourselves to a light that is both timeless and present for us in every moment. It is to infuse our lives with a sense of belonging and of purpose.

In this Annual Impact Report for 2023-2024, we highlight the sacred educational work we are doing at Hebrew College and the “perpetual fire” we are tending with your support — the fire of Jewish learning and leadership, communal resilience and compassion, human creativity, commitment and imagination. We draw inspiration from all that we have accomplished together over the past year, and we look toward the future with a renewed sense of belonging and purpose, and an insistence on hope.

Thank you for your partnership and shared vision. (Read President Anisfeld’s full message below.)

With gratitude,

Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld
President, Hebrew College

View the full report [pdf]

Stories

panelsits talking

In the midst of a difficult year for the Jewish people, we came together in solace, solidarity, and support. Guest lectures, adult learning programs, seminars, and ceremonies filled our calendar as
we sought to learn together, pray together, and hold each other’s hopes and fears. We are grateful to trustee Laure Garnick and other generous donors who made some of these events possible.

We are inspired by the rabbinical students who have been studying in Jerusalem over the last 18 months and value the opportunity to learn from their first-hand experiences. We are proud of the work our faculty, students, and alumni are doing in Greater Boston and across the United States to foster a Jewish community rooted in compassion, dignity, and resilience. (Above:  Gala 2023 “Finding Hope” panelists Dr. Susie Tanchel, Rabbi Getzel Davis `19, Rabbi Jessica Lowenthal 13, and Dignity Project Fellow Gavi Berkman.)

Israeli teens visit Hebrew College in fall 2023

President Anisfeld on takes supplies to IDF soldiers in Israel in November 2023

Jews are inheritors of a rich legacy of creativity, and Hebrew College honors this legacy by enacting a compelling, relevant vision of Judaism that speaks to the needs and aspirations of Jews today. Innovation is the key to our success, and we are never afraid to ask new questions, to imagine new ideas, to dream new dreams.

rabbinical students at Middlebury Language School

Partners

Our work is strengthened in partnership, beginning with our shared campus partner organizations and extending to Jewish and academic institutions across Greater Boston and throughout the world. Working with dynamic and innovative collaborators deepens our core commitments to Hebrew culture, pluralism, and building a world of compassion and belonging.

students reading torah

Rabbinical School

Each day in our spirited community of practice and prayer, emerging rabbis learn to cultivate a love of Torah, discern the voices in our sacred texts, and engage respectfully across difference, developing the personal qualities and leadership skills necessary to serve the Jewish people and a world in need of healing and hope.

Teens

Our teen offerings provided growth and guidance for students from across Greater Boston over a year of tumult and change. Our Teen Beit Midrash sent its first team to compete in Moot Beit Din thanks to the generosity of donor and trustee Harvey Chasen, while our teen philanthropists raised more than $21,000 for three nonprofits focusing on the issues of affordable housing and teen mental health.

MC workshop leaders

The Betty Ann Greenbaum Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership

Hebrew College’s Miller Center continues to launch and operate innovative programs designed to foster connection and compassion across lines of difference. High schoolers, graduate students, and leading professionals from many faith traditions gathered in Miller Center fellowships, workshops and seminars for shared learning, mutual support, and courageous cross-cultural conversation. (Pictured: In June, the Miller Center hosted “Leading Faithfully in a Time of Division: A Virtual Retreat for Religious Leaders.)

Leading the Field

Hebrew College’s vision for Jewish life rests on a foundation of inheritance and innovation: We are inheritors. We are inheritors of a rich tradition that stretches back to antiquity. And like the leaders who came before us, we are innovators, working to make a Judaism that is fiercely relevant in our own time. Our faculty, students, alumni, staff, and supporters contribute to this project as builders, founders, collaborators, and thought-leaders.

gala-honorees

With Collaborators who share our values

This year, Hebrew College welcomed new trustees with experience across the landscape of Jewish communal life. At our annual Gala and Commencement, we partnered with, platformed, and honored congregational, campus, and philanthropic leaders who build for the future even as they wrestle with the pressure of this present moment in Jewish history.

faculty headshots

With our Faculty

Our impassioned, collaborative faculty are the backbone of Hebrew College’s intellectual and spiritual life. Hebrew College professors wrote and edited award-winning essays and books, appeared on podcasts and documentaries, and provided crucial insight during this present moment. Amidst it all, we made time for strategic planning which led to the realigning of our Rabbinical School leadership team.

Parker-J.-Palmer-Honorary Degree Recipients Model Educational Leadership

Distinguished guests Parker Palmer (right), Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, and Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, passionate educators and human rights advocates, received honorary degrees at our spring commencement.

Alumni Around the World

Enrollment in our Rabbinical School is growing. Students learn, intern, and organize within and beyond our community; our alumni lead congregations, campus communities, and Jewish organizations across America and the world; and our 2024 rabbinical class had a 100% placement rate upon ordination, continuing our strong track record of career growth for both new graduates and seasoned alumni.

