1
P
RESIDENT
’
S
M
ESSAGE
2
I
NSPIRATIONS
,
E
XPECTATIONS
,
AND
A
SPIRATIONS
:
A Talk with
our Incoming Students
4
C
ELEBRATING
P
ASSOVER IN THE
F
ORMER
S
OVIET
U
NION
:
The HUC-JIR Year-in-Israel
Pesach
Trip
6
N
EW
R
ABBINICAL
C
ORE
C
URRICULUM
S
TRENGTHENS
T
EACHING
,
L
EARNING
,
AND
C
ONGREGATIONAL
I
MPACT
10
P
ROFILE
:
T
AMARA
C
OHN
E
SKENAZI
11
L
ISTENING TO OUR
M
OTHERS
:
The Women of Reform Judaism
Women’s Commentary on Torah
14
F
ROM
HUC-JIR
TO
C
HINA
:
Faculty Adventures of
Professors Lee and Weisberg
16
F
ROM THE
S
EMINARY TO THE
A
CADEMY
:
Rabbinical Alumni Teaching at Universities
22
M
ICHAEL
A. M
EYER
:
Four Decades at HUC-JIR
23
H
EBREW
U
NION
C
OLLEGE
’
S
R
ESCUE
OF
S
CHOLARS
D
URING THE
H
OLOCAUST
24
T
HE
J
EWISH
C
OLLEGE IN
E
XILE
27
H
ISTORY AND
L
ITERATURE
:
N
EW
R
EADINGS OF
J
EWISH
T
EXTS IN
H
ONOR OF
A
RNOLD
J. B
AND
29
HUC-JIR
IN
F
LORIDA
,
W
INTER
2004
31
T
HE
M
ILLER
H
IGH
S
CHOOL
H
ONORS
P
ROGRAM
34/36
G
RADUATION
/
O
RDINATION
/
I
NVESTITURE
2003
A
DDRESS
E
XCERPTS
35/37
G
RADUATION
/
O
RDINATION
/
I
NVESTITURE
2003
P
HOTO
A
LBUM
D
EPARTMENTS
26
HUC-JIR and Faculty Publications
26
In Memoriam
28
Educational Opportunities for Alumni and Adult Learners
30
Appointments
33
On View at HUC-JIR’s Museums
Contents
on the cover:
Newly arrived Year-in-Israel rabbinical, cantorial, and education
students in Jerusalem.
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, Gerda Klein,
Luke Reader, Sarah Schriever
Design:
Tabak Design
Photo Credits:
Isaac Harari, Andrew Higley,
Ariel Jerozolimski, Richard Lobell, Rachel Ann Miller, Marvin Steindler
he numbers may not be great, but the need is. Jews in
the Southern United States are as passionately committed
to their own and their children’s Jewish education as any in the
world. Because of the scarcity of Jewish professionals in the South
and because of the strong cultural imperative to affiliate religiously
in this part of the country, Jews here work terribly hard for their
Jewish education and identification. I find the
circumstances and the spirit of Southern
Jewry fascinating, inspiring, and very moving.
The opportunity to make a difference here –
not to mention the challenge of creating a
new position and a new kind of rabbinate –
was too compelling for me to pass up….
Most fundamentally, I hope to make it easier
for Jews to be Jewish in the South.”
Rabbi Debra Kassoff (C ’03),
Director of Rabbinic Services for the
Institute of Southern Jewish Life
“
T
s a religious school teacher and a youth group and camp
songleader since the 1970s, I have always loved sharing and
teaching Jewish music. I was a founding member, accompanist and
section leader of Kol Dodi, a Jewish community choir in New Jersey.
I sing, compose and arrange music for Beged Kefet, a group of seven
singers, devoted to
tzedakah
.
The group, now completing its third
recording, includes my wife, Beth, and five friends who are rabbis
and cantors. I left my job of 17 years as a senior computer security
systems programmer to become a cantor and
devote myself to that which I love so much.
In the coming year, I will be leading services
at Shir Shalom, the Reform Temple of
Suffern, NY, and at Temple Isaiah in Lexington,
MA, as well as teaching in the religious school
at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun Barnert
Temple in Franklin Lakes, NJ.”
Cantor Leon Sher (N ’03)
y decision to enter the military began the morning of
9/11.
I knew then that I wanted to directly support
the efforts of defending this country. And while I feel honored
to be the first female rabbi in the Air Force, it also saddens me
that more women have not entered this field.
As rabbi and chaplain, I hope to give the
brave souls in uniform a greater sense of pur-
pose and meaning in their work and in their
life, and to deepen their love for and connec-
tion with God.”
Rabbi Sarah Schechter (L ’03)
“
A
“
M