The Women Faculty of HUC-JIR

ChronicleChronicleHEBREW UNION COLLEGE - JEWISH INSTITUTE OF RELIGION/2003 ISSUE 61

The

TThe Whe Womeomen Faculn Facul tty of HUCy of HUC-- JIR JIR

President ’sMessage

The Chronicle is published by the National Office of Public Affairs.Editor: Jean Bloch Rosensaft Assistant Editor: Ruth Friedman

Contributors: Amy Bebchick, Ginny Ben-Ari, Richard Rosenbaum, Sarah SchrieverDesign: Tabak Design

Photo Credits: Isaac Harari, Andrew Higley, Ariel Jerozolimski, Richard Lobell, Marvin Steindler

he late Yale University Law School Professor RobertCover, in a seminal article, “Nomos and Narrative,”

published in the Harvard Law Review in 1983, noted thatthe legal system of every community is embedded in a largerchronicle of communal purpose. Discrete instances andapplications of law are reflective of larger principles andideals contained in the “master narrative” of the community,and they bespeak the never-ending attempts of judges andlegislators to apply and realize these principles and ideals in real life.

In the case of the United States, the law reflects an overarch-ing narrative that begins with a revolutionary quest for libertyand justice and culminates with the framing of a constitution

T

2003 ISSUE 61 �1

that affirms the innate dignity and equality of every citizen. The history of the American people represents an attempt toestablish a way of life in concert with these ideals, and the pur-pose of the legal system is to allow for the ongoing creation ofrules and principles that grant concrete expression to the rootnotions of freedom and human rights contained in the “masterstory” of the nation. Professor Cover bids us recognize thatEmpire of Law is marked by never-ending acts of constructionand creation, for the tasks that Law confronts – the achievementof absolute justice embodied in the “master story” – can never be fully attained – only approximated – as the moral destiny of a community unfolds.

The teachings of Professor Cover are particularly appropriatefor Jews to recount at this time of year. His instruction asksthat we be mindful that there is a “master story” that informs and guides the Jewish people no less stirring than that whichinspires and directs the American nation. This story beginswith the arrival of Hag ha-aviv – the holiday of Passover that marks the rebirth of nature in Spring – and concludes with Hag ha-bikkurim – the Shavuot festival of first fruits that presages the onset of Summer.

However, these festivals are not of agricultural import alone. Passover isz’man heiruteinu, the time of our free-dom, and Shavuot is labeled z ’manmatan torateinu, the time marked by the giving of the Teaching. The core values of our people as related in thesefestivals are ones that couple notions of liberation and freedom with the val-ues of righteousness and integrity thatthe Torah commands. The ongoingstory of the Jewish people throughouttime reveals the continuing and oftenimperfect attempts put forth by eachgeneration of Jews to realize the mes-sianic imperatives contained in this master Jewish narrative.

The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion self-consciously locates itself within this unending quest for theattainment of these messianic goals, and this issue of TheChronicle celebrates and reports on current efforts being made at all our centers of learning to realize these visions that lie at the heart of our Tradition’s “master story.” The reader will see the remarkable events that are unfolding on our Jerusalem campuswhere a new generation of native Israeli Reform rabbis is beingeducated to promote the growth of progressive Jewish values andinstitutions in the Jewish state. No project could be of greaterimport to the future of Medinat Yisrael and the Jewish people.

The Chronicle is also particularly proud to feature the women faculty who now teach and mentor, study, and conduct researchat all four of our sites. During the last decade, the appearance of women faculty at HUC-JIR has become commonplace, andmy predecessor Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman and our ProvostNorman Cohen have been largely responsible for the appoint-ment and promotion of these twenty-four women as full-timefaculty at the College-Institute. These women are among themost academically talented and Jewishly-dedicated scholars intheir fields. HUC-JIR is privileged to be the venue where theyemploy their talents to educate future generations of Jewish reli-gious, communal, and academic leaders. The appearance of thesewomen on our faculty indicates that a messianic ideal of inclu-sion is now in the process of realization.

The Chronicle is also proud to report and celebrate the academ-ic and communal achievements of our faculty and their research.The lifetime achievements of Lawrence Hoffman and the

unprecedented generosity of Barbaraand Stephen Friedman in endowingthe Barbara and Stephen FriedmanChair in Liturgy, Worship, and Ritualare highlighted.

We recognize the pathbreaking aca-demic scholarship of David Aaron inthe field of biblical interpretation, andthe innovative applied scholarship of Isa Aron, as well. The literary and com-munal treasures housed in our KlauLibrary, the efforts of our Ethics Centeron the Cincinnati campus to dissemi-nate the ethical teachings of Jewishtradition, and our cutting edge educa-tion projects also are featured.

There are other items contained inthese pages that indicate that much else is also occurring at HUC-JIRtoday. Future issues will report on other matters that are equally deserving

of notice, for the ongoing story of the Jewish people and our reli-gion as well as the role that HUC-JIR will play in that unfoldingnarrative are still being written. In the meantime, enjoy what hasbeen recorded and know that the College-Institute remainsdetermined to be a place of inspiration and learning where futureleaders of the Jewish people will be educated so as to reflect andapply the enduring values and aspirations that stand at the heartof the Jewish story.

B’virkat hag Shavuot sameah - with warmest greetings for a happy and meaningful Shavuot.

Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D.

THE CORE VALUES

OF OUR PEOPLE... ARE

ONES THAT COUPLE

NOTIONS OF LIBERATION

AND FREEDOM WITH

THE VALUES OF

RIGHTEOUSNESS AND

INTEGRITY THAT THE

TORAH COMMANDS.

Founders’ Day AlbumEach year, Founders’ Day Ceremonies celebrate the vision of Rabbi Isaac Mayer Wise,founder of HUC in 1875 in Cincinnati, and of Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, founder of the JIR in1922 in New York. Inspired by their legacy, the College-Institute’s academic programs, facul-ty, and students are committed to fulfilling their mission of a Judaism responsive to moderni-ty. On Founders’ Day, the College-Institute honors distinguished alumni for devoted years ofservice as preservers and teachers of Judaism’s faith, culture, and communal ethics. As leadersof Jewish communities throughout the world, they forge the links of Jewish scholarship andspirituality that ensure the continuity of our heritage for the generations to come.

New York:Rabbinical alumniawarded the Doctorof Divinity, honoriscausa.

New York:Cantorial alumniawarded theDoctor of Music,honoris causa.

New York: Education alumniawarded the Doctor of JewishReligious Education,honoris causa.

Cincinnati: Honorary Doctorof Divinity and Doctor ofJewish Communal Servicedegree recipients.

Los Angeles Founders’ DayKallah: (l to r) Rabbi Lewis M. Barth, Ph.D., Dean HUC-JIR; Rabbi Sanford Ragins,Founders Day Speaker; RabbiJerrold Goldstein, Director,Introduction to Judaism, UAHC.

Post Your News with KESHER!www.huc.edu/kesherKesher, the semi-annual electronicnewsletter for alumni, students, faculty, administration, and friends ofHUC-JIR, wants to share your profes-sional and personal news. Please sendyour news by June 15 for the July2003 online edition to the KesherEditor, Ruth Friedman, at [email protected].

Subscribe to HUC News – our e-mail news service!If you would like to be the first to receive HUC-JIR’s news, pleasesubscribe to our e-mail news serviceby e-mailing your name and addressto Sarah Schriever [email protected].

Subscribe to HUC•NY Update –advance notice of programs!If your East Coast congregationand/or temple bulletin editor wouldlike to receive advance notice of ourpublic programs, please subscribe to our monthly e-mail newsletter by e-mailing your name and addressto Sarah Schriever [email protected].

HUC-JIR invites you to:

Visit our website - www.huc.eduYour key resource for information onadmissions, news and publications,academics and student life, libraries,museums, archives, research centersand projects, faculty and administra-tion, alumni, and continuing educa-tion and youth programs.

A New Generation of Israeli Reform Rabbinical Students are Poised toA New Generation of Israeli Reform Rabbinical Students are Poised toere’s one revolution you won’t hearabout on CNN. But you may justend up reading about it on the

pages of Jewish history. Swiftly and almostunnoticed, exponential growth is takingplace at the Jerusalem campus of HebrewUnion College-Jewish Institute of Religion.In the space of five years, the IsraelRabbinical Program has doubled in size,and then doubled again. Suddenly, largenumbers of Israelis are applying every yearto study for a profession that only a fewyears ago seemed implausible: the IsraeliReform rabbinate.

More and more Jewish Israelis are searchingfor a way to express themselves as Jews andas Israelis. There are more and more Reform

communities, more and more life cycleevents, more and more exposure to Reformin the Israeli education system. As thedemand for a Reform alternative grows, thequestion becomes urgent: can we find andtrain the people to meet the challenge? Willa modern Judaism survive and thrive in theJewish State?

Why Now?Something big is happening in Israel. Thekinds of attitudes that have sustained Israelisociety for decades about Religion and Stateand a range of other issues are now sound-ing increasingly hollow. In many ways Israelis in crisis, and Israelis from all walks of lifeare re-examining their commitments andsearching for new paths.

For decades Jewish Israelis were offered oneway to understand their identity. It was akind of binary system, according to whichone was either Orthodox or Secular. Therewas hardly any place for anything beyondthese two default options. But there are nowpalpable signs that this is changing.

Thousands of Israelis are now turning to ourrabbis, our institutions, and our congrega-tions in search of meaningful life cycleevents, study opportunities, and communityactivities. Many of Israel’s leading politiciansand public figures now come to our commu-nities to pray and to celebrate. Fifteen yearsago Israeli Reform was beyond the pale.Today, it is the coming thing.

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HH

Students and administration of the Israel RabbinicalProgram: Back row L to R:Rabbi Ada Zavidov,Acting Director - IsraelRabbinical Program,Yossi Kuzetski, AharonFox, Ezra Ende, Keren Zeidler, Ofer Bet-Halachmi, TziporahKendal, Tzipora Livne,Golan Ben-Chorin, JanineVasbery, Ronit Ohana.Center row L to R:Tanya Segal, AyalaMeron-Shashua, NavaHefetz, Gili Tzedkihayu,Vered Sakal, Alona LicizcaFront row L to R:Adi Cohen, Gilad Kariv,Michael Conforti, Ilana Baird

Meet Some of Israel’Meet Some of Israel’ssfuture Reform leaderfuture Reform leaders:s:Middle East meets WestAyala Meron-Shashua was born in Israel in the late 1950s to Iraqi-born parents and grew upin a suburb near Tel Aviv. After completing her Army service Ayala studied for a Liberal Arts uni-versity degree, married her husband Avi, and the young couple started raising a family. Ayala’sfirst encounter with non-Orthodox religious Judaism came in the mid-1980s, when she andher family came to Los Angeles for a few years. Enrolled as a graduate student at UCLA, Ayalabegan to meet practitioners of a Judaism she had never before encountered. She found her-self drawn particularly to Jewish meditation practices and new approaches to prayer andspirituality. Returning to Israel with her family after ten years in the United States, Ayala tookup a research and teaching position at the Center for Iraqi Jewish Heritage. When she decidedto interview at HUC-JIR in Jerusalem she explained to the Admissions Committee that, for her,Progressive Judaism could offer an opportunity to find a bridge between modern, Westernideas and the particular cadences of the oriental Jewish heritage.

Shifting Identities For the first eighteen years of his life Aharon Fox was completely immersed in the Ultra-Orthodox world. Then he shocked his family by announcing that he was going to serve in theIsrael Defence Forces. He stayed in the paratroopers for ten years, reaching officer rank. In

the course of those years Aharon decided to leave his Orthodox upbringing behindhim. He moved to a secular kibbutz, married and started a family. Upon leaving

the Army Aharon felt drawn to education and, before long, had become a seniorteacher in one of Israel’s premier high schools. His field isTalmud and Rabbinics and, after a while, his personal searchled him to apply to HUC-JIR in search of an approach thatwas neither Ultra-Orthodox nor Ultra-Secular.

Genuine OpennessAlona Licizca was born in Kiev in the Ukraine. She cameto Israel in 1991. A mother of two, Alona holds degreesin Spanish literature and English linguistics, and has

worked as coordinator of the Russian Department of the IsraelMovement for Progressive Judaism. She hesitated for some time between the HUC-JIR pro-gram and that offered by the Schechter Institute, affiliated with the Conservative Movement,and opted for HUC-JIR. “The thing I appreciate most within the Reform Movement is its open-ness, its readiness to discuss any idea, its pluralism, and its genuine willingness to confrontproblems. So, for me, the decision was clear,” Alona explains.

Golan’s Heights Golan Ben-Chorin is a third-generation Israeli Reform Jew. His grandfather was one of thefounders of Reform Judaism in Israel, which he brought with him from Germany upon makingaliyah. His father was the first Israeli-born Reform rabbi. Golan imbibed the spirit and values ofthe Movement from his earliest years. In his own right, he has become a pioneer of informalJewish education and is currently working on a doctorate in this field. He combines a keen intel-lect with a great sensitivity for prayer and music and proven organizational skills. Reflecting on hisdecision to join the program, Golan says that such a step is, for him, “a natural progression anda tremendous opportunity to continue my personal growth.”And what of the future? Golanresponds: “I hope to contribute my educational expertise and rabbinical skills to grounding theReform Movement in Israel as an authentic Israeli entity.”

Change the Map of Israeli Religious LifeChange the Map of Israeli Religious Life

If Reform Judaism is to offer Israelis a newvoice in their search for meaning and direc-tion, a serious leadership generation has tobe kick-started. The students and graduatesof our Israel Rabbinical Program are chargedwith the task of revitalizing and, in a sense,reinventing non-Orthodox Judaism in theJewish State. They are talented and motivat-ed to create structures and institutions thatcan help meet this sacred challenge.

Who Are Our Students?Ayala, Alona, Aharon and Golan [see sidebar]are but four out of the 35 students enrolledin the Israel Rabbinical Program of HUC-JIR. Eighteen are women. Eight were bornin the Former Soviet Union, and one studentcomes from each of the following, respective-ly: Buenos Aires, Amsterdam, Brooklyn andLondon. The rest are sabras, Israeli-born.Four were born and raised Orthodox. Two

2003 ISSUE 61 �3Israeli rabbinical student Navah Hafetz

(continued on page 4)

by Dr. Michael MarmurDean, HUC-JIR/Jerusalem

were born and raised on highly secular kibbutzim. Three have completed doctor-ates, including one student with a tenuredposition at an Israeli university. Four othersare in doctoral programs. All of the stu-dents are engaged in advanced academicstudies, and the fields in which they special-ize include Mysticism, History, Talmud,Bible, Liturgy, Jewish Philosophy,Literature, and more. Five of them are officers in the IDF. The average age of the students is a little under 35.

This is the most diverse group of men andwomen ever to study for the Reform rab-binate in the history of our Movement. The numbers, though small, represent manymore than the program has ever ordainedsince Motti Rotem became its first graduatein 1980.

Once these students are ordained, they willwork as congregational rabbis, or fulfill otherroles within the ambit of Israeli ReformJudaism. Yet others may serve communitiesabroad, particularly in the Former SovietUnion. And it is reasonable to assume thatwe will see graduates of the Israel RabbinicProgram serving as school principals, leadingfigures in community service, academia, thearts, and more.

The Syllabus What should an Israeli rabbi know? Theshort answer to the question is, perhaps,everything and more. Our graduates areexpected to earn the respect of the public atlarge, be prepared to deal with complex per-sonal and institutional dynamics, and speakinformally to audiences which may be unin-formed or even openly hostile. They have totry and find a way to articulate a modernJudaism which is rooted authentically in thetradition, and yet is genuinely responsive tothe needs of a society in transition.

In order to meet these almost impossibledemands, the Program has been structuredto combine academic endeavor, professionalexpertise, and spiritual growth. The Programtypically lasts four years and, at the sametime, students are required to complete anM.A. degree in a field of Jewish Studies inone of Israel’s premier universities. Faculty

includes full-time HUC-JIR scholars along-side many of Israel’s brightest and besteducators in areas as diverse as Talmud,Bible, Liturgy, Islam, Homiletics, Jewish Art,Management Skills, Counseling, Mysticism,and Modern Hebrew Literature.

Forging an InternationalCommunityOne of the most exciting developments ofrecent years has been the deepening relation-ship between HUC-JIR’s Israeli students andNorth American students spending theirrequired first year of study at our JerusalemSchool. If there is hope for the long-termrelationship between Israel and the Diaspora,that hope lies in people-to-people relation-ships. This year the links forged betweenstudents on the various programs have beenstronger than ever before. A retreat in whichthe Israelis and North Americans can social-ize and study together has been organized onthe initiative of the students themselves.

Crossing DenominationalBoundariesThe College-Institute is part of a cutting-edge initiative designed to ensure that thedenominational barriers dividing Israelistoday may yet become a thing of the past. A number of our students participate in ajoint project with students from theConservative Schechter Institute, the SecularOranim Institute, and a well-known Orthodoxyeshiva. Students are given the opportunityto break down stereotypes and to collaborateon program planning and study. We hopeand pray that the fruits of this initiative willbe felt in the decades to come.