Our Supporters

Our supporters make our work possible and we are profoundly grateful to our passionate donors for their dedication and generosity. Our President’s Council, Living Legacy Society, our new adult learning Chai Society (adult learners who reached the milestone of attending at least 18 courses and Me’ah Classic graduates), and other opportunities for learning and engagement make Hebrew College not only a place for meaningful philanthropic investment, but a community of shared purpose and belonging.

Me'ah Spain travelers tour historic mikvah

Whether you are listening to our podcast on your commute, seeking wisdom from our weekly Torah commentary blog series, or enrolling in our in-person and online adult learning courses, Hebrew College offers pathways for lifelong, year-round learning.

Community Education

Hebrew College’s celebrated community education efforts expanded this year into travel learning experiences, new fellowships and professional development opportunities, and our new GROW series. Our adult education programming reorganized under the umbrella of Tamid of Hebrew College, connecting us to our past, contextualizing our present, and orienting us toward the future. This innovative work continues to be possible through the generosity of our community, with givers sponsoring adult learning courses and sessions.

ST-home page slideTorah

Torah sits at the heart of Jewish learning in every stage of life. Our students, alumni, faculty, and friends contribute to 70 Faces of Torah, providing fresh and relevant commentary on the weekly Torah portion, every week of the year, while our Speaking Torah podcast digs deep into some of the most innovative and relevant Hebrew College initiatives.

Professional Development

Hebrew College continues to innovate and break new ground with our offerings for educational leaders in the field, refreshing and refocusing our MJED offerings to orient Jewish educators to emerging trends in education, and growing our robust MaTaRoT professional development programming to include coaching, mentorship, and courses developed to fit the needs and schedules of busy Jewish professionals.


GROW Series
(Gather-Reflect-Observe-Wrestle)
Our new, free monthly lunch-and-learn adult learning  program, launched in fall 2023, attracted 588 learners from across the country!

Speakers included:
Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, Margie Bogdanow, Marc L. Dollinger, Rabbi Neal Gold, Alan Avery Peck, Rabbi Michael Shire & Rev. Tom Reid, and .Dr. Susie Tanchel

Topics included: Interreligious Perspectives, Jewish Peoplehood, Jewish Texts, Social Justice, and Storytelling.

"Trees" by Frances Miller
Art and Culture to Feed the Soul

Hebrew College continues to host a robust suite of arts and cultural offerings. With the help of our campus partners and other organizations including Hadar, Lehrhaus, Aleph, and CJP, along with individual donors like Mel Brown and Deb Feinstein, we are able to program a year-round catalog of art exhibits, concerts, book talks, podcasts, and more.

Four thumbnails of colorful, abstract diary covers for "Hope Diaries" project exhibit

Visual Arts

We demonstrated our commitment to art with exhibits featuring contemporary and 20th century Jewish artists, along with work from local Boston youth, while a newly published catalog tells the story of Hebrew College’s permanent collection of Jewish visual art.

soul sounds banner

Music

Our Soul Sounds Concert Series is a highlight of Hebrew College’s musical offerings, hosting musicians across the spectrum of Jewish music and performance. From Carpathian niggunim to modern compositions inspired by medieval texts, these concerts showcase the diversity of Jewish culture throughout history.

Special thanks 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

lunch coop students eating outside

Nourishment

The Hebrew College Shul Lunch Co-op, founded by rabbinical students, provided healthy and fulfilling lunches to 50 members in its inaugural year. Students, faculty, and staff members worked together to shop, cook, bake, set up, and clean up in service of our shared campus community’s spiritual and physical nourishment.

A perpetual fire (aish tamid) shall be kept burning on the altar, not to go out” (Leviticus 6:5-6)

Dear friends,

When I was a child, I was enchanted by the Ner Tamid — the Eternal Light— that hung above the ark in our synagogue chapel. I knew little about its history. I just knew it was always there, not only in our synagogue but in every Jewish house of prayer, and had been, for a very, very long time. The light of the Ner Tamid itself was modest. But the idea felt mysterious and majestic to me.

We are living in a time when it is so easy to feel buffeted by the news and noise coming at us from every direction. To be part of the Jewish story is to be part of the people who faithfully tend the “perpetual flame” of the Ner Tamid. It is to connect ourselves to a light that is both timeless and present for us in every moment. It is to infuse our lives with a sense of belonging and of purpose.

In this Annual Impact Report for 2023-2024, we highlight the sacred educational work we are doing at Hebrew College and the “perpetual fire” we are tending with your support — the fire of Jewish learning and leadership, communal resilience and compassion, human creativity, commitment and imagination. We draw inspiration from all that we have accomplished together over the past year, and we look toward the future with a renewed sense of belonging and purpose, and an insistence on hope.

We do so with immense gratitude for your unwavering partnership and shared vision. Thank you for all you do to keep the light of the perpetual fire burning — on the altar, in our hearts, in our communities, and in the world.

With deep gratitude,

Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld
President, Hebrew College

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