|
HUC-JIR Graduation Honors Jewish Leaders, Alumni, and Graduating Class of 2008 at Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York
Nearly 1,000 communal leaders, relatives, and friends gathered at Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York on April 30th for HUC-JIR's Graduation Ceremonies of the 133rd academic year. |
|
Author Anita Diamant, Honorary Doctorate Recipient, Delivered Graduation Address on Minhag America at HUC-JIR/NY Graduation Ceremonies
Diamant said, "We are on the verge of an entirely new iteration of Jewish history and of Judaism itself, a time that is bursting with ideas and possibilities, music and art, wisdom and laughter, scholarship and movies. And holiness. I call this new chapter Minhag America. The title comes from the famous prayer book published in 1856 by Rabbi Isaac Meyer Wise, who dreamed of uniting all of American Jewry with a single siddur. That was doomed to fail, and fail it did. I use Rabbi Wise's title not to unite or paper over the differences and variations in American Jewish practice, but as an umbrella term to describe the rich diversity of Jewish life in America, and of a uniquely American Judaism, alive and kicking." |
|
Sigmund Ronell Balka Awarded Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, at HUC-JIR Graduation Ceremonies
In presenting the doctoral degree citation to Sigmund Balka, HUC-JIR President Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D., said, "We recognize Sigmund Balka's distinguished contributions to the Jewish community and the larger society through his legal counsel and love for the arts. His wisdom has guided corporate, educational, and civic institutions, and his dedicated public service in federal and city administrations has strengthened the practice of finance and business. His intellect and vision have led the way to innovative expression through his art collections." |
|
Robert M. Heller, Past Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Union for Reform Judaism, Awarded Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Graduation Ceremonies in New York
Heller is the immediate Past Chairman of the URJ. He has been actively involved in the URJ since 1987, having served the Union on the regional level before joining the national board in 1994 and serving as Vice Chair for four years prior to becoming Chairman. He has served on the Board of Governors of HUC-JIR since 1996, chairing the New York Board of Overseers from 1966 to 2000. |
|
Dr. Nechama Tec, Holocaust Scholar and Sociologist, Awarded Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, at HUC-JIR Graduation Ceremonies
Rabbi Ellenson said, "We recognize Dr. Nechama Tec's gifts as a university professor whose teaching has enriched and inspired generations of students and whose prolific writings have enhanced the world of scholarship. Her research into the relationships between self-preservation, compassion, altruism, rescue, resistance, cooperation, and gender has made her a strong voice in Holocaust studies. A child survivor of the Holocaust, her memoir entitled Dry Tears: Story of a Lost Childhood records her life's story and reflects the trajectories of Jewish survival in this past century." |
|
Central Conference of American Rabbis Holds Historic Convention in Cincinnati and Memorable Study Sessions at HUC-JIR's Cincinnati Campus; American Jewish Archives Honors 36 Years of Women in the Rabbinate with Establishment of "Documenting the History of Women in the Rabbinate" Archival Collection
The CCAR held their 119th annual convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. Over 500 rabbis attended and represented the largest CCAR convention turnout since 1989. The catalyst for such a large response was the CCAR – HUC-JIR Cincinnati Campus Day, sponsored by the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati. The convention was co-chaired by Dr. Gary P. Zola, C '82, Director of the Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, and Rabbi Peter Berg, N '98. |
|
Highlights of the WUPJ and HUC-JIR Pesach Project
For the fifth consecutive year, 36 HUC-JIR students visited and conducted Seders in 28 cities throughout the Former Soviet Union. |
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. Jewish Leaders Call for Boycott of Beijing Olympics – Haaretz
So far, 175 rabbis, seminary officials, and other prominent Jews have signed the declaration, which comes shortly before Holocaust Remembrance Day on Friday, organizers said. |
|
Rabbis' Dispute Exposes Communal Rift on Labor – The Forward
Jews have split into several camps on the issue, said Steven Windmueller, Professor of Jewish Communal Service at HUC-JIR. "The focus and orientation, in the case of one camp, is traditional, old-line support for social justice causes," he told the Forward. But for others, labor issues no longer hold sway. "Some of it is a rebuff of the labor camp, and part of it is simply that, economically and socially, Jews are in a different place." |
|
As Jewish Communities Unite, Disconnects Persist – The Jewish Journal
In early 2005, Gerald (Jerry) Bubis and Steven Windmueller, respectively Founding Director of the School of Jewish Communal Service at HUC-JIR/LA and its Dean, came out with a 165-page paperback titled "From Predictability to Chaos? How Jewish Leaders Reinvented Their National Community System." |
|
HUC-JIR Museum in New York Hosts Rosalyn Engelman – Art Knowledge News
Art is one of the most powerful tools of social activism and noted artist Rosalyn Engelman is in the vanguard, calling attention to the on going calamity of trafficking in human lives. Engelman uses an arsenal of explicit, graphic and brutal imagery to capture the viewer's attention. |
|
Women's Torah Commentary a Milestone Publication – The Canadian Jewish News
The book was a 15-year, $1.5-million project initiated and funded by the Women of Reform Judaism and edited by Tamara Cohn Eskenazi, a Bible Professor at HUC-JIR/LA, and Rabbi Andrea Weiss, Assistant Professor of Bible at the College-Institute's New York campus. |
|
'Simple Twist of Fate' Finds Meaning in Artist's Work – The Jewish Journal
From the small religious village of Beit Yatir, just south of Jerusalem, to the far more secular beach city of Santa Monica, Judith Margolis made quite a journey to become the HUC-JIR/LA artist-in-residence. When she accepted the college's invitation, one of the commitments Margolis made was to work with rabbinical students, as well as create a painting for the school's permanent art collection. |
|
Where Do You Stand? – Interfaith Family
In the other corner was Steven Cohen, Research Professor of Jewish Social Policy at HUC-JIR/NY. He says, "Of non-Orthodox Jews between 25 and 39 years old, a majority are neither in-married nor mixed married–they are non-married. As such, very few join temples; but many are open to self-organized efforts by members of their own generation in spirituality, learning, culture, social justice, and the Internet." |
Spotlight on HUC-JIR's Programs and
Research Resources
|
|
Upcoming Events at HUC-JIR
|
|
HUC-JIR/NY Students to be Ordained and Invested Sunday, May 4
Six students will be invested as cantors and 19 will be ordained as rabbis at Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York. The 2008 Roger E. Joseph Prize will be awarded to Father Patrick Desbois of Paris, Advisor for the Vatican's Commission for Religions Relations with Jews and President of Yahad-In-Unum: Catholics and Jews Together. Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D., President of HUC-JIR, will deliver the ordination address. |
|
Rosalyn A. Engelman: "Dry Tears" at HUC-JIR/NY Museum Opens May 14th
Rosalyn Engelman uses her skills as a visual artist to cast light on genocide and vulnerability of the individual victim. |
|
|
|
|
Founded in 1875, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is the nation's oldest institution of
higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual, and professional development center of Reform Judaism.
HUC-JIR educates men and women for service to American and world Jewry as rabbis, cantors, educators, and
communal service professionals and offers graduate and post-graduate degree programs for scholars of all faiths.
With campuses in Cincinnati, Los Angeles, New York, and Jerusalem, HUC-JIR's scholarly resources comprise
renowned library, archive, and museum collections, the American Jewish Archives, biblical archaeology
excavations, research centers and institutes, and academic publications. HUC-JIR invites the community to an array
of cultural and educational programs that illuminate Jewish history, culture, and contemporary creativity, and
foster interfaith and multi-ethnic understanding.
Visit us at
www.huc.edu.
|
|