Our Graduates Lead The WayThe Israel Rabbinical Program has produced,to date, twenty-eight leaders distinguished fortheir extraordinary leadership and achieve-ment. Some have become renowned in Israelipublic and spiritual life, including Uri Regev,

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L to R: Israeli rabbinical students Keren Zeidler and Nir Cohen study with 5th yearAmerican rabbinical student John Franken

Israeli rabbinical student Gili Tzedkiyahu

2003 ISSUE 61 �5

founder of the Israel Religious Action Centerand Executive Director of the World Unionfor Progressive Judaism; Meir Azari, foundingrabbi of Beit Daniel Congregation in TelAviv; Maya Leibovic, founding rabbi of theburgeoning congregation in Mevasseret, justoutside Jerusalem; Gregoriy Kotlar, our firstgraduate from the FSU, now rabbi of ourMovement’s congregation in Moscow.Others, too, are on their way to becomingleaders of note. In addition, a number of theProgram’s graduates now play an active roleon our faculty, where they join in the pio-neering task of creating a course of study forthe Israeli religious leadership of tomorrow.

The Administrative TeamBoth the father and grandfather of Dr.Yehoyada Amir were ordained as Reform rab-bis by the Rabbinical Seminary in Berlin. Dr.Amir, known to everyone as Yoki, has gone onto become one of the rising stars of the JewishThought Department of the Hebrew

University. Four years ago he took over asDirector of the Israel Rabbinical Program atHUC-JIR and, under his tenure, there hasbeen spectacular growth. There have beenmore applicants for the Program in one yearthan had applied during the previous threedecades. With his combination of academicrigor and commitment to liberal educationalprinciples, Yoki has helped create an atmos-phere of excellence and commitment in whicha diverse group of students can interact.

This year, while Yoki is spending time atHUC-JIR’s Los Angeles School, Rabbi Ada Zavidov is supervising the Program. A graduate of our Program, Ada brings anillustrious family history together with herown extraordinary personal qualities to herwork. Ada’s grandfather, Abba Achimeir, was one of the most influential thinkers and activists in the right-wing Revisionistmovement, and she was brought up in athoroughly secular Israeli environment.

Her own path to the rabbinate was itself afascinating journey, and she now shares thetask of helping others pursue their dreams.

Another key member of the team is RabbiNaamah Kelman, the first woman graduateof our Program and director of ourDepartment of Educational Initiatives.Naamah’s maternal grandfather, the greatReform rabbi Felix Levy, would undoubtedlyhave glowed with pride at the sight of hisgranddaughter playing a key role in the edu-cation and formation of tomorrow’s IsraeliReform leadership.

The VisionSpeaking at his Inauguration as HUC-JIRPresident, Rabbi David Ellenson left no onein any doubt as to his commitment to thegrowth of this program. New faculty posi-tions will be opened up and the IsraelRabbinical Program will be set on a soundeconomic basis.

The developments described here – the exponential growth of the program to ordainIsraeli Reform Rabbis – has been made possible through the vision and generosity of a few individuals and foundations, mostnotably Morton Meyerson from Dallas, TX, the Goldman Family Fund from SanFrancisco, CA, and Peter Joseph andElizabeth Scheuer from New York City. Theirseed investment has born fruit at a pace that

no one could have anticipated. The challengeis now to continue to strengthen the variousprograms of HUC-JIR/Jerusalem for NorthAmericans, Israelis, and others from aroundthe world.

Crisis and BirthThe Hebrew word for crisis, mashber, alsomeans birth. Israel is today undergoing aprofound crisis, but it is both a belief and a prediction that it will emerge from this crisis with resilience and an overwhelmingwill to live. In order for this crisis to bean opportunity for regeneration, men andwomen of extraordinary quality will need to step up and lead Israeli society in newdirections – social, economic, cultural, andspiritual. Our graduates are already out inthe field as the battle for Israel’s physical sur-vival and spiritual wellbeing is being fought.

HUC-JIR/Jerusalem is making sure, after the dust has settled and the noise has dieddown, that Israel is set to face its great chal-lenge: the encounter of Judaism withmodernity. It is this encounter which hasalways been at the heart of Reform Judaism.It is this encounter which will now deter-mine whether Israel is to stride forward to itsdestiny. Nobody may yet have noticed, butit’s Ayala, Aharon, Alona, Golan, and theircolleagues who are going to be key players inthis historic undertaking.

L to R: Israeli rabbinical student Alona Licizca with American rabbinical student Erica Greenbaum

s of 2003, Hebrew Union College-Jewish

Institute of Religion has theforemost Jewish women’s faculty in the largestJewish faculty of Judaicstudies outside ofIsrael! Where onceHUC-JIR’s faculty wasoverwhelmingly male,over the past sevenyears ten out of seven-teen tenure-track newfaculty appointments havebeen women. Today, there are24 full-time women facultyenriching every aspect of HUC-JIR’sprofessional and academic programs.

With areas of scholarly expertise encom-passing ancient Near Eastern culture,rabbinic literature, Tanakh, human rela-tions and pastoral training, contemporaryliturgical music and performance, Jewisheducation, Talmud, leadership developmentand strategic planning, medieval Hebrewpoetry, spiritual guidance, Hebrew languageand linguistics, ritual studies, Jewish history,and Jewish feminist and Hebrew literature,these women scholars are contributing inno-vative research, pedagogy, and mentorship toHUC-JIR’s learning community. In doingso, they are enhancing their students’ educa-tional, spiritual, and professional

development, transforming the field ofJudaic studies, and contributing to the intel-lectual vitality of the next generation ofJewish leaders for the Reform Movementand klal Yisrael.

In interviews with The Chronicle, HUC-JIR’s women faculty shared insights intotheir current areas of research and publica-tion, their feminist and other innovativeapproaches to their studies and teaching,and the relationship between their scholar-ship and the classroom, where students

benefit from the newest trends in academ-ic inquiry. They also reflected on the

unique aspects of teaching in aseminary setting, their mentoring

relationships with their stu-dents, their aspirations fortheir students’ future, andHUC-JIR’s core mission.

Enriching the Classroom“Everything I do is related

to feminism,” notes RachelAdler. “I see people as

embodied human beings andam drawn to what is ambiguous

and not easily categorized. Mywork has to do with how people are

affected within all their complex rela-tionships. This informs my teaching,as in my advanced seminar on con-structing theologies on pain and

suffering. My students bring their field workexperiences to the class, so that we are notonly talking theory but about real humanbeings. Talmud, Tanakh, medical anthropolo-gy, experimental liturgy, and Jewishphilosophy are all brought to bear on prob-lems – on being present with people towhom bad things are happening.”

Tamara Cohn Eskenazi adds, “We want tobring the women of the Torah from the shad-ows into the limelight, from their silencesinto speech, from the margins to which they

A brief survey of some ofHUC-JIR’s women faculty’sresearch projects conveysthe breadth and depth ofthese women’s scholarship,often incorporating a varietyof innovative methodological,feminist, and gender-orientedapproaches:

� Marla Eglash Abraham,M.A.J.C.S., M.S.W., AssociateDirector, School of JewishCommunal Service - Los Angeles,has been invited by the Womenof Reform Judaism to facilitatetheir national strategic planningprocess and to serve on thestrategic planning committee forthe Office of Religious Life at theUniversity of Southern California.

� Rachel R. Adler, Ph.D.,Associate Professor of JewishReligious Thought andFeminist Studies - Los Angeles,is a constructive theologianwhose next book will explorethe theology of suffering, notthrough classical theodocy,but by putting the person andtheir pain at the center of theconversation.

� Ruth Alpers, Rabbi,M.A.H.L., Lecturer on HumanRelations and Clinical PastoralEducation - Cincinnati, isapplying personality theory tothe supervision of students inclinical/pastoral educationand the way in which shehandles students whoapproach her for pastoral care.

� Isa Aron, Ph.D., Professorof Jewish Education - LosAngeles, relies heavily on litera-ture from the business worldand public education about col-laborative, process-driven,ground-up change for her recentbooks advocating alternativeways of sparking self-renewaland change within congrega-tions (see page 25).

C U T T I N G - E D G E S C H O L A R S H I P

A

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Women faculty at the HUC-JIR Faculty Retreat, June 2002, supported, in part, by grants from

The Henry Luce Foundation and The Wobash Centerfor Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion.

The Women Faculty of HUC-JIR by Jean Bloch Rosensaft

have often been relegated to the center of thepage. Throughout our history, our humanand Jewish family has been sorely deprived of half of our ancestors – we are ready tobecome a more complete community. Inpractice this entails looking closely at textswhere women appear but asking also whythey do not appear elsewhere where theybelong. It means listening to their wordsand listening even harder to their silences.”

When teaching Talmud, Dvora Weisbergsays “I am sensitive to the fact that womenhad for thousands of years been excludedfrom the study of Talmud and were thusexcluded from rabbinic/legal decision mak-ing in the Jewish community. Thus, muchof my work and teaching touches on issuesof gender, cognizant that my own genderinfluences the way I read classical rabbinictexts, and incorporates the feminist critiqueof rabbinic Judaism that began in the 1970sand continues today.”

According to Alyssa Gray, feminist method-ology has a lot to contribute. “It is reading thetexts with an eye to the fact that thesetexts were written by men formen. They largely reflectmale concerns. And youhave to read very care-fully between thelines in order to discover any othervoices that arethere. So I reallysee it in the senseof the hermeneu-tics of suspicion, awoman reading thesetexts to go beneath thesurface and to try to seewhat she can see.”

Looking at the Bible as literature and the psy-chological issues of memory are relatively newapproaches in scholarship. As a specialist inthe literary aspects of the Tanakh, AndreaWeiss applies methodologies adopted fromthe field of linguistics to the study ofmetaphor in the Bible. “I focus on teachingthe students how to read biblical poetry byanalyzing such literary features as key words,repetition, patterns, structure, and imagery.For example, given the current interest in thenames and images for God used liturgically, I want to make sure that my students knowthat in the sixth century B.C.E., SecondIsaiah employed maternal imagery whenspeaking about God.”

Similarly, Hélène Dallaire feels that studentsmust understand the basic framework of alanguage in order to appreciate fully the con-tent of a text. “An understanding of thelinguistic features of Hebrew prose and poet-ry allows students to appreciate the multiplelayers of the text and do accurate exegesis.”

Wendy Zierler explains, “I often teach cours-es that examine the process by which modernliterary sources continue the work on classicalmidrash and exegesis, in that they respond toand re-evaluate the ‘tradition,’ and thereforecombine classical/ancient and modern/post-modern material. In my course on the Biblein modern Hebrew women’s writing, forexample, we did close readings of biblicaltexts and then saw how feminist critics andmodern Hebrew women writers continuethat task of interpretation. When co-teach-ing a course on popular culture and theologywith Dr. Eugene Borowitz, I look at ways inwhich films, television, and current culturalphenomena can provide a springboard fortheological and religious discussion.”

Carole Balin’s history courses challenge herstudents to think conceptually and personal-ly in answering such questions as “How canI connect collective Jewish memory with theJewish past?” She designed a course called“Exploding Jewish Myths” in which the stu-dents explored Jews in relation to categoriesof gender, race, and class “in order to analyzeand explode those timeworn stereotypes that

continue to influence the ways that wethink about ourselves as Jews and the

ways others perceive us as Jews, and aswomen. The intersection of memo-

ry and history is always at play inmy classes.”

In Sharon Gillerman’s view,feminist scholarship has not yetbeen integrated into the main-stream of the Jewish kind of

master narrative. In her courseon “Constructing Modern

Jewish Identities,” she recountshow Jewish women were held

accountable during the Weimar

� Carole B. Balin, Rabbi,Ph.D., Associate Professor ofJewish History - New York,writes about EasternEuropean Jewish women’swritings, from the 18th and 19th

centuries and pre-revolutionaryRussia, recently uncovered innewly accessible archives inthe former Soviet Union.

� Hélène Dallaire, Ph.D.,M.A., M.Phil., Director of Hebrew LanguageInstruction - Cincinnati,concentrates on syntacticfeatures of the modal verbalforms of the Northwest semit-ic languages (Hebrew,El-Amarna texts, Phoenician,Ugaritic, Moabite).

� Rivka Dori, M.A., M.S.,Director of Hebrew Studies -Los Angeles, studies theimpact of computer technolo-gy on Hebrew languageeducation and works closelywith HUC-JIR’s DistanceEducation Department indeveloping new instructionalmaterial.

� Susan L. Einbinder, Rabbi,Ph.D., Professor of HebrewLiterature – Cincinnati, incor-porates cultural criticism,biography of objects, anthro-pology, New Historicism,postmodern literary criticism,and historiography in her newbook Beautiful Death: JewishPoetry and Martyrdom inMedieval France.

� Tamara Cohn Eskenazi,Ph.D., Professor of Bible -Los Angeles, is preparing theWomen of Reform Judaism’sWomen’s Commentary on theTorah, which will incorporatenew approaches not found intraditional commentaries,including literary criticism,sociology, and feminism.

2003 ISSUE 61 �7

(continued on page 8)Dr. Carole Balin (center) with students at HUC-JIR/New York.


Republic for the crisis in the Jewish familyand the decline of the Jewish community.In fact, she explains, Jewish women weretreading somewhere between total assimila-tion and the small minority of Zionists.“Through social work, they emphasizedcreating institutions to supportthe family and Jewish life andwere expanding the more nar-row definition of the Jewishcommunity from a religiouscommunity towards an ethnic one.”

The pastoral counseling courses demonstrate how coun-seling, spirituality, and the ritual aspects of life all cometogether. Nancy Wiener looks atcounseling as it relates to “oursense of wholeness in the world notonly when we are broken, butwhen we’re just living day to day.”The life cycle courses recognize that beyondthe primary participants in a ceremony, thewhole family system is affected, “so that we arelooking at the multigenerational effect of asimple, or not so simple, moment in one person’s life and the ways in which rolesin self-definition for everyone get altered at a time of transition.”

Benjie Schiller alludes to feminism and therelatively new role for women’s voices as can-tors and rabbis. “The orientation of awoman plays into the developing and chang-ing dimensions of rabbinical and cantorialleadership. So much of the Jewish liturgical

and cantorial repertoire was idiomatic for aman and written by men for a man’s voice.We now have the opportunity to add colorsto that palette, to enrich and transform itwith the best of what a woman’s voice canoffer in a genuine way.”

For Marla Eglash Abraham, scholarship,research, and teaching are one and the same.“I introduce many case studies in my teach-ing for the Jewish communal service program.Most recently, we studied the action of theemergency advisory board that helped save alocal Jewish Community Center. These expe-riences make the learning come alive for mystudents as well as keep them in touch withcurrent communal challenges.”

For some faculty, research extends to specialopportunities to work closely with individualstudents. “I collaborated on an article with agraduate student, Angela Roskop, which was

an incredible learning experience for both ofus. The subject was an anthropomorphic rat-tle — an artifact that Nelson Glueck donatedto the Cincinnati Art Museum,” describesNili Fox. “Our research incorporated genderstudies in that certain musical instruments,including rattles, were mostly within thepurview of women in antiquity.”

The study of Hebrew language, itself, is amodum for leadership training. In Rivka

Dori’s Hebrew language classes, sheteaches her students “to think

critically, understand theimportance of context

and the power of inter-pretation, appreciateHebrew language as a Jewish value, con-nect with other Jews,including Israelis, andlearn to be tolerant

and pluralistic.”

Being pluralistic is intrin-sic to inclusivity, which is

the watchword of Jo Kay’sinnovative approach to teachingJewish education. “We have to

stop thinking about the ideal Jewish familyand adjust our work to the realities of theJewish community today, as reflected in thenew population studies: diversity, single parentfamilies, newly affiliated Jews, families withinterfaith relatives. We need to figure out theways in which we can help them feel welcomewithin the community.”

The Seminary SettingHUC-JIR’s women faculty members havepursued their graduate and professionaltraining and previous teaching positions in a variety of institutions, ranging from secu-lar universities to Judaism’s rabbinical

� Lisa Grant, Ph.D.,Assistant Professor ofJewish Education - NewYork, has collaborated onan in-depth investigationof Hebrew University’s plu-ralistic Florence MeltonAdult Mini-School and itsimpact on its over 20,000graduates in over sixtyNorth American sites.

� Alyssa Gray, J.D., L.L.M.,Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Codes and ResponsaLiterature - New York, ispreparing a book based onher dissertation analyzing theliterary dependency of theBabylonian Talmud on theJerusalem Talmud, as seen in the tractate on idolatry.

� Jo Kay, M.A., Director,School of Education - NewYork, is writing a new bookwhich will focus on thePassover seder as experi-enced by those who are newto Judaism or newly obser-vant of Jewish ritual.

� Nili Fox, Ph.D., AssociateProfessor of Bible – Cincinnati,incorporates anthropology and gen-der issues such as age and socialstatus into her investigation of identi-ty markers in antiquity – tattooing,branding, special apparel, et al –and the ways in which they are relat-ed to assigning or altering identity,and their cultural acceptance.

� Sharon Gillerman, Ph.D.,Associate Professor of JewishHistory - Los Angeles andResearch Associate in theWomen’s Studies in ReligionProgram, Harvard DivinitySchool, is doing ground-break-ing work in Jewish social andcultural history during the WeimarRepublic in Germany by lookingat issues of gender and family.


8 � THE CHRONICLE

The Women Faculty of HUC-JIR (continued from page 7)

Professor Rivka Dori (left) with students at HUC-JIR/Los Angeles.

seminaries. Their previousexperiences and currentwork as HUC-JIR facultyoffer profound insightsinto the unique quali-ties of teaching at theCollege-Institute, where they alsoencounter personal gratification throughtheir key role in mold-ing the next generationof Jewish leaders. Theyrecognize that, throughtheir students, their teach-ing at HUC-JIR will filterinto the larger Jewish populationin ways that will enhance Jewish literacy and affiliation.

“When I was a graduate student in Jewishhistory at Columbia, there was somethingvery different about studying Jewish historyas an academic pursuit when I was emotion-ally tied to everything that I was learning,”says Nancy Wiener. “At HUC-JIR, studentscan learn about Judaism in an environmentwhere their own religious identity, and theirdesire to be expressive about the connectionthey feel with Judaism, will be honored andpromoted. To be able to teach here is to beable to bring all of this knowledge to peoplewho are thirsting for it and who want toknow how they can make it part of theirlives and bring it to other people who areseeking to find meaning in their lives.”

Carole Balin explains, “I remember being a Teaching Assistant at Columbia. When I was asked to teach a section on Buber’s philosophy, I found it difficult. I was alreadyan ordained rabbi at the time and had stud-ied with Dr. Eugene Borowitz, but I couldn’t

teach it like Borowitz. I wasn’t able to pres-ent Buber’s theology as a theological optionthat students could elect as their own.Instead, the secular university setting limitedme to teaching Buber’s philosophy as if itwere data – do with it as you will.”

Rachel Adler adds, “I gave up teaching at a secular university and much prefer teachingat a seminary because my concern is helpingto shape the Reform Judaism of the nextcentury – I want to do that more than any-thing in the world – and this is the place todo it. I want to talk to my students inspecifically Jewish language – something I only can do in this seminary setting.”

Benjie Schiller’s courses are geared towardpreparing cantorial students “to make the religious experience for contemporary Jewssoulful, genuine, and a sincere form of com-munication.” She seeks to train her studentsto not only master the technical skills andknowledge base of liturgy, repertoire, andmusical style, and to incorporate the best ofall Jewish historical and ethnic musical tradi-

tions, but to make them “transcendent as leaders of prayer, balancing ancient

and modern styles to create adynamic spiritual experience.”

Alyssa Gray reflects on teach-ing Halakhah in a Reformseminary – an institutiontraining leadership for aMovement that is not boundby traditional Jewish law.“It’s part of our history andliterary heritage – all of it is

sacred, although not all of it isnecessarily binding. So there is

really no inconsistency in some-one studying the whole Halakhicheritage and yet maintaining ideologi-

cally that they have the autonomy to choosefrom within that heritage. I believe very firmlythat the Jewish people as a whole has an obli-gation to study the entire Jewish heritage.What you do with it then, that’s up to what-ever your denominational ideology is.”

For Sara Lee, Jewish education as it existstoday sometimes looks more like culturaleducation than religious education. But atHUC-JIR, students are enriched by a semi-nary environment and they emerge with areal set of religious commitments and spiri-tual questions which could easily not happenin a non-seminary setting. “Education stu-dents lead services here, they are involved indiscussions about matters of the spirit as theystudy side-by-side with rabbinical students,beginning with their first year in Israel. Theyare committed to thinking about what itmeans to educate for faith in a pluralisticreligious world.”

“In a secular environment,” Jo Kay adds,“you don’t have the opportunity to engage in

� Benjie Schiller, Cantor,M.S.M., Professor ofCantorial Arts - New York,is further developing her con-cept of “the four M’s ofJewish music: meditative,majestic, moving along (dav-ening), and evokingmemory” in her research,teaching, and work withSynagogue 2000.

� Naamah Kelman, Rabbi, M.A.,M.A.H.L., Director of Educational Initiatives– Jerusalem and Ph.D. candidate, HebrewUniversity, is pursuing research in ritualstudies that is one of the first attemptsto look at third generation Israelis andprobe their inner/religious lives by askingquestions about Jewish and Israeli iden-tity and the feminist sensibility forseeking new forms of rituals wherewomen are recognized and represented.

� Sara Lee, M.A.J.E., M.S.Ed.,Director, Rhea Hirsch Schoolof Education - Los Angeles,focuses on “action research”on behalf of educational, orga-nizational, and institutionalchange through cutting-edgeprojects in congregational andday school education and pro-fessional development ofeducators (see page 20).

� Carol Ochs, Ph.D., AdjunctAssociate Professor of JewishReligious Thought; Director ofGraduate Studies - New York,published the book Behind theSex of God years ago when Ms.Magazine rejected her article onhow the Tanakh did not havecommentaries by wives andmothers, saying that feminismwasn’t concerned with religion.

� Adrian Leveen, Ph.D.,Assistant Professor ofBible - Los Angeles, isdeveloping an analysis ofoutsider figures in the Bible(e.g. Hagar), their role inthe Biblical narrative, andwhat that can teach abouthow the Bible conceived of the relationship betweenIsrael and outsiders.


2003 ISSUE 61 �9


Dr. Nili Fox (left) with students at HUC-JIR/Cincinnati.

10 � THE CHRONICLE

conversations that involve rabbis, cantors,and educators all the time. At HUC-JIR,you’re living and learning in this microcosmof the world that you’re training to go outand work in.”

When their teaching involves HUC-JIR’snon-Jewish graduate and undergraduate stu-dents, women faculty members appreciatehow their teaching influences those of otherfaiths to have a better understanding of Judaism.

Nili Fox teaches courses in which rabbinicalstudents and graduate students, many ofwhom are Christian, study together. “There is a lot of learning in such a setting that hasnothing to do with the subject matter.Beyond mastering proficiency in the contentof the course, these students’ dialogue andhevruta (study partnerships) promote toler-ance and understanding. As future Christianclerics and college educators, learning togetherwith future rabbis affects the way they thinkabout Jews, Israel, and Jewish texts. In a neu-tral, secular academic environment, theymight learn the material, but without any religious or faith identity context.”

Yaffa Weisman’s comparative literaturecourses present Jewish and Christian textsfrom the second Temple period to under-graduate students from USC, for whomHUC-JIR’s Louchheim School serves as theJudaic Studies department. “I try to have mystudents understand the difference betweenreading from a faith-based perspective and an academic perspective. Since most of themare not Jewish, I attempt to have them iden-

tify and understand the Jewish concepts thatunderline early Christianity and the implica-tions of such a dynamic for both faiths.”

Some members of the faculty believe thattheir work can only be done in a seminarysetting, because “I am working with Jewisheducation, specifically with synagogues!”notes Isa Aron. Lauding the College-Instituteas an environment in which “we can beunabashedly in favor of being religious,” Lisa Grant agrees, “This is where I belong!”

Even on a personal level, the seminary set-ting at HUC-JIR provides opportunities forgrowth. “One of the things I appreciatemost is that we have tefillah four days a weekand that spirituality is part of my daily worklife,” says Marla Eglash Abraham. “I lovethe fact that weaving Judaica into tacticalsubjects like fundraising and supervision is natural for me to do here.”

Learning for LifeHaving chosen to teach at the College-Institute, these women faculty members’aspirations transcend mere mastery of thecourse material by their students. They hopethat their students will integrate intellectualand spiritual growth as well as the intrinsicvalues and ethics that are indispensable tobecoming Jewish leaders. Rachel Adler notes“people who undertake ethical tasks do notcome as blank slates. We bring our lives andmemories, our abilities and interests, ourcommitments and dreams. I expect integrityfrom my students – not to settle for easyanswers but to be willing to be challengedand dig deep.”

Alyssa Gray hopes that when her studentsconfront situations in their rabbinate – andpeople come to them with questions about values or direction – that they will look to theirstudies in Rabbinics and Halakhah as part oftheir toolbox for helping people with issues.

“In my 8th century Prophets Bible course, asstudents work to understand the prophet’smessage and its geographic, political, andcultural context, I ask them to reflect uponhow these texts speak to them personally,”says Andrea Weiss. “What theological ques-tions do the prophets raise for you? How do the prophetic writings contribute to yourevolving relationship with God and under-standing of the experience of the Jewishpeople? What lessons can you learn from the prophets as you develop your skills as a leader and public speaker? How can youintegrate what you learn in this class intoyour work as a rabbi?”

“Reading together about the emergence of King Saul and King David, we encounterthat at that core of our tradition is a text that reflects seriously and honestly on ques-tions of leadership, power, and abuse ofpower that are so relevant to us as we facethe uncertainties of our world,” says AdrianLeveen. “Torah is central to everything ourstudents will end up doing in their profes-sional lives and I know that all of theirdiscoveries will inform how they transmitthis text to others. The most satisfying partof my job is knowing that I am engaged intransmitting an incredibly rich tradition andthey, in turn, are the next link in that chainas they do the same.”

In her teaching, Lisa Grant stresses thatbefore you can teach anything, you have tobe able to make meaning for it for yourself.It means being Jewishly literate, confident,

� Yaffa Weisman, Ph.D.,M.L.I.S., Adjunct AssociateProfessor of Jewish Studies;Librarian, Frances-HenryLibrary - Los Angeles, isplanning to write aboutthe dynamics of her courseon Jewish and Christiantexts of the secondTemple period and devel-op a digital library for it.

� Wendy Zierler, Ph.D., AssistantProfessor of Modern Jewish Literatureand Feminist Studies - New York, iscompleting a forthcoming book, AndRachel Stole the Idols: The Emergenceof Modern Hebrew Women’s Writings,which describes the role of late 19th

and early 20th century Hebrew womenwriters in recasting sacred and tradi-tional themes in ways that anticipatedcurrent feminist thought.

� Dvora Weisberg, Ph.D., AssistantProfessor of Rabbinical Literature -Los Angeles, is immersed in a studythat explores levirate marriage inJewish tradition explores how theevolution of this practice teaches us about gender, paternity, and fam-ily/community obligations versusthe desires of the individual, andthe negotiation between traditional texts and social change.

(continued from page 9)

The Women Faculty of HUC-JIR

� Nancy H. Wiener, Rabbi,D.Min., Adjunct AssociateProfessor of Pastoral Care andCounseling; Clinical Director, TheJacob and Hilda Blaustein Centerfor Pastoral Counseling - NewYork, recently published twobooks that look at the develop-ment of marriage traditions withinJudaism and how they havechanged over time.

� Andrea Weiss, Rabbi,M.A.H.L., Instructor inBible - New York, is work-ing on her dissertation on metaphor in the prosenarratives of the book of Samuel, which appliesmethodologies adoptedfrom the field of linguis-tics to the study ofmetaphor in the Bible.

C U T T I N G - E D G E S C H O L A R S H I P(continued on page 30)

he Barbara and Stephen Friedman Chairin Liturgy, Worship, and Ritual at

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute ofReligion, created through the generosity ofBarbara and Stephen Friedman, was inaugu-rated at Founders’ Day Ceremonies atHUC-JIR/New York on March 16. Dr.Lawrence A. Hoffman is the inaugural recip-ient of this new Chair. As the first of its kindat HUC-JIR, the Friedman Chair reflectsHUC-JIR’s curricular commitment to revi-sioning Jewish faith, thought, and practiceby exploring new forms of liturgy, worship,and ritual that are meaningful and inspira-tional for Jews today.

In announcing the Friedman Chair, RabbiEllenson noted, “We are grateful to Barbaraand Stephen for their visionary philanthropywhich will ensure that HUC-JIR providescutting-edge training for clergy, educators,communal professionals, and scholars. Bydesignating this Chair in the area of Jewishliturgy, worship, and ritual, they and we rec-ognize the important contribution of RabbiHoffman and Synagogue 2000, which he

co-founded, in envisioning and implement-ing the synagogue ‘as the moral and spiritualcenter’ for 21st century Jewry. As theFriedman Professor of Liturgy, Worship, andRitual, Rabbi Hoffman will teach andinspire our students to build communities oflearners and worshippers; they, in turn, willmotivate congregations and their leadershiptoward Jewish spiritual renewal and helpguarantee a vital Jewish future.”

Barbara Friedman, Treasurer of HUC-JIR’sBoard of Governors, stated, “In establishingthis new Chair, we pay tribute to ouresteemed friend and mentor, the newPresident of the College-Institute – RabbiDavid Ellenson – who has guided our jour-ney in Jewish learning and activism. We feelparticularly blessed to celebrate the firstincumbent of this Chair, our beloved teacherand friend, Rabbi Lawrence Hoffman.Through our commitment to this new Chair,we are honored to advance the academicgrowth of the College-Institute, an institu-tion of higher Jewish learning that we love.”

T

Dr. Lawrence A. Hoffman was ordained as arabbi in 1969, received his Ph.D. in 1973, andhas served since as Professor of Liturgy at HUC-JIR in New York. He directed HUC-JIR’s School ofSacred Music from 1984 to 1987. For over twenty years, he has combined research in Jewishritual, worship, and spirituality with a passion forthe spiritual renewal of American Judaism. RabbiHoffman is internationally recognized as a preemi-nent scholar in Jewish liturgy, ritual, worship, andspirituality. A mentor to generations of studentsand teacher of distinguished North AmericanJewish lay leaders, he is the Co-founder andDirector of Synagogue 2000, a trans-denomina-tional project envisioning and implementinginnovations in 21st century synagogue life.

He is the author or editor of over 20 books, includ-ing his most recently published book, The JourneyHome: Discovering the Deep Spiritual Wisdom ofJewish Tradition, Minhag Ami: My People’s PrayerBook (a multi-volume Siddur with pluralistic mod-ern commentaries), Two Liturgical Traditions (anongoing series on Christian and Jewish worship);Israel: A Spiritual Guide (a guide for modern Jewishpilgrims), a newly revised version of What is a Jew?(the most widely read introduction to Judaism),and The Art of Public Prayer (an indispensable,core resource for worship or ritual committeesseeking to enrich congregational prayer).

A regular columnist on Parshat Hashavua for TheNew York Jewish Week, the largest Jewish newspa-per in North America, Dr. Hoffman is past-presidentof the North American Academy of Liturgy, the pro-fessional and academic organization for those whoset national and international worship policy inmost Christian and Jewish denominations. He wasselected by the U.S. Navy in 1990, as part ofthree-person team, to develop a continuing educa-tion course on worship for Navy chaplains.

Barbara and Stephen Friedman Chair inLiturgy,Worship, and Ritual Inaugurated

Barbara Friedman, Rabbi DavidEllenson, and Burton Lehman, Chair,Board of Governors

Barbara Friedman with HUC-JIR/NYOverseers (from left) Robert Blank, PhyllisFriedman Perkins, and Nancy Blank

Barbara Friedman with (from left) HUC-JIR GovernorsFrances Hess and Nicki Tanner, and Sally Hoffman

Barbara Friedman and RabbiPeter Rubinstein, CentralSynagogue, New York City

Dr. Lawrence A. Hoffman and Barbara Friedman

2003 ISSUE 61 �11

hen Hebrew UnionCollege’s Library was

founded in 1875, all of its bookscould be fit into a single metaltrunk – and every night they actually were, to prevent themfrom being gnawed on by the ratsthat plagued the river levee districtof Cincinnati where the Collegewas then located. Today, with436,000 printed books and manythousands of special collectionitems including manuscripts,computer files, microforms, maps, broadsides, bookplates,tablets, and stamps, the KlauLibrary in Cincinnati has thelargest Judaica collection in thewestern hemisphere and is sec-ond in size only to the Judaicacollection at the JewishNational and UniversityLibrary in Jerusalem.

The MissionThe Mission Statement of the HUC-JIR Library system,approved by HUC-JIR’sBoard of Governors, mandatesthe Library system to “collect,preserve, and provide access to the total record of Jewishthought and experience.” TheKlau Library in Cincinnatifunctions both as a campuslibrary and as the main researchlibrary within the HUC-JIRLibrary system. It supports the teaching functions of theRabbinical and Graduate pro-

grams of the campus, and pro-vides its depth of resources andvarious library services to theother HUC-JIR libraries – theAbramov Library in Jerusalem,the Frances-Henry Library in LosAngeles, and the Klau Library in New York. It also serves as a resource for the University ofCincinnati Judaic Studies depart-ment and for other localeducational institutions throughits membership in the GreaterCincinnati Library Consortium.

The Klau Library has alwaysbeen a leader in making itsresources available to as widea user community as possi-ble, both locally andworldwide. The Library hasuse and circulation policiesunique among Americanscholarly collections: every-one is welcome to registerand use the Library’sresources in person; and localresidents of the tri-state areamay also borrow books fromthe collection. The interli-brary loan department sendsmaterials to libraries aroundthe world, while HUC-JIRalumni may borrow directly.Rare and precious items areloaned for exhibitions at thegreat museums of the world,and less rare items are madeavailable to UAHC congrega-tions for local display.

The TreasuresThe Dalsheimer Rare BookBuilding contains a great her-itage of the Jewish people,bibliographic and artistic.Highlighting its Hebrew manu-script collection are a 10th

century Bible commentary; an11th century illuminated BibleCodex; fifty-nine booklets writ-ten by the Jews of Kaifeng,China, including the uniqueChinese-Hebrew Memorial Book;


To Collect, Preserve,

and Provide Access to the

Total Record of Jewish

Thought and Experience:

TTHEHE KKLALAUULL IBRARIBRARYY ININCCINCINNAINCINNATITI

The first in a series on HUC-JIR’s network of Libraries

Pentateuch. Haftarot.Megilot. Lisbon. 1475.Ms. 2. This work is alsoknown as the Ibn MusaBible from its copyist,Samuel ben Samuel ibnMusa. It is bound in abox-binding and it is theearliest of only six boxbindings on Jewish booksknown to have survivedfrom medieval times. Theintricate design in theimage above is known as a “carpet page.”

The Second Cincinnati Haggadah. Moravia. 1717. Ms. 444.1 Produced by Moses Judah Loeb, son of Benjamin Wolf Broda,from Trebitsch, Moravia. This elegant Haggadah features minia-tures in oil on parchment which are most often based on thecopperplate engravings found in the printed AmsterdamHaggadah of 1712. In 1723, the artist created a nearly identi-cal manuscript known as the Van Geldern Haggadah, which isheld in a private collection. The Klau Library, Cincinnati, is devel-oping an interactive CD-ROM facsimile edition which will includeboth HUC-JIR’s Haggadah and the Van Geldern Haggadah.

W

2003 ISSUE 61 �13

Charting The VisionThe greatness of a library must be measured by the quality of theindividuals who staff it as well as the size, depth, and quality of itscollection. For more than a century, the Klau Library has been underthe leadership of exceptional individuals: Sigmund Mannheimer,1884 to 1902; Judah L. Magnus (a graduate of the College in

1900), 1902 to 1904; Adolph S.Oko, 1906 to 1933; Walter Rothman,1933 to 1945; and Herbert C. Zafren,1950 to 1994, who became the College-Institute’s first Director of Libraries in 1968.

Under Professor Herbert C. Zafren,the Klau Library’s holdings doubled in size from 100,000 volumes to200,000 between 1950 and 1965, and then doubled again by his retire-ment. Professor Zafren was the

founding President of the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL)and served twice as President of the Council of Archives andResearch Libraries in Jewish Studies (CARLJS) of the NationalFoundation for Jewish Culture. He also established the Library’smonographic series, Bibliographica Judaica (BJ), and was foundingeditor of Studies in Bibliography and Booklore (SBB), the onlyJudaica/Hebraica bibliographic journal in English.

Dr. David J. Gilner was named Librarian of the Klau Library,Cincinnati, in 1991 and Director of Libraries in 1994. His careerat the Library spans twenty-four years and has been marked bythe introduction of innovative ideas and technology, most notablythe establishment of the Klau Library’s digitizing initiative in1995 and the online public access catalog in 1999. Dr. Gilner succeeded Professor Zafren as Chairman of the Boards of Editorsof both BJ and SBB. During sixteen years of service to the AJL,Dr. Gilner’s various offices have included a recent term asPresident; he is currently serving as President of CARLJS.

The entire College-Institute benefits from the dedication andtireless efforts of the Klau Library’s fine professional and supportstaff. All of the professional librarians of the HUC-JIR Librarysystem have graduate degrees in library and information science;several have subject Masters’ and Doctorates. The staff of theKlau Library in Cincinnati is supervised by Ellen Kovacic,Senior Associate Librarian for Technical Services, and by ArnonaRudavsky, Senior Associate Librarian for Public Services. LaurelS. Wolfson was appointed Deputy Librarian in 2000 to managethe day-to-day operation of the Klau Library, Cincinnati. Shehas served on the Board and Council of AJL since 1990, and isthe current treasurer. She has been Managing Editor of BJ andSBB since 1998.

and two beautifully illustratedhaggadot, the late 15th centuryFirst Cincinnati Haggadah creat-ed in southern Germany andthe early 18th century SecondCincinnati Haggadah producedin Moravia. The fifty-two man-uscripts from the Samaritancommunity include aPentateuch written in 1479. Itscollection of illuminated scrolls,especially Esther scrolls, includeexamples of both the oldest ofsuch works and the most beauti-ful and unusual. The EduardBirnbaum Collection of Jewishcantorial music is the world’slargest collection of Jewishmusic manuscripts, includingsheet music and indices to thedifferent liturgical melodies usedby the Jews of Europe.

Among the 14,000 rare printed volumes housed in the Dalsheimer Rare BookBuilding are significant collec-tions of Hebrew and non-Hebrew incunabula (booksprinted before 1501), 16th

and 17th century books printedin Hebrew, and Yiddish andLadino works. The buildingholds important Josephus andSpinoza collections, as well as the early imprints of theLibrary’s Judaica Americana collection, which is the world’slargest – and a third larger again

than the second largest collec-tion held by the New YorkPublic Library. A large map collection includes the famouschart of the Mediterraneanworld produced by JudahAbenzara in Cairo in 1500, the only known specimen in the western hemisphere fromthe great school ofmedieval Jewishcartographers. The collection of broadsides – a sheet printed on one side only –includes 10,000pieces document-ing communityactivities, theaterposters, governmentannouncements,and private occasions, e.g., wed-ding poems and eulogies. Thereare also important collections ofbookplates, bindings, miniaturebooks, cuneiform tablets, andIsraeli stamps.

The Library also continues toacquire rare books and manu-scripts using special gifts andendowed funds. Last year, forexample, it was able to acquirethree important manuscripts inthis fashion: an 11th centuryBible commentary in Hebrewand Aramaic, thanks to a gift

Haggadah. Hamburg. 1740/41. Ms. 445. "Who knows four? I know four!Four are the Matriarchs...” Beneath the Hebrew text, the scribe has includ-ed a Yiddish version written in a Hebrew script popularly known as Rashiscript. Throughout the text of this Haggadah, the ritual instructions arewritten in Hebrew, Yiddish, and Ladino, which served to increase thepotential market for this work.


14 � THE CHRONICLE14 � THE CHRONICLE

from Susan Shapiro in honor of her husband, L. DennisShapiro, a former member ofHUC-JIR’s Board of Governors;a collection of prayers, hymns,and private petitions, written inCochin, India, in 1690, thanksto the generosity of Stuart Rosethrough the Stuart RoseFoundation Endowment; andthe Responsa of the MaHaRaMof Rothenberg, a 14th or early15th century manuscript on vellum, that contains fifty previ-ously unpublished responsa,which was acquired with fundsallocated to the Klau Library by the Judaica ConservancyFoundation. Such items are notpurchased simply to enhance the status of the Library; theyare acquired to meet the researchneeds of our various core usercommunities: faculty, students,and alumni, as well as to supportthe publication efforts of ourfaculty. For example, since theKlau Library has the world’slargest collection of printedresponsa in its Freehof Collection,it was very appropriate to add a manuscript from a mostimportant rabbinical author thatcontains fifty responsa not foundin the printed editions.

The Audience“Books are for use” is the firstlaw of librarianship, and theKlau Library prides itself onmaking its collections accessibleto as wide an audience as possi-ble; it has a justly earnedinternational reputation as the“lender of last resort” forHebraica and Judaica. The KlauLibrary is regularly asked to sendits treasures for display at otherlibraries and museums. Over theyears, it has lent materials forexhibitions at the SmithsonianInstitution and the Library ofCongress in Washington, D.C.,

the Museum of the JewishDiaspora in Tel Aviv, the NewYork Public Library, the JewishMuseum in New York, and theIsrael Museum in Jerusalem. In2000, the Klau Library lent fortyrare or unique items touchingon the celebration of Passover tothe Bridwell Library at SouthernMethodist University in Dallas.

The PreservationThe Library also holds these precious treasures in trust forfuture generations and mustensure their survival. Over theyears, the Library has upgradedthe heating, ventilating, and air

conditioning systems (HVAC)for its rare book facilities. In theDalsheimer Rare Book Building,the temperature is kept at 63degrees and the humiditybetween 40% and 50% throughthe use of a state of the art low-pressure HVAC system. TheEast Wing stack – constructedin 1925 as the College’s second

library – holds 200,000 itemspublished between 1610 and1900 and has a new HVAC system and duct work, but additional work is yet requiredto maximize preservation of itscollections. In the Klau Librarybuilding, opened in 1961, theHVAC has been upgraded several times since its initial construction, but the binary air-handling system needsupgrading to a modern unitarysystem to provide the recom-mended atmospheric conditionsin the book stacks which holdover 220,000 items.

The InnovationsThe Klau Library, Cincinnati,has been a leader in implement-ing new technologies for thepreservation and disseminationof HUC-JIR’s unique and pre-cious resources. In 1955, itestablished the American JewishPeriodical Center (AJPC) and

became the first Jewish library –and one of the first librariesworldwide – to preserve its periodical collection on archival-quality microfilm. Currently, theAJPC includes some 1,350 news-paper, periodical, and Reformtemple bulletin titles, comprising14.5 million pages of text onmicrofilm. Over the years, it has performed a major service toJewish and American scholarshipby disseminating its large andvaried resources to institutionsand individuals engaged inresearch: scholars, journalists,film makers, novelists, historians,genealogists and individualsresearching the history of NorthAmerican Jewish communities.

In 1967, the Library became afounding member of the OhioCollege Library Consortium(OCLC) and began to enter itsholdings into an online, sharedbibliographic database. The KlauLibrary regularly contributed the highest percentage of newrecords to this database over the years. In 1989, the Librarybecame a member of theResearch Libraries Group, whichhad just implemented a Hebrewvernacular script componentavailable for its Research LibraryInformation Network (RLIN).In 2001, the Klau Library pro-vided global access to all of itsroman alphabet holdings via aweb gateway to its VTLS online,integrated library system.

In 1995, the Klau Librarybecame the first Judaica libraryto make selections from its rarebook and illuminated manu-script holdings available usingthe Pro3000 digital planetarycamera system developed atIBM’s T.J. Watson Laboratories.During the first days of Passover1996, over 160,000 visits fromthirty-six countries – includingfour Arab countries – were

Liturgy. Cochin, India.1690. Manuscript on paper. Ms. Acq. 2000-4 Anunusually early work from this exotic community, it contains prayers, hymns,and private petitions unique to this community. This illustration appears atthe beginning of a collection of songs for the marriage ceremony. Acquiredthrough the generosity of Mr. Stuart Rose through the Stuart RoseFoundation endowment.


2003 ISSUE 61 �152003 ISSUE 61 �15

recorded by CongregationEmanu-El in the City of NewYork’s website, to whom theLibrary had lent thirty-two digitized images from fourimportant illuminatedHaggadah manuscripts.

During 1997, the Klau Librarymounted a virtual tour of theRare Book Room on theCollege-Institute’s website. At Passover 2000, the KlauLibrary helped prepare an inter-active CD-ROM edition of itstreasured First CincinnatiHaggadah manuscript, whichwas distributed to all of thecongregations in the Union of American HebrewCongregations, as well as toHUC-JIR alumni and the manyfriends of the College-Institute.

Several other CD-ROM projectsare currently in process: a CDwith the Klau Library’s codexmanuscripts of the Jews ofKaifeng, China, including aTorah scroll from the collectionof the Bridwell Library atSouthern Methodist University;a CD which will include theSecond Cincinnati Haggadah and

its “sister,” theVan GeldernHaggadah, whichis held privately;and a CD whichwill includes manyof the beautifuland rare illumi-nated Estherscrolls held in our collection.

The Collection“Most acquisitionscome from bookdealers and pub-lishers, but in the1950s, ProfessorHerbert Zafrencame up with aninventive way todevelop the collec-

tion and to pay for it at the sametime. He arranged for theCollege-Institute to purchase aJewish bookstore on the lowerEast Side of Manhattan that wasup for sale. While he was goingthrough the stock of the storefor items needed by the KlauLibrary, he kept it open and soldremaining stock to customers,paying much of the cost of thisventure,” recalls Dr. Gilner.

On average, the Klau Libraryadds some 6,000 new mono-graphs to its collection each year.In addition, the Library currentlyhas 2,250 subscriptions to news-papers and journals. As theybecome available, maps, broad-sides, printed music, and ephemeraare added to the collection. Alsoacquired are a wealth of non-printed material, including newIsraeli stamps and covers, Jewishtexts and reference works on laserCD-ROM, cantorial soundrecordings, and microform materials. These acquisitions are mostly covered by the acqui-sitions budget allocated to theLibrary. But the cost of bookshas been going up some ten per-

cent each year for over a decade.If the Library’s collections are tocontinue to grow, additionalfunds to support its acquisitionsbudget must be secured.

The ChallengesUnfortunately, for the pastdecade, the Klau Library hasbeen plagued by a single chal-lenging reality – it has run outof space: space for its varied col-lection; space for personnel; andspace needed for new programsand technologies. The Libraryhas coped with the problem byshifting collections to the otherLibraries in the HUC-JIR sys-tem, selling duplicate collectionsto other scholarly libraries, andmoving collections to off-site(and less-accessible) storage. Butthe Klau Library in New Yorkhas no more spare room and theFrances-Henry Library in LosAngeles, built to hold 75,000volumes, now holds 105,000books and is also facing a severespace crisis. Off-site storage canmean more than reduced access;in January 2000, a burst watermain in the basement of theNew Dormitory destroyed 480boxes of Library periodicalmaterials held there in storage.

More specialized storage space is needed for rare books, maps,broadsides and other special col-lections. New space is requiredfor a computer center and for a conservation laboratory, andmore workspace is needed fortechnical processing. TheLibrary no longer has the shelfspace necessary to unpack largegifts for sorting and processing;they must be removed immedi-ately to offsite storage. There isinsufficient space to house thebooks currently out on loanfrom the collection. And whilethe Library continues to housesome 200,000 volumes in theLibrary stacks built in 1925, itcan come as no surprise that thisarea needs structural and envi-ronmental upgrades. If the KlauLibrary in Cincinnati is to copesuccessfully with a problem thathas been aborning for well overa decade, then all the resourcesavailable to the College-Institutemust be brought to bear to dealwith this problem. It is withthis support that the College-Institute will be able “to collect,preserve, and provide access tothe total record of Jewishthought and experience” for the generations to come.

Samaritan Pentateuch. 1479. Sam. Ms. 1 Only the Five Books of Moses are included in theSamaritan canon of the Bible, and they employ a ver-sion of the most ancient Hebrew script to write theirsacred texts. Here, at the beginning of Deuteronomy,the scribe has divided the text into two columns; theletters between the columns form a colophon givingthe scribe’s name and the date of his work.

Birds are common in medieval illumination, including those foundin Jewish manuscripts. The front panel of this Esther Scrollincludes various animals; the most unusual is the pair of turkeysfound atop the initial column.


glance at any newspapertoday points up the crucial

need for promoting ethics intoday’s world. People hunger forguidance to help them make theright choices and to live decentlives in a complex world. TheHebrew Union College-University of Cincinnati Centerfor the Study of Ethics andContemporary Moral Problemsis dedicated to providing theguidance that can help rescuelives and heal the world.

The Ethics Center promotesteaching, learning, and researchin applied ethics and ethical liter-ature in an open environment for scholarly discourse of variousreligious and secular ethical tradi-tions. It helps faculty, students,professionals, and members ofthe community identify ethicalissues and make personal andprofessional ethical decisions.

The Ethics Center’s AdvisoryBoard members recentlyapproved a strategic plan for theCenter to achieve national recog-nition as a venue for interfaithstudy and discussion of current

issues and applied ethics. The plan calls for expanding the Center’s abilities to:

• Sustain competitive graduateprograms in comparative law and applied ethics;

• Become a major research cen-ter in ethics, law, and religion;

• Provide choice continuingprofessional education pro-grams in applied ethics;

• Offer quality outreach eventsthat engage religious and secular leaders.

Continuing and CommunityEducation“I believe that despite the warand terrorism afflicting ourworld, the people of Cincinnatiare committed to improving thequality of life for every citizen,right here and right now,” statesDr. Jonathan Cohen, Directorof the HUC-UC Ethics Center. The Center’s high-caliber pro-grams (see sidebar) appeal todiverse interfaith and multieth-nic audiences. Furthermore, Dr.Cohen adds, “We are pledged toproviding continuing educationfor professionals in law, medi-cine, social work, real estate, andother vocations.” Programs suchas the ongoing Quarterly Forumare designed to promote cooper-ative research among localacademic institutions and socialjustice and not-for-profit organ-izations. Programs haveattracted over 1200 participants,and we have enabled nearly 150professionals to receive continu-ing education credit.

In June, the Ethics Center willpresent New York Times colum-nist Randy Cohen (“The

Ethicist”) and Cincinnati Operaartistic director Nicholas Muniwho will talk about capitalismand sin in the context of KurtWeill’s opera The Seven DeadlySins. Sponsored by the WilliamA. Friedlander Ethics LectureFellowship, this program willcontinue OperaRap, the EthicsCenter’s successful ongoing partnership with the CincinnatiOpera. The Ethics Center isalso planning a day-longOctober conference on “MentalHealth and the Law: EthicalDilemmas” which will offer continuing professional educa-tion to physicians, attorneys,nurses, and social workers. Dr.Terry Perlin of Miami Universityin Oxford, Ohio is leading agroup of representatives fromlocal academic, medical, govern-ment, and social justiceinstitutions to organize the event.

A debate on capital punishment in advance of the presentation of the new American opera Dead Man Walking marked the EthicsCenter’s very first collaboration with the Cincinnati Opera. TheOperaRap debate, which filled the Manuel D. and Rhoda A.

Mayerson Auditorium to capacity, presented the diverse views ofa Catholic nun, a civil rights attorney, the editor of The CincinnatiEnquirer, and a professor of theology at Cincinnati Bible College.

“Zero Tolerance: Education and Justice for All?” featured a lecture by Daniel J. Losen, an attorney with the Harvard CivilRights Project. Dr. Laurence Thomas, Professor of Philosophy at Syracuse University, spoke on the “The Role of Parents in the Social and Moral Development of Children.” Discipline policies in secondary public schools were debated by a panelthat included the deputy superintendent of Cincinnati PublicSchools, the president of the Ohio Federation of Teachers

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT

ZERO TOLERANCE

LIGHTING THE WAYTO A

A

RECENT PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE HUC-UC CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF ETHICS AND CONTEMPORARY MORAL PROBLEMS:

Dr. Jonathan Cohen, Directorof the HUC-UC Ethics Center

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Graduate Study and Research“We are tremendously excitedabout creating new courses andresearch opportunities in com-parative law and applied ethicsfor our HUC-JIR and Universityof Cincinnati students,” says Dr. Cohen. “Our students areenthusiastic when scholars fromother academic institutions, suchas the Athenaeum of Ohio/Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, contribute guest lectures oncanon law and other topics.”

With the launch of the newM.A. and Ph.D. programs inJewish and comparative law andapplied ethics, the Ethics Center

(AFL-CIO), an ombudsperson for the State of Ohio Departmentof Education, and attorneys representing the Legal Aid Society and Cincinnati Parents forPublic Schools. VernaWilliams, professor atUniversity of CincinnatiCollege of Law, thanked theEthics Center “for presenting such fascinating programming.”This outreach event was sponsored in part by the Donald J.and Dr. Norma K. Stone Ethics Lecture Fellowship, the Harris K. Weston Institute for Law and Public Policy, and the Legal AidSociety of Greater Cincinnati.

“The Role of Rescuers in Jewish Tradition,” a thought-provok-ing lecture by Rabbi David Novak, Ph.D., was offered to thepublic by the Ethics Center and HUC-JIR’s Center for Holocaustand Humanity Education (CHHE).

The Ethics Center and the CHHE also co-sponsored a lecture by former U.S.Ambassador John Dolibois,

the last surviving Nuremburg interrogator, which brought together over 200 listeners.

PUBLIC EDUCATION

WAR CRIMES TRIALS


ETHICAL WORLDThe HUC-UC Center for the Study of

Ethics and Contemporary Moral ProblemsMORE

Moderator Dr. Irvine H. Anderson at the “Ethics and the Media: Reporting the War on Terror,”sponsored by the Donald J. and Dr. Norma K. Stone Lecture Fellowship.


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offers graduate students fourmain areas of academic concen-tration: Philosophy and Ethics,Law, Jewish Legal Texts, andComparative Law and Ethics.Students can concentrate theirresearch in areas such as humanand civil rights, business law andethics, and medical and bioethics.

The graduate programs areadministered by HUC-JIR’sSchool of Graduate Studies, in coordination with the Ethics Center and University of Cincinnati College of Law.Students are exposed to the basicdisciplines of civil law and Jewishlaw, and encouraged to identifyand examine problems ethically.“We want them to develop aninformed individual approach toethical-legal problems, and givethem the tools to addresssocio-legal problems in the com-munity,” Dr. Cohen emphasizes.“Our goal is to prepare studentsfor future work and research inapplied ethics, and to promoteteaching and research in the areas

of Jewish and comparative lawand applied ethics.”

Students are introduced to diversereligious and secular models of ethics and to jurisprudentialanalysis, and given the opportu-nity to participate in practica,such as intern-ships at the

Legal Aid Society or theNational Underground RailroadFreedom Center. Flexibility iscrucial to accommodate the

interests of each individual stu-dent. “We invite students to takecourses offered at HUC-JIR,UC College of Law, otherschools and departments of UC,Xavier University, and at theAthenaeum of Ohio,” Dr.Cohen explains.

The programs foster the interac-tion of students of variousbackgrounds, faiths, and disci-plines. Some of the core coursesare offered jointly, accreditedboth at HUC-JIR and the UCCollege of Law, and attract layand professional participants;and some are accredited atHUC-JIR and the Athenaeumof Ohio and/or XavierUniversity. The cooperation ofthe participating institutions cre-ates an opportunity for openscholarly discussion and enrichesthe students involved.

The HUC-UC Center for

the Study of Ethics and Contemporary Moral Problems


I n a public discussion of housing and homelessness, “CallingCincinnati Home: Ethical Decisions in Housing,” that attractedhundreds of local residents, a panel comprised of two CincinnatiCity Council members and two Hamilton County commissionersresponded to a written statement by former Ethics Center schol-ar-in-residence Dr. Julian Wuerth entitled “Ethical Issues inHousing.” Steve Knight, a social worker at Mt. Airy Shelter, saidthe focus on public policy and the homeless “helped me rethinkmy views and also recharge my commitment to work with thispopulation.” Attorney Jeanette N. Dannenfelser concurred, “Thispanel was very helpful in highlighting the dire issues that facethe City of Cincinnati regarding appropriate and livable housing.”

A s part of the two-day focus on urban housing issues, theEthics Center offered a seminar on predatory lending, reversemortgages, and childhood lead hazards in housing, which wasdescribed by attorney Nancy C. Helwig as “very informative onissues that are not commonly discussed in legal updates andother seminars, but which are vitally important.” Presenters fromthe Better Housing League, ClearCorps, and the Legal Aid Societyof Greater Cincinnati took part.

T he symposium “End-of-Life Treatment and Care: Religiousand Secular Perspectives” brought together the ideas of a clinicalnurse specialist, a priest who teaches theology at Thomas MoreCollege, a professor of Psychiatry and Law at University of

LIGHTING THE WAY

ETHICAL WORLDTO A MORE


END-OF-LIFE CARE

Los Angeles Times foreign correspondent Robin Wright speakingat the “Ethics and the Media: Reporting the War on Terror”Stone Lecture.

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“Beyond the academic focus of the programs, the practicarequirements are most attractiveto our students. We give them a chance to take part in a varietyof social service and educationalprojects,” Dr. Cohen says. “Theethics education practicum chal-lenges our students to exploreethics education at all levels, forinstance, by teaching an ethicscourse or preparing an ethicscurriculum. The social justicepracticum entails working with a community-based organiza-tion, and gives them practicalexperience in an area of theirchoice.” Students choose an areaof interest (such as homelessness,domestic violence, medicalethics, etc.) and are then placedas interns in a related organiza-tion. Both practicumexperiences are closely super-vised. Students gain practicalexperience, and apply the knowl-edge acquired in the classroom.

Dr. Cohen is particularly proudof the Ethics Center’s Scholar-in-Residence program. TheCenter’s 2002-03 Scholar-in-Residence was Professor MarkStavsky, an attorney and noted

legal scholar on the faculty at the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern KentuckyUniversity, who specializes incriminal procedure, evidence,trial advocacy, white-collarcrime, comparative law, and prisoner’s rights. During his year of residency, ProfessorStavsky taught a joint course in “Criminality and CivilDisability” at the UC College

of Law and HUC-JIR in addition to lecturing and conducting research.

The joint course addressed the implications of criminality.“Members of our society endurecivil disabilities following thedischarge of their sentences,”explained Stavsky, who is theDirector of the KentuckyInnocence Project. “Such

disabilities range from the prohi-bition to bear arms to theinability to exercise the right tovote.” Dr. Cohen co-taught thejoint course, which, he explained,“offered contemporary Americanand Jewish perspectives on thesubject of criminality, guilt, andinnocence, as well as variousissues relating to the re-integra-tion of offenders into society.”

The Ethics Center welcomed itsfirst scholar-in-residence, Dr.Julian Wuerth in 2001. Duringhis residency, he focused on hisareas of specialization, whichinclude the ethics and theoreticalphilosophy of Immanuel Kant,early modern philosophy, the his-tory of ethics, and religion.

The Ethics Center is hard atwork fulfilling its mission: stimulating graduate study, academic research, communityoutreach programs, and continu-ing professional education topeople of all faiths in Cincinnati.In doing so, it serves as a beaconof light and humanity for today’stroubled world.

Cincinnati Medical School, an ethics consultant and professor of interdisciplinary studies at Miami University, and Dr. Robert V.Brody, a primary care physician who chairs the Ethics Committeeat San Francisco General Hospital. The event was part of theNinth National Conference on Nursing Administration Research.

T he Ethics Center hosted a thought-provoking lecture on the ethics of restitution by English barrister David Turns, LL.M.,entitled “Picking Up the Pieces After Armed Conflict: HowInternational Law Can Help.”

“V iolence Against Women: Family, Faith Communities and theLaw” offered a panel discussion on domestic violence, and featuredthe views of a social worker, attorney, Catholic priest, and a

Reform rabbi/academic.“Wonderfulvariety of perspectives,” remarked attorney Alison Bazely after theprogram, “great value as well.” Attendee Karen Rowe of CatholicSocial Services “found the diversity of the presentations very rich.”

“B eyond Welfare: Raising Children Out of Poverty,” the inauguralconference of UC’s Harris K. Weston Institute for Law and PublicPolicy, hosted by the Ethics Center and presented by the Legal AidSociety of Greater Cincinnati, was a gathering of policy leadersfrom the public, non-profit, and civic sectors. The event addressedthe topic of working mothers and the challenge of achieving self-sufficiency, and featured a lecture on fathers and child support.

ETHICS OF RESTITUTION

WELFARE AND POVERTY

FAMILY VIOLENCE

German journalist Malte Lehming speaking at the “Ethics and theMedia: Reporting the War on Terror” Stone Lecture.

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THE RHEAHIRSCH SCHOOLOF EDUCATION

Bringing New Visions of What Jewish Education Can Be to the Reform Movement and the Jewish Community at Large

RHSOE

RHSOERHSOE

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by Ruth Friedman

or over thirty years the Rhea Hirsch School of Education(RHSOE) has been nationally recognized as a preeminent centerfor the training of Jewish educators and educational administra-

tors. The RHSOE is committed to advancing quality educationalleaders who can create compelling institutions of Jewish education.

Professor Sara S. Lee, Director of the RHSOE, observes, “The 240graduates of the degree programs of the RHSOE have brought newvisions of what Jewish education can be to the Reform Movement andto the Jewish community at large. In the institutions they lead, in theirprofessional organizations, and in their communities the RHSOE grad-uates have enhanced the status of Jewish educators through theirleadership and contributions.” RHSOE alumni serve in a wide varietyof institutions including congregations, day schools, universities, andcommunal agencies in North America, Israel, and Australia.

Since 1992 the RHSOE has expanded its scope with new goals: tostimulate experimentation and contribute to change in those institu-tions where Reform Jews are educated and to improve the state ofJewish education and elevate its importance through research anddiscourse. Over the past twelve years, the RHSOE has embarked onmajor national education projects that embody both action and research.Alumni play leadership roles in these projects, which promote Jewisheducation, community, continuity, and institutional change.

Experiment in Congregational Education (ECE)TRANSFORMING SYNAGOGUES INTO SELF-RENEWING CONGREGATIONS OF LEARNERS

“ECE helped us create a vision of learning which led to thecreation of a vision statement for the entire congregation.”Julie Vanek (MAJE/MAJCS ’88), Temple Educator, Temple Shalom

of Newton, MA – one of the seven original ECE congregations

ECE, the RHSOE’s first national synagogue transformation project,began twelve years ago to help revitalize congregations. Based on thebelief that learning serves as a foundation for Jewish commitmentand community, ECE challenges and supports congregations as theychange their culture and goals to become more vibrant and welcom-ing homes of worship and study.

“We have something to offer every congregation,” states Dr. IsaAron, Founding Director of ECE and Professor of Jewish Educationat HUC-JIR/LA. Aron’s new book, The Self-Renewing Congregation,

offers organizational strategies for revitalizing congregations, based onher experience working with ECE congregations (see page 25 of thisissue). ECE has created processes for congregations to go through tohelp them create a culture of learning. Whether congregations desireto enhance adult study, augment religious services, or promote socialjustice, among other areas, ECE provides the method to help enablethe congregation to proceed along the path of its choosing.

A cross-denominational project, ECE has worked directly with twen-ty-five congregations across the country, and indirectly influencedmany others. Temple Shalom of Newton, MA, for example, has cre-ated innovative educational initiatives for the development of new lay leaders as well as a children’s learning task force.

In a recent expansion of its efforts, the ECE has created a state-of-the-art, interactive online learning module with audio and videointerviews and mini-documentaries that enable participating congre-gations to explore alternative models of religious schools throughoutthe United States. These congregations also have access to anInternet-based team workspace which allows them to post announce-ments, maintain calendars, provide contact information andmaterials, as well as conduct online discussions. These creativeefforts in educational technology are the result of ECE’s partnershipwith HUC-JIR’s National Department of Distance Education and its Director, Gregg Alpert (MAJE/MAJCS ’79).

Daniel Leanse, Music Specialist, and Rabbi Janet Marder,President, CCAR, with their students at Congregation Beth Am (LosAltos Hills, CA), an ECE congregation.

F

New Directions for JewishEducation

2003 ISSUE 61 �21

A grant from the Mandel AssociatedFoundations has made possible thecreation of the ECE. Additionalsupport has come from TheNathan Cummings Foundation,The Koret Foundation, the SanFrancisco Jewish CommunityEndowment Fund of the JewishFederation of San Francisco, thePeninsula, Marin and Sonomacounties, The Jeannette andJerome Cohen PhilanthropicFund, the Helen and Sam Kaplan Memorial Fund, the LowensteinFamily Supporting Foundation, the Jewish Federation and JewishCommunity Foundation of Kansas City, UJA Federation of GreaterNew York, and the Covenant Foundation.

According to Dr. Rob Weinberg, Director of the ECE, “The workwe began a dozen years ago continues to develop in exciting newways. As congregations increasingly feel the urgency of change, weare creating powerful new Internet-based tools and materials, as wellas consulting processes, that will enable us to touch many more congregations in a variety of ways. Our research continues to forge a vital link between the Rhea Hirsch School and cutting-edge practice in the field. Through our ongoing relationship with ECEcongregations, we are beginning to build a supportive networkamong congregations of all sizes all over North America who aredoing this transformative work.”

Rabbi Josh Zweiback (NY ’98; MAJE ’96), Senior Educator,Congregation Beth Am, Los Altos Hills, CA, which is an ECE con-gregation, notes that “ECE touches every aspect of synagogue life ona continual basis.” The process helps the synagogue define its visionand create a “meaningful partnership between lay leaders and theprofessional team.” Its evident success can be seen in its 500 adultlearners (from a congregation of 1250 member units) as well as in its innovative approach to the education of children and adolescents.ECE congregations learn a new way of looking at themselves, trainnew leaders to create and implement these visions, and thus do notremain stagnant. They continually redefine their ideals and offeringsto maintain themselves as learning congregations.

DeLeT: Day School Leadership Through TeachingRECRUITING, INDUCTING, AND RETAINING A NEW CADRE

OF JEWISH DAY SCHOOL TEACHERS

“DeLeT advances proactive methods of Jewishteacher recruitment, novice teacher education,school-based mentoring, and factors thatlead to successful teacher retention in NorthAmerican Jewish day schools.” Dr. Jane West

Walsh (MAJE ’85), Executive Director of DeLeT

The demand for Jewish day schools has grown dramatically over thepast twenty years, and it is projected that over 200 new teachers willbe needed each year. DeLeT sponsors a fellowship program, mentorteacher institutes, and a new teacher recruitment project that addressthe shortage of Jewish day school teachers, while setting a standard for excellence in professional Jewish day school teaching. The fellow-ship program targets early or mid-career Jewish adults and providesthem with an opportunity to launch a new career with the help ofgraduate-level Jewish education courses and participation in mentoredelementary school teaching at a DeLeT-affiliated day school.

The RHSOE has been selected as one of two pilot academic sites,along with Brandeis University. Dr. Michael Zeldin, Director of DaySchool Programs and Projects at HUC-JIR, serves as AcademicDirector and Luisa Latham serves as Program Director for DeLeT at HUC-JIR/Los Angeles, while Dr. Sharon Feiman-Nemser and Judy Elkin direct the program at Brandeis.

The DeLeT fellowship includes two phases.Phase One:

• Two summer institutes

• Academic-year mentoring which places DeLeT fellows as teaching interns in day schools

• Ongoing classes and seminars for which the fellows receive twelve graduate credits

Phase Two:

• At least two years of day school teaching

• Pursuit of a graduate degree in either Jewish education, teaching,education, Jewish studies, or teacher certification

• Annual winteradvanced learningkallah


Online Learning Modules at www.ECEonline.org

The first cohort ofDeLeT fellows withfounder, Laura HellerLauder (center).


Day Schools in Los Angeles,Boston, Palo Alto, SanFrancisco, and Dallas haveagreed to participate as intern-ship sites in the program, andWest Walsh aims to expand thisnetwork. In addition to workingwith the fellows, DeLeT workswith day schools to promote theimportance of providing profes-sional development and supportfor novice teachers.

DeLeT depends on referrals from Jewish leaders, parents, family, andfriends to find the most qualified candidates. DeLeT worked nation-ally to identify and select the eighteen Cohort One fellows who willcomplete Phase One on July 31, 2003. The Rhea Hirsch School ofEducation will award a Certificate in Day School Teaching upon com-pletion of requirements for the Phase One program. Cohort Twofellows will begin in July 2003.

Laura Heller Lauder developed the idea for DeLeT in consultationwith Dr. Jon Woocher, Director of the Jewish Education Service ofNorth America (JESNA), and Rabbi Josh Elkin, Executive Director of The Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE). Lauderhas procured donor partners, including Andrea and Charles BronfmanPhilanthropies, Inc., Edgar M. Bronfman, The Harold GrinspoonFoundation, The Covenant Foundation, The Crown FamilyFoundation, Laura and Gary Lauder, Albert and Janet SchultzSupporting Foundation, Howard and Leslie Schultz Family Foundation,Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation, and Debbie and JeffreySchwartz. During Phase One, fellows receive a $25,000 compensationpackage from DeLeT and their internship site day school and up to$10,000 during Phase Two to help pay for graduate tuition, along with 12 graduate credits from HUC-JIR, as an incentive.

Jewish Day Schoolsfor the 21stCentury (JDS-21)ASSISTING REFORM AND COMMUNITY

JEWISH DAY SCHOOLS TO “INSPIRE CHIL-DREN AND ADULTS TO PURSUE JEWISH

LEARNING AND BUILD VIGOROUS JEWISH

COMMUNITIES”

“JDS-21 has helped a lot of schools to think about and work on what it means tobe a Jewish day school.” Cindy Reich (MAJE ’84), Director of

the Talmud Torah of St. Paul Day School

According to Cindy Reich, who has been involved with Jewish DaySchools for the 21st Century (JDS-21) from its inception, JDS-21helps day schools deepen their Jewish mission and become Jewishlearning communities. JDS-21 is based on a pilot project called DaySchools for the 21st Century, which was created by a grant from theMandel Associated Foundations.

JDS-21 has worked with thirteen Reform and community dayschools to assist them in defining their “guiding Jewish values” andthen bring them to fruition. The Jewish values, or mission, of eachschool are integrated into programs and class offerings for students,parents, teachers, and board members, as well as into the institution-al policies of the school.

Funded by a grant from the Avi Chai Foundation, JDS-21 promoteslearning for everyone affiliated with the Jewish day school. Throughstudying traditional and contemporary Jewish texts, the school com-munity adds meaning to their lives and a Jewish perspective to thedecisions they make concerning the school. According to Dr. MichaelZeldin, Director of JDS-21, “Day schools have the vast potential toaffect the future Jewishness of students and their families.”

Following are a few examples of community learning and imple-mentation of Jewish values at JDS-21 schools:

• A certificate program of classes for secular teachers to providethem with more comprehensive Jewish knowledge

• Morning Rosh Hodesh tefilah for fourth graders with sixth graders serving as mentors

• Text study led by parents at school parent gatherings

• Integration of Jewish perspective into what were previously considered “secular” programs (e.g. the National WildlifeFederation program now has a Jewish component about tsarba’alei chayim – prevention of cruelty to animals)

In helping every member of the school’s community value Jewishlearning for themselves and their families, JDS-21 schools promoteJewish continuity for all involved.

Professor Sara Lee leads a session about the ECE at a UAHC Biennial.

First “Graduating Class” of mentor teachers (back row) withEducation Directors, Project Director, and Project Coordinator(front row) of Creating Teaching Excellence in CongregationalEducation.


2003 ISSUE 61 �23

Postgraduate DaySchool ResidencyPLACING RHSOE GRADUATES IN JEWISH

DAY SCHOOLS UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF

DEDICATED MENTORS, WHILE THEY CONTIN-UE THEIR POST-GRADUATE PROFESSIONAL

DEVELOPMENT STUDIES

“The Postgraduate Day SchoolResidency Program provides arevolutionary program for pro-fessional preparation. It is the first and only one of its kind forJewish education in the world.” Dr. Michael Zeldin, (MAHE’77,) Director of Day School Programs and Projects, HUC-JIR/LA

The Postgraduate Day School Residency program places graduates of the RHSOE in a Jewish day school for two years under mentorsupervision, while they continue to take professional developmentclasses at local universities and schools of education. Sponsored bythe Righteous Persons Foundation, the residency program enhancesthe residents’ training in Judaica, education, and educational admin-istration. Mentors from the RHSOE as well as from the residencyday school site administration provide guidance for the residents.

The RHSOE chooses day schools that will provide “wonderful learning opportunities,” such as Temple Israel of Hollywood (CA)Day School, which has been a continuous residency program since the program began in 1994.

The very selective program only chooses two residents per year. Yuri Hronsky (MAJE/MAJCS ’01) is a current Postgraduate Residentat the Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School West in Agoura, CAwhere he works as an Administrative Resident. With an extensivebackground in teaching and Jewish education, he saw the residencyopportunity as an ideal way to further obtain more administrativeexperience, while also continuing to teach. A member of the dayschool’s administrative team, he also teaches 4th and 5th grade Judaicstudies classes, as well as a course for parents on Torah and prayer.

This residency programprovides Hronsky withan opportunity to con-tinue expanding hiseducational backgroundby taking post-graduateprofessional develop-ment classes. His workas a resident has set themodel for his plans aftercompleting the pro-gram. He remarked: “My residency is exactly what I want to do in the future – combining teaching and administrative work.”

Creating TeachingExcellence inCongregationalEducationTRAINING MENTOR TEACHERS IN

CONGREGATIONAL SCHOOLS

“By creating a culture of support among teachers, we can truly have an impact on

the teaching profession and the educational experience for chil-dren and families in congregational schools across the nation.” Nancy Prager Levin, (MAJE ’81, RJE) Project Coordinator

Creating Teaching Excellence in Congregational Education raises thelevel of teaching within supplementary religious schools by trainingexperienced teachers to mentor other teachers in their schools. Inaddition to its goals of setting higher standards of achievement forteachers and retaining a more permanent and capable staff, the pro-ject creates a support system where teachers work together as a team.

Eight mentor teachers are participating in the two-year pilot programat four Los Angeles-area schools. Each mentor attended an intensivesummer training course to enhance their teaching skills and developtheir leadership and mentoring abilities. The training helped thementors become more reflective in their own teaching so that theycould better guide their designated teachers during the school year.In addition, Education Directors at the schools, as well as the ProjectCoordinator Nancy Prager Levin and the Project Director ProfessorSara S. Lee, meet with the mentor and designated teachers through-out the year for further guidance and training.

This innovative project is funded by a generous grant from LloydCotsen and Murray Pepper. With goals of expanding and beingadapted by schools across the country, the program’s “impact andinfluence are exponential,” according to Levin.

For more information about the RHSOE or to learn more about theseprojects, please contact:RHSOE: Professor Sara Lee, Director, (213) 749-3424, [email protected].;www.huc.edu/academics/education/DeLeT: Dr. Jane West Walsh, Executive Director, (847) 564-4515, [email protected]; www.delet.orgECE: Dr. Rob Weinberg, (847) 328-0032; [email protected];www.ECEonline.orgJDS-21 and Postgraduate Day School Residency: Dr. MichaelZeldin, Director of Day School Programs and Projects, (213) 749-3424, [email protected]; www.huc.edu/libcenters/jds21.shtmlCreating Teaching Excellence in Congregational Education:Nancy Prager Levin, Project Coordinator, (213) 749-3424,[email protected]

Mentors engaged in serious discussion during Summer Training.

RHSOE alumni engaged in thoughtfuldiscussion during a December alumnimeeting at NATE in New Orleans.

hen we read a biblical passage thatin some way involves the deity,how do we know whether its lan-

guage was meant literally or figuratively? Thisstudy endeavors to develop a language-basedinterpretive strategy for understanding God-related idioms in the Hebrew Bible. In thissense, our primary focus is the character oflanguage usage in expressions pertaining toGod. However, this study does not consti-tute a general history of biblical God belief.Rather, it involves an extended considerationof how semantic theory might become a fac-tor in writing such a history, especially whenit comes to interpreting metaphors.

The term “figurative” is a general designationfor nonliteral speech acts, including manystandard rhetorical devices such as irony, sarcasm and cynicism, allegory, hyperbole,metonymy, and of course, metaphor. Eachof these requires us, as interpreters, to recog-nize that the literal meaning of an expressionis not identical to what the speaker intendsus to understand. Most figurative, rhetoricaldevices thrive on ambiguity. This is especiallytrue of metaphor. Ambiguity in metaphori-cal expressions results from uncertainty as tohow the first part of a nonliteral statement is to be understood in terms of its second, or implied, part. Usually, in metaphor, it isthought that some aspect of the first subject

of the comparative statement is similar tosome aspect of the second subject. Forinstance, in the phrase, “all the world’s astage,” there is ambiguity with regard to how the world is to be understood as a stage – or, to put it as a questions, in what way is the world like a stage? We might think of this ambiguity as “internal” to an expression.That is, once you recognize something as figurative, there is ambiguity involved indecoding how its parts evoke meaning. Asan aesthetic element, ambiguity contributesto an expression’s richness.

Besides this internal ambiguity, there is alsooften a lingering ambiguity as to whethersomething is even meant to be understoodmetaphorically. Given the phrase “God is awarrior,” we must first establish whether or

not we should be interpreting this statementliterally or metaphorically. If we determinethat the phrase was meant literally, our inter-pretive process is relatively straightforward. If we determine that the phrase was meantfiguratively, then we must establish possiblemeanings and the limits of its implications.Admittedly, these two ambiguities – eachderived from different structural element indiscourse – are often interrelated, but theyare not the same linguistic phenomenon.Although this study will recognize repeatedlythese two levels of ambiguity, the main focuswill be on the problem of how we determinewhether a given statement harbors the kindof ambiguity that gives license to a metaphor-ical interpretation.


DAVID H. AARONDavid H. Aaron is Professor of Bible and History of Interpretation at HUC-JIR/Cincinnati. He earned a doctorate from the department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University and wasordained at HUC-JIR (C ’83). He has served as the Director of theCCAR/HUC-JIR Joint Commission for Sustaining Rabbinic Education(1998-2000) and continues to work with the commission as a Co-chair, representing HUC-JIR.

Dr. Aaron’s publications are in the areas of Biblical Studies, Midrashand more broadly, the history of interpretation. Pursuing a deep interest in linguistics, Aaron’sfirst book, Biblical Ambiguities: Metaphor, Semantics and Divine Imagery, merges contemporarysemantic theory with biblical exegesis, especially regarding metaphorical imagery in the HebrewBible. Two books are currently underway: Authentic Decalogue, which seeks to teach how we goabout sequencing the origins of biblical narratives based on evidence internal to the text anduses the Ten Commandments as an entry point; Syncretism and Self-Definition: Essays on theProblem of Myth and Meaning in Early Rabbinic Judaism will explore issues such as anti-mys-ticism in Genesis Rabba and the rhetoric of “literalism” in rabbinic midrash.

David H. Aaron is married to Marjorie Corman Aaron, who teaches Alternative Dispute Resolutionand Negotiation at the University of Cincinnati College of Law.

Biblical Ambiguities: Metaphor, Semantics, and Divine ImageryDavid H. AaronBrill Academic Publishers, 2001

EXCERPTS OF RECENT BOOKS BY HUC-JIR FACULTY | EXCERPTS OF RECENT BOOKS BY HUC-JIR FACULTY |

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he synagogue is the institutionAmerican Jews love to hate. It is theJewish organization they are most

likely to join, and the one they are most like-ly to participate in on a regular basis. It isalso the most likely target of their ire andtheir humor. Nearly everyone has a favoritesynagogue story – about a boring service, acallous member of the clergy, an outlandishbar mitzvah, a bitter controversy. An old joketells of the Jewish Robinson Carusoe whobuilds two congregations on his desertedisland – the one he attends, and the one hewould never set foot in.

Beyond the jokes and critiques lies an unde-niable truth: if there is one place that willpreserve the Jewishness of the American Jew,that place is the synagogue. At any given

time, 40% of American Jews belong to acongregation; it is estimated that 80% havebeen members of some congregation atsome point in their lives. If one wants toreach the largest proportion of Jews, onemust work with congregations.

The recent interest in synagogue “transfor-mation” is a result of the acknowledgment,on the one hand, of the enormous potentialof synagogues, and the realization, on theother hand, that many have fallen short oftheir potential.

The growing body of research on congrega-tional life (both Jewish and Christian)teaches us that some congregations actmore “intelligently” than others. They areopen to new ideas, flexible in their outlook,

thoughtful in their policies, and, therefore,better able to adapt to their changing environments.

Organizational consultant Peter Sengecoined the term “learning organization” to characterize institutions that engage in a continuous cycle of action and reflection.Some who have applied the concept of thelearning organization to congregations haveused the term “learning congregation.1” Incontrast, I have chosen the term “self-renew-ing,” to emphasize the reflexive and cyclicalnature of this activity, the fact that much ofthe learning is internal, and that the learningis incomplete without concomitant action.

Four capacities are the cornerstones to con-gregational self-renewal. These are collectivecapacities, over and above the individualabilities of congregants and staff. Eachcapacity enables the congregation to do theseemingly paradoxical – to hold fast to bothends of an apparent dilemma. They are:

• Thinking back and thinking ahead: beingboth reflective and proactive

• Enabling leaders to follow, and followersto lead: practicing collaborative leadership

• Seeing both the forest and the trees: creat-ing community among diverse individuals

• Honoring the past while anticipating thefuture: balancing tradition and change.

2003 ISSUE 61 �25

ISA ARONIsa Aron is Professor of Jewish Education at the Rhea Hirsch School of Education, HUC-JIR/Los Angeles, where she teaches courses inteaching, philosophy of education, and organizational change.She was the Founding Director of the Experiment in CongregationalEducation (ECE), a project of the RHSOE, now in its twelfth year. Shecontinues to serve as the Senior Consultant to that project, whichworks with congregations throughout the United States, helping thembecome self-renewing congregations of learners.

Dr. Aron holds a Ph.D. in philosophy of education from the University of Chicago, and has published widely in journals, such as The American Journal of Education, Religious Education,and Jewish Education. She is the Senior Editor of A Congregation of Learners, published bythe UAHC Press, and the author of Becoming a Congregation of Learners and The Self-Renewing Congregation, both published by Jewish Lights Publishing. She is married to thephotographer, Bill Aron; they have two young adult sons.

The Self-Renewing Congregation:Organizational Strategies forRevitalizing Congregational LifeIsa AronJewish Lights Publishing, 2002

| EXCERPTS OF RECENT BOOKS BY HUC-JIR FACULTY | EXCERPTS OF RECENT BOOKS BY HUC-JIR FACULTY

Dr. Isa Aron discusses her new book in an online video conversation with Dr. RobertWeinberg, Director, Experiment in Congregational Education, at www.eceonline.org – click on the picture of the book cover!

T



The first and only comprehensive Aramaiclexicon, covering all dialects and periods ofpre-modern Aramaic, is being prepared byan international team of scholars at theworld center of Aramaic lexicography studiesheadquartered at HUC-JIR/Cincinnati.Professor Stephen A. Kaufman (HUC-JIR/Cincinnati) and Professor Joseph A. Fitzmyer(Catholic University of America, emeritus)are the editors of The ComprehensiveAramaic Lexicon; Professor MichaelSokoloff (Bar Ilan University) is the associ-ate editor; Dr. Jerome Lund (HUC-JIR/Cincinnati) is the Senior Research Scholar.

Dr. Jerome A. Lund and Prof. BezalelPorten, Aramaic Documents from Egypt: A Key-Word-in-Context Concordance(Eisenbrauns). A key-word-in-contextconcordance of legal, epistolary, andadministrative Aramaic documents fromancient Egypt (mainly from the Persianperiod) as published in Textbook ofAramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt(B. Porten and A. Yardeni, ed.).

Michael Sokoloff, A Dictionary of Jewish Palestinian Aramaic of the Byzantine Period, Second Edition (BarIlan University Press and The JohnsHopkins University Press). A dictionaryfor students and scholars of thePalestinian Talmud, the PalestinianTargum, and the Palestinian Midrashim.

Michael Sokoloff, A Dictionary of JewishBabylonian Aramaic of the Talmudic andGeonic Periods (Bar Ilan University Pressand The Johns Hopkins UniversityPress). The first dictionary ever to bedevoted exclusively to this dialect ofAramaic, intended for students andscholars of the Babylonian Talmud and the Geonic literature.

HUC-JIR AND FACULTY PUBLICATIONS Fall 2002Rabbi Howard L. Apothaker, Sifra, Dibbura deSinai: Rhetorical Formulae, LiteraryStructures, and Legal Traditions (HUC Press).A study of the rhetorical structures and legalcontents of a unit of the Midrash Sifra, thisbook is a revision of Rabbi Apothaker’sHUC-JIR doctoral dissertation.

Dr. Isa Aron, The Self-Renewing Congregation:Organizational Strategies for RevitalizingSynagogue Life (Jewish Lights Publishing). A guide for revitalizing congregations of alldenominations and sizes based on FoundingDirector Dr. Aron’s twelve years of experiencewith the Experiment in CongregationalEducation [see excerpt on page 13].

Rabbi Carole B. Balin, consulting ed., for Sondra Leiman, The Atlas of GreatJewish Communities: A Voyage ThroughHistory (UAHC Press). A history for youngpeople from the 1st century through modernday Israel which introduces prominent Jewsthrough history as well as leading Jewishcommunities throughout the world.

Dr. Avraham Biran and Rachel Ben-Dov,DAN II, Chronicle of the Excavations and the Late Bronze Age “Mycenaean” Tomb(Annual of the Nelson Glueck School ofBiblical Archaeology, HUC-JIR). Birandescribes the excavations carried out from1993 to 1999; Ben-Dov presents a detaileddescription and analysis of the 3400-year-old tomb and its opulent remains – ceramics,weapons, metal vessels, glass, jewelry, ivory,and human and animal bones.

Dr. Eugene B. Borowitz, Studies in theMeaning of Judaism (Jewish PublicationSociety). This JPS Scholar of Distinctionvolume presents 33 essays by Dr. Borowitzwhich explore his views on Jewish theology,education, history, law, ethics, and religiousdialogue over the past 50 years.

Dr. Eric Caplan, From Ideology to Liturgy:Reconstructionist Worship and AmericanLiberal Judaism (HUC Press). An examina-tion of Reconstructionist interpretation andadaptation of traditional Jewish liturgy andthe creation of new prayers to express itschanging ideology.

Dr. Martin A. Cohen, The Canonization of a Myth: Portugal’s “Jewish Problem” and the Assembly of Tomar (1629) (HUC Press).Based on manuscript material from thePortuguese archives, this monograph showshow the right-wing in Portugal sought tolabel as a secret Jew any and all people whowere striving to modernize their country.

William Cutter and David C. Jacobson,eds., History and Literature: New Readings of Jewish Texts in Honor of Arnold J. Band(Brown University Judaica Series).Bringing together forty major interpreters of classical and modern texts and includingimportant articles by David Ellenson,William Cutter, Michael Meyer, StanleyNash, and Ezra Spicehandler.

Dr. Lawrence A. Hoffman, ed., My People’sPrayer Book: Traditional Prayers, ModernCommentaries, Vol. 6, “Tachanun andConcluding Prayers” (Jewish Lights Publishing).This volume presents traditional liturgy with a new translation as well as commen-taries by respected scholars from allmovements of Judaism on the liturgy, its history, and its meaning. Contributorsinclude Dr. David Ellenson, Dr. Alyssa Gray,Dr. Joel M. Hoffman, Dr. Lawrence A.Hoffman, and Rabbi Lawrence Kushner.

Dr. Leonard S. Kravitz and Dr. Kerry M.Olitzky, ed. and trans., Mishlei: A ModernCommentary on Proverbs (UAHC Press). A contemporary, gender-sensitive translationof the book of Proverbs with commentarywhich incorporates classical and modern critical scholarship.

Dr. Rina R. Lapidus, Between Snow andDesert Heat: Russian Influences on HebrewLiterature, 1870-1970 (HUC Press). Ananalysis of the influence of Russian prose andpoetry on Hebrew literature through an exam-ination of textual parallels in nine case studies.

Rabbi Robert N. Levine, There Is NoMessiah…and You’re It: The StunningTransformation of Judaism’s Most ProvocativeIdea (Jewish Lights Publishing). A presenta-tion of the messianic vision and false messiahsthroughout history, which is then challenged

Comprehensive AramaicLexicon Project

2003 ISSUE 61 �27

with the belief that each person should actnow according to messianic ideals ratherthan wait for the coming of the messiah.

Rabbi Yehoram Mazor, Rabbi David Ariel-Joel, and Rabbi Maya Leibovich ed.,Barukh She’asani Isha? [Blessed for CreatingMe a Woman?] (Yediot Acharonot Publishers).An exploration by prominent scholars andlecturers in Judaic studies of various aspectsof Jewish Womanhood throughout the ages.

Rabbi Yehoram Mazor, Rabbi David Ariel-Joel, and Rabbi Maya Leibovich ed.,Milchemet Gog Umagog [The War Before the Messianic Era] (Yediot AcharonotPublishers). Analysis by prominent Israelischolars of Apocalyptic Messianic beliefsfrom biblical times until recent Zionist ide-ology with reflections on “the final warbetween Good and Evil.”

Dr. Ellis Rivkin, The Unity Principal: TheShaping of Jewish History (Behrman House).An exploration of how monotheism hasenabled Jews throughout history to adaptthemselves, their communities, and theirvision of the Covenant, whenever they wereconfronted by new circumstances or histori-cal forces, to ensure Jewish survival and vitality.

Jean Bloch Rosensaft, ed., Thirty Pieces /Thirty Years: Sculpture by Ann Sperry(Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute ofReligion Museum, New York). An exhibi-tion catalogue with essays by Laura Kruger,Dr. Norman J. Cohen, and Pepe Karmel.

Dr. Gary P. Zola, ed., and Dr. Fred Krome,managing ed., The American Jewish ArchivesJournal, Vol. LIV, No. 1 (The Jacob RaderMarcus Center of the American JewishArchives). Highlights from this volumeinclude articles on American Jewish philan-thropist Felix Warburg’s attitude toward thePalestinian Arabs in the aftermath of the1929 riots; the Independent Order of TrueSisters, a 19th century American Jewishwomen’s organization; and the edited andannotated collection of letters from RebeccaAaronson Brickner to her husband RabbiBarnett Brickner written from Palestine inthe early 1930s.

Each of these dual capacities is discussed in a separate chapter of the book. In each case,I explain why both of these seemingly oppo-site capacities are critical for synagogues tocultivate. Drawing on organizational theoryand research from the worlds of business,education, and government, and on selectedJewish texts, I explore what each capacityentails. Drawing on sociological studies ofreligious organizations, and on my owndecade-long experience working with syna-gogues, I offer examples of the problemswhich arise when these capacities are absentand the benefits that accrue when they arepresent. Developing these capacities, andbalancing one against the other, is no easymatter, and each chapter includes exercisesdesigned to help a synagogue committee ortask force understand and practice thecapacity in question. It also includes textstudy guides that can serve as spring-boardsfor discussion. Finally, each chapter includesa real-life case study of a synagogue’s effortsto develop the capacity in question.

Framing these four chapters, which form the core of this book, are introductory andconcluding chapters. Chapter 2 reviews therecent history of American synagogues, andexplains why, at this juncture, it is criticalthat they develop the capacity to becomeself-renewing. At the end of the book, chap-ter 7 deals with two kinds of synergy –between the four capacities discussed in this book, and between the congregation as a whole and the individuals within it.

1see, for example, Thomas Hawkins, TheLearning Congregation (Louisville, KY:Westminster John Knox Press, 1997).

The Self-RenewingCongregation:Organizational Strategiesfor RevitalizingCongregational Life

ISA ARON


2-Spring 2003The idioms to be considered are most oftenvery simple, as far as syntax is concerned.Many are predicate nominatives or nomina-tive phrases with a simple verb, for example:God said, God is King, God is a rock, God isan army, God is creator. Despite syntactic sim-plicity, some idioms involve more abstractconcepts, such as when God regrets that hehad made humans on earth (Gen 6:6)3 orwhen God reflects (via Jeremiah) that it washe who (physically) smote the children ofJudah because of their religious waywardness(Jer 2:30), or when God commands laws (e.g.,Exod 21-24), or when God declares (via theprophet) that he never demanded sacrifice (Isa1:12-14; Jer 7:21-22; Amos 5:21-23).4 Justhow we categorize and then interpret thesephrases – and the many hundreds of othersthat are spoken by or about God in theTanakh – will determine how we write thehistory of Israelite God-belief. (pages 1-2)

One generation’s solutions to the unknownbecome another generation’s source of uncer-tainty, just as one generation’s literalismsbecame another’s metaphors. The tolerancefor uncertainty constantly shifts with an era’spreferences. There is no progression fromconcrete to abstract, literal to metaphorical,plurality of meaning to singularity of mean-ing. All of these are natural by-products of thehuman struggle to make sense. Whenresearching the development of a given reli-gion, we can distinguish the mystic from thestraightforward pietist just as much on thebasis of their semantic theory as by the out-ward structures of their beliefs and practices.These theories may never be articulated, butthey are always operative. Thus, as we seek todecipher the distinct approaches to meaningthat are at the foundations of religious textsand practices, we need to be forever cognizantnot only of how ideologies understand thecreation of meaning, but also, how they copewith the inevitable ambiguities. (page 199)

3 See Fretheim 1984 on God’s change of mind.4 There is much scholarly literature on the ques-tion of whether these phrases are to be taken asliteral statements or hyperbolic ones. See, forinstance, Kaiser 1983, 24-33.


Biblical Ambiguities

DAVID H. AARON


HUC-JIR COUNCIL OF ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONSMISSION STATEMENTThe Council of Alumni Associations of HUC-JIR fosters a mutually supportive and collabo-rative relationship between the College-Institute and its alumni by providing a voice foralumni, a link between alumni and the College-Institute, and support to each of the AlumniAssociations. We achieve these three goals by:

VOICE Working in a collaborative relationship with HUC-JIR’s President and administra-tion to: Voice alumni ideas for advancing the College-Institute’s mission and shaping theCollege-Institute’s future, and Advocate for issues of common concern to alumni.

LINK Serve as a conduit for the College-Institute to alumni in their roles as ambassadors for the College-Institute to the Reform community and the broader Jewish community;Assist the College-Institute in recruitment and development.

SUPPORT Support the alumni associations of each of the schools in their missions to create ameaningful and lasting bond between the College-Institute and its alumni; Enhance communi-cation, joint planning, and collaboration among the College-Institute’s alumni associations; andFoster and model a spirit of mutual understanding, respect, collegiality, and cooperation amongalumni in their relationships with the College-Institute and in their daily professional lives.

To achieve these goals, the Council is made up of representatives of each of the College-Institute’s Alumni Associations: The Cantorial Alumni Association, The Graduate SchoolAlumni Association, The New York School of Education Alumni Association, The RabbinicAlumni Association, The Rhea Hirsch School of Education Alumni Association, and TheSchool of Jewish Communal Service Alumni Association, working together with members of the HUC-JIR administration.

Cantorial Alumni Association [email protected] Cantor Rebecca Garfein Cantor Dana Anesi

Graduate School Alumni Association [email protected] Wave Nunnally, Ph.D., Chair W. David Nelson, Ph.D.

New York School of Education AlumniAssociation [email protected] Yonni Wattenmaker, M.A.R.E. Joanne Doades, M.A.R.E.

Rabbinic Alumni Association [email protected] Rabbi Les Gutterman Rabbi Michael Berk Rabbi Sally Priesand

Rhea Hirsch School of Education AlumniAssociation [email protected] Mindy Davids, M.A.J.E. Dr. Roberta Goodman, M.A.J.E.

School of Jewish Communal ServiceAlumni Association [email protected] Dale Glasser, M.A.J.C.S./M.S.W. Marsha Rothpan, M.A.J.C.S./M.S.W.

HUC-JIR Rabbi Norman J. Cohen, Ph.D. [email protected]

Joy Wasserman, M.A.J.E. [email protected]

Rabbi Ellen [email protected]

Gregg Alpert, M.A.J.E./[email protected]

SAVE THE DATE Saturday, November 8, 8-9:30 amHUC-JIR Alumni Shabbat Study and Breakfast with

Provost Norman J. Cohen at the UAHC Biennial in Minneapolis

In MemoriamRabbi Stanley F. Chyet, belovedProfessor Emeritus of American JewishHistory, former Director of the Edgar F.Magnin School of Graduate Studies, andAssociate Director of the American JewishArchives, who will be remembered as apassionate advocate for social justice, dedicated teacher, and gifted poet.

Arthur Grant, a loyal son of the Jewishpeople, who grew up in the ReformMovement in Toronto and dedicated hislife to the vitality of Judaism worldwidethrough years of devoted service asNELFTY Regional Youth Director, thefirst Regional Director of the UAHCCanadian Council for Reform Judaism,National Director of Programs andRegions and architect of the Biennialconventions at the UAHC, and as Vice President for Administration andStrategic Planning at HUC-JIR.

Bob Rosin, the guiding force in the creation of the College-Institute’s webpresence in 1995, who will be remem-bered for his warmth, humor, anddevotion to the Reform Movement.

Matthew Ross, esteemed honorarymember of the Board of Governors anddistinguished former Chair of the Unionof American Hebrew Congregations.

Dror Weinberg, beloved cousin of rabbinical student Rachel Goldenberg(NY ’03), and the IDF colonel in chargeof the Hebron command who was killed there.

Faculty andAdministrationAppointments

For faculty and administrationappointments, visit our website at

www.huc.edu/kesher

2003 ISSUE 61 �29

HUC-JIR Museum/New YorkOne West 4th Street, New York, NY 10012Hours: Mon.-Thurs., 9 am - 5 pm; Fri., 9 am - 3 pm;Selected Sun., 10 am - 2 pmInformation/Tours: 212-824-2205 Admission: Free

Rebirth After the Holocaust: The Bergen-BelsenDisplaced Persons Camp, 1945-1950 Through July 3

Upon theBritish Army’sliberation ofthe Bergen-Belsenconcentrationcamp on

April 15, 1945, the uprooted and homelessJewish survivors emerged with a boundlessdetermination to rebuild their lives. Duringthe next five years, the Bergen-BelsenDisplaced Persons Camp became the largestDP camp in Germany and a vibrant center of rehabilitation, reconstruction, and rebirth.This self-governed Jewish community estab-lished political, cultural, religious, educational,and social activities that renewed Jewish life.Its leaders challenged British policy limitingimmigration to Eretz-Israel and played a sig-nificant role in the struggle for theestablishment of the State of Israel. Thisphoto-documentary exhibition depicts aninspiring and untold chapter in Jewish history,when brave men and women emerged fromdestruction and joined together to fight forJewish and human rights, freedom, and life.

Thirty Pieces/Thirty Years: Sculpture by Ann SperryThrough June 26

Sculptor AnnSperry’s first major retrospective explores therelationship between the artist’s feminism,innovative technique in welded steel, and heridentity and Jewish heritage. Beginning withwork from her first one-person show in NewYork City in 1973, the exhibition continueswith examples of each of her major series ofthe following thirty years.

Lilith Magazine: The Voice of Jewish WomenThrough June 27

An exhibition cele-brating more than25 years of theaward-winningindependent Jewishwomen’s magazine,Lilith. The exhibition documents the impactof feminist Jewish journalism during the piv-otal years 1976-2001, includes fine artillustrations for the magazine, original manu-scripts, iconic photographs, and memorabiliasupporting Jewish women’s roles in theworld. It addressesdiverse topics such aswomen rabbis and can-tors, women andJewish ritual, Jewishcommunity, public cel-ebrations, scholarship,health and healing,images of Jewishwomen, “unheard” women of the Diaspora,intimate relationships, and body image.

Living in the Moment: Contemporary Artists Celebrate Jewish TimeOngoing

The continuingpresentation of new, out-standing, andinnovativeworks of Jewishceremonial art,

created by internationally recognized artists.These unique and limited edition works areavailable for acquisition, so that they canenter into the lives of fami-lies and communities.

HUC-JIR Skirball Museum/Cincinnati3101 Clifton Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45220Hours: Mon.-Thurs.,11 am - 4 pm; Sun.,2 - 5 pmInformation/Tours: 513-221-1875, ext. 358Admission: Free

An Eternal People: The Jewish ExperienceThe museum’s permanent exhibition featuresJewish archaeological artifacts from theNelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeologyin Jerusalem, Jewish ceremonial and ritualobjects, and exhibits depicting Torah study,American Judaism with an emphasis onCincinnati and HUC-JIR, aspects of theHolocaust, and modern Israel.

Skirball Museum of BiblicalArchaeology/Jerusalem

13 King David Street, Jerusalem, Israel 94101Hours: Sun.-Thurs., 10 am – 4 pmInformation: (02) 620-3257 Admission: Free

The permanent exhibition focuses on the archaeological work of theNelson Glueck School of BiblicalArchaeology. Artifacts and models

from excavations at Tel Dan, Tel Gezer, Tel Aroer, and Tel Ira are on view.Thematic displays include the dig campexperience, religious belief and cult practice,burial behavior, gates and fortifications, and the saga of the Israelite Settlement.

HUC-JIR Skirball Cultural Center/LA2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90049Hours: Tues.-Sat., 12 - 5 pm; Sun., 11 am – 5 pmInformation: (310) 440-4500Tours: (310) 440-4564 Admission: Free through October 15

Visions and Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to AmericaOngoing

Featuring works from the HUC-JIRSkirball Museum’s permanent collec-tion, this exhibition traces thehistory, accomplishments, and valuesof the Jewish people over four thou-sand years, culminating with theirexperiences in the United States andcontributions to American culture.

On VOn Viewiew AT HUC-JIR’S MUSEUMS

For information on HUC-JIR’s traveling

exhibitions, please call (212) 824-2218.


armed with the tools for encountering Jewishtradition, and versed with a broad repertoireupon which to draw. “You not only have astory to tell, but values and principles thatyou’re trying to embody as a teacher.”

Text as well as history courses at HUC-JIRprovide students with both inspiration androle models and a sense of responsibility forwhat it means to truly be a leader. Throughoutthe millennia of Jewish existence, the actionsof an individual or a group have contributedto Jewish survival, or not. Carole Balinagrees, and expresses her hopes that “herstudents will recognize that they them-selves are builders of that history.”

Sharon Gillerman wants herstudents to learn to think criti-cally about how Jewish identityis constructed, and to analyzecommunal discourse, popularimages, books of history and to see that all of them areconstructed in ways to affirm

identity or, in some cases, todeny identity. “My hope isthat the skills learned in myclasses will be applied in theway they view the worldaround them, the way they viewtheir congregants, and the way inwhich they interpret contemporaryand current events.”

“I hope my students learn the responsibilitythey carry as human beings and as rabbis inthe community,” states Ruth Alpers, formerlya congregational rabbi whose students arenow her congregation. “I expect them toapply the knowledge of learning how to be ina relationship with people, learning to listento people, and understanding that pastoralcare is relational and not just visiting someonein the hospital – that it is in every soul to soulencounter that will potentially impact everyhuman being that they meet, within theircommunities and beyond.”

Studying at HUC-JIR is intended to be atransformative experience. “Our students’hearts have been opened through their experi-ences as part of our school community. Theywill continue to find ways to perpetuate thatin their own lives – through social action,prayer, and lifelong learning – so that they canlead full Jewish lives and create communitiesof meaning,” Benjie Schiller predicts.

Sara Lee goes further. “Jewish leadership isso variegated in how and where it is deliv-ered. At the same time as we prepare our

students to be very functional in today’s real-ities, we want to prepare them also to bevisionaries and agents for change.”

Mentorship and SupervisionMentorship and supervision are essentialingredients in the ongoing relationshipsbetween faculty and students. With theintegrated core curriculum for the rabbinicalprogram, which is now being implemented,and its implications for HUC-JIR’s other pro-fessional and academic programs, there is anintensified effort to bring together the threecore dimensions of higher Jewish learning atthe College-Institute: intensive Judaic studies,

professional development, and spiritualgrowth. Each of these areas is reinforced bythe faculty’s commitment to mentor andsupervise, whether through regular meetingsto discuss theses, one-on-one sessions to mon-itor student internships and review students’journals, and personal spiritual guidance.

Sara Lee insists “HUC-JIR is not just turn-ing out practitioners, but people who seethemselves in academic, spiritual, and profes-sional dimensions.” Mentorship facilitatesthis integration and lifelong growth – espe-cially the lifetime warranty of mentorshipnow offered to HUC-JIR alumni!

“We’re really focused now on looking at howwe are teaching counseling, and learningfrom the field of psychology, so that it relates

to the study of Jewish texts,” says NancyWiener. “We want our students to

access Jewish text and ritual as partof the counseling they do, so thatthey see how their professionaldevelopment overlaps with theirintellectual studies.” WhenHUC-JIR students have con-gregational placements, she“helps them figure out what it is they want to be learningand how their experiences inthe field can help them reachdifferent learning goals, howto reflect on what they’redoing, and to assess them-selves. Furthermore, asstudents get a sense of their

professional responsibilities,they need to also learn how to takecare of themselves, so that they’re

not likely to breach boundaries that theyshould be upholding.”

“My dual education married these two aspectsof who I am, the rabbi and the scholar,” saysCarole Balin. “And, to my great fortune, myappointment to the HUC-JIR faculty did notrequire me to leave the rabbinical training bythe wayside. I function as both an academicand a rabbi. I serve a transient population.I’m simultaneously serving and educatingpeople who will become rabbis.”

“My work at HUC-JIR has been to bringthe practice of spiritual guidance to theJewish community,” notes Carol Ochs,


Rabbi Andrea Weiss and her students at HUC-JIR/New York.

The Women Faculty of HUC-JIR

2003 ISSUE 61 �31

author of the standard book for this practice,Jewish Spiritual Guidance. “I offer both acourse on this subject as well as one-on-onespiritual guidance for rabbinical and cantori-al students, where they have a chance toreally examine their spiritual lives. I am teach-ing my students that they are called upon tohave, and to help their congregants have, adeepening relationship with God. If they canreally strengthen that relationship, then ‘theyshall run and not grow weary, they shallmarch and not grow faint (Isaiah 40:31).’”

“I feel especially blessed to be ‘living’ in twoprograms,” says Naamah Kelman. For thefirst-year stateside rabbinical, cantorial, andeducation students during their required yearof study at HUC-JIR’s Jerusalem School, “I allay their anxieties about their professionalfuture.” As Field Work Coordinator for theIsraeli students preparing to become Israelirabbis, “I mentor them as they struggle withconcerns about the political issues surround-ing the Israeli Reform Movement and theexciting, as well as daunting, aspects of theirinvolvement in the creation of the Movementin Israel.”

Dvora Weisberg not only serves as an academ-ic advisor, but also spends time with studentsoutside the classroom in worship and informalsettings. “I invite my students to share Shabbatand holidays with my family. I talk to themabout what it means to be a Jewish professionaland a committed Jew. Students learn not onlyfrom what we teach, but how we teach, howwe speak to and with them.”

“I try to model menschlichkeit and makemyself available to talk not just about booksbut also about their religious and spiritualconcerns,” says Wendy Zierler. As a secondcareer academic, Adrian Leveen empathizeswith the growing number of second careerstudents in her classes.

Indeed, such mentorship has been responsiblefor guiding former HUC-JIR rabbinical stu-dents toward doctoral studies and, ultimately,to faculty positions at the College- Institute.“As a rabbinical student at HUC-JIR, I stud-ied with Tamara Cohn Eskenazi during herfirst year teaching at the College-Institute,”recalls Andrea Weiss. “She encouraged andnurtured my interest in the Bible and hasserved as a mentor and role model ever since.”

Women faculty who have themselves beenstudents at HUC-JIR have a deep under-standing of what it is like to be a studenthere and to juggle the demands of school,professional work, and one’s personal life.

“There were adjunct, part-time faculty rolemodels for me when I set out — CantorsHelen Reps and Ellen Stettner,” says BenjieSchiller. “Now I can be a model for womentraining to be clergy, who are seeking theirown ways of being Jewish and of integratingmotherhood and private lives with their pub-lic lives as Jewish leaders. As a cantor at mysynagogue in White Plains, I keep my ownstudies, prayer life, and performance vital,which certainly enrich my teaching of stu-dents as they develop as a rabbi or chazzan.But most importantly, I hope to modelintegrity, caring, openness, creativity, andencouragement.”

Marla Eglash Abraham concurs, “I take theopportunity to role model seriously, becauseI really didn’t have a female professor when I was a graduate student at HUC-JIR nor a woman role model when I was breakinginto the field of Jewish communal service.We were deprived of seeing how women did it – there was no one to watch. Butnow, how dramatic it is to have so many of us for students to watch!”

HUC-JIR’s MissionHUC-JIR’s women faculty, together withtheir distinguished male colleagues, recognizethe College-Institute’s special responsibilityto advance Jewish scholarship and leadershipat a time when higher Jewish learning isavailable at secular universities.

“Jewish learning in the seminary is reallyfuture oriented,” says Rachel Adler. “Thesecular enterprise is descriptive, the catalogu-ing of the past. We need to do that – it’s animportant resource to have, but buildingbridges between what was and what ought tobe is something only we can do.”

Wendy Zierler agrees, “HUC-JIR’s mandateinvolves linking scholarship to issues of Jewishlife, practice, and community involvement.We can put together courses that combinescholarly rigor and community relevance.”

“Scholarship to me is not an ‘ivory tower’endeavor; it is one way in which I explore

my relationship with Jewish tradition,” notesDvora Weisberg. “Our special responsibilityis to demonstrate the ways in which scholar-ship and religious commitment come together,” Carol Ochs concurs. “There is some knowl-edge that can be acquired in secularuniversities, but the kind of knowledge thatis ‘knowing through loving’ is the special giftthat HUC-JIR offers its students.”

At the same time, Adrian Leveen cautionsthat “it is our responsibility to really keepourselves in the academic world in order toconvey to our students the changes andinnovations in academia, because they areprofessionals going out into the larger worldand are impacted by those discoveries whichmake their way into the popular press andtelevision and, inevitably, are reflected in thequestions asked by their congregants.”

Benjie Schiller attests to HUC-JIR’s coremission, blessed by the pride shared by faculty and students in serving the ReformMovement and the Jewish people.“Everything we teach is infused with the values of Judaism. The goal is not some kindof technical perfection or scholarship for thesake of a new discovery. The goal is to per-petuate Jewish life and to prepare our studentsto be the best religious leaders they can be.”

Alyssa Gray reminds us “secular universitiesare academic institutions, but they reallyhave no stake or interest in whether Judaismcontinues as a living tradition or not. Wedo. That’s a critical function that we play.We teach ultimately about revelation and it’sa faith-based approach which would be com-pletely out of order in a secular university.”

“At HUC-JIR, we have the opposite of academic freedom,” explains Carole Balin.“We have the Jewish freedom to inculcatevalues, and that’s what makes us unique.”

The stakes are both high and inspiring. SaraLee concludes, “We have a unique and holymission here at the College-Institute. Thefuture of Jewish life in North America, Israel,and elsewhere is very dependent on how suc-cessful we are in preparing leaders that aredeeply grounded in Jewish knowledge, com-mitted to Israel, and visionary in bringingleadership to the Jewish world.”


Doctor of Divinity, honoris causaRabbi Richard Dean Agler,Congregation B’nai Israel, Boca Raton, FL

Rabbi Stephen Wise Goodman,Garden City Jewish Center,Garden City, NY

Rabbi David E. Greenberg,Temple Shaaray Tefila, Bedford Corners, NY

Rabbi Ira Lee Korinow, Temple Emanu-El, Haverhill, MA

Rabbi Mark Joel Mahler,Temple Emanuel of South Hills,Pittsburgh, PA

Rabbi Steven Samuel Mason,North Shore Congregation Israel,Glencoe, IL

Rabbi Lester Polonsky,Educational Director, Temple Avodah, Oceanside, NY

Rabbi Laurence AllanSchlesinger, Temple Beth El ofHuntington, Huntington, NY

Rabbi Laurence M. Skopitz,Temple Beth David, Rochester, NY

Rabbi Warren G. Stone, TempleEmanuel, Kensington, MD

Doctor of Music, honoris causaCantor Barry Abelson, Temple Israel, Minneapolis, MN

Cantor Bruce Marshall Benson,Boca Raton, FL

Cantor Phyllis Schmetter Cole,River Edge, NJ

Cantor Don Alan Croll, Temple Shalom, Dallas, TX

Cantor Elliott H. Dicker, Beth Ami Congregation, Boca Raton, FL

Cantor Gail Posner Karp,Temple Emanuel, Davenport, IA

Cantor Mark Lipson, Temple Shalom, Norwalk, CT

Cantor Steven Pearlston, Free Synagogue of Flushing,Flushing, New York

Cantor Elias Roochvarg, Temple Israel, Charlotte, NC

Cantor Sarah J. Sager, Anshe Chesed Fairmount Temple,Beachwood, OH

Doctor of Jewish ReligiousEducation, honoris causaEsphira (Happy) LocketzIscove, Family EducationSpecialist, Holy Blossom Temple,Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Patrice Goldstein Mason,Family Educator, North ShoreCongregation Israel, Glencoe, IL

Alumni Honored at Founders’ Day 2003

Doctor of Divinity, honoris causaRabbi Harold F. Caminker,Temple Beth El, Riverside, CA

Rabbi John Daniel Cooper,Chaplain, Retirement Villages,Buderim, Queensland, Australia

Rabbi Karen L. Fox, Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Los Angeles, CA

Rabbi Rosalind Ann Gold,Northern Virginia HebrewCongregation, Reston, VA

Rabbi Gary Greenebaum,Western Regional Director,American Jewish Committee, Los Angeles, CA

Rabbi Mark Samuel Hurvitz,Congregation Etz Chaim,Ramona, CA

Rabbi Benjamin A. Kamin,Congregation Beth Israel, San Diego, CA

Rabbi Sheldon J. Marder,Chaplain, JewishHome for the Aged,San Francisco, CA

Rabbi Sheldon Wayne Moss,President, Seven Blessings,Berthoud, CO

Rabbi Michael David Oblath,Professor of Ancient Israel, St.Mary’s College of California,Moraga, CA

Rabbi Shaul Osadchey,Congregation Or Ami, Houston, TX

Rabbi Deborah R. Prinz,Temple Adat Shalom, Poway, CA

Doctor of Jewish ReligiousEducation, honoris causaJanice P. Alper, Executive Director, JewishEducational Services, Atlanta, GA

Adele Lander Burke, Vice President, Life-LongLearning, HUC-Skirball CulturalCenter, Los Angeles, CA

Vicki Reikes Fox, Museum Consultant, Los Angeles, CA

Nancy Pryzant Picus, Director of Judaic Studies, TheShlenker School, CongregationBeth Israel, Houston, TX

Natalie Ray, Great Neck, NY

Doctor of Jewish CommunalService, honoris causaJanis F. Ballin, Valley Village, CA

Wayne L. Feinstein, San Francisco, CA

Irving L. Ginsberg, Rancho Mirage, CA

Miriam Prum Hess, Vice Presidentfor Planning and Allocations, JewishFederation Council of Greater LosAngeles, Los Angeles, CA

Marcie Schoenberg Lee,Director, Hillel Teaching ScholarsProgram, Hillel Jewish StudentCenter, Arizona State University,Tempe, AZ

Deena Bubis Libman,Development Coordinator, San Diego Jewish Academy, San Diego, CA

Doctor of Divinity, honoriscausaRabbi Marc EdwardBerkson, Congregation Emanu-El B’ne Jeshurun,Milwaukee, WI

Rabbi Alan Carl Flam, Senior Associate UniversityChaplain, Brown University,Providence, RI

Rabbi Gary A. Huber,Congregation Beth Tikvah,Worthington, OH

Rabbi Mark Steven Kram,Executive Director, FloridaHillel Council, Coral Gables, FL

Rabbi Stephen Fisher Moch,Congregation B’nai Emmunah,Tarpon Springs, FL

Rabbi Martin Sandor Scharf,Chaplain, Kivel Campus of Care, Phoenix, AZ

Rabbi Samuel R. Seicol,Director of Religious Services,Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged, Boston, MA

Rabbi Myra Soifer, Temple Sinai, Reno, NV

Rabbi Dennis Edward Wald,Coral Gables, FL

Doctor of Jewish CommunalService, honoris causaAlan S. Engel, Executive Director, JewishCommunity Federation ofLouisville, Louisville, KY

Jordan Sigmund Harburger,Executive Director, GreaterDallas Jewish CommunityCapital Campaign, Dallas, TX

Cincinnati, March 9, 2003

Los Angeles, May 19, 2003*

New York, March 16, 2003

*Honorary degrees in Los Angeles are awarded at a special ceremony on Graduation Day.

Wishing you a joyful Shavuot!

Brookdale Center, One West 4th Street, New York, NY 10012-1186

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2003 Jerusalem Album

HUC-JIR Governors, Overseers, and Year-in-Israel rabbinical andeducation students at the monument marking the "Burma Road."

Newly ordained Helena Rubinstein, (l) the first FSU emigrant tobecome an Israeli women rabbi, and Tamar Duvdevani (r)

Forty stateside rabbinical and education students in the Year-in-Israel program on the Jerusalem campus.

HUC-JIR Governors, Overseers, and administration visited theJerusalem Campus in March as part of a solidarity mission withthe HUC-JIR/Jerusalem family and the people of Israel. Theirvisit featured the Ordination convocation in which RabbiEllenson ordained the two newest Israeli Reform rabbis and hon-oray degrees were presented to leading intellectual leaders ofIsrael and dedicated HUC-JIR alumni; sessions with the extendedHUC-JIR community of Israeli students, faculty, and statesiderabbinical and education students spending their first year ofstudy at the Jerusalem School; meetings with prominent Israelipolitical leaders; and an excursion exploring the "Burma Road,"the emergency bypass route to Jerusalem forged by the Palmach tocircumvent the Arab siege in 1948.

At the Jerusalem Ordination convocation, rabbinic ordinees,honorary doctorate recipients, and HUC-JIR/Jerusalem admin-istration: (front, from left) Rabbi Helena Rubinstein, ProfessorRuth Kartun-Blum, Arie Gluck, Rabbi Ellenson; (standing,from left) Rabbi Michael Marmur, Rabbi Tamar Duvdevani,Jurist Moshe Negbi, Rabbi Michael Klein-Katz, ProfessorMichael Rosenak, Rabbi Seymour Gitin, Rabbi Levi Lauer,and Rabbi Shaul Feinberg.

John Golden (center) wasinducted onto HUC-JIR'sBoard of Governors byBurton Lehman, Chair,and Rabbi David Ellenson.

The Women Faculty of HUC-JIR

Documents

Transcript of The Women Faculty of HUC-JIR