2003
ISSUE 62
1
n Tractate Rosh Hashanah
10
b-11a in the Babylonian
Talmud, the following argu-
ment is recorded, “Rabbi
Eliezer says, ‘In
Nisan
Israel was
redeemed. However, in the
future Israel will be redeemed
in
Tishri.
’
Rabbi Joshua says,
‘
In
Nisan
Israel was redeemed. Israel will be redeemed in the future in
Nisan
as well.’”
The debate here is seemingly insignificant – an arcane point of spec-
ulation akin to the proverbial disputation among medieval scholastics
as to how many angels dance on the head of a pin. If this debate
were no more than a speculative discussion concerning the date of
a future redemption, then it would indeed be of little consequence –
a trivial argument incapable of empirical resolution.
However, what distinguishes Rabbi Eliezer from Rabbi Joshua in this
gemara
is much more important than such a literal reading of the
passage would suggest. For this argument masks a philosophical-
religious dispute as to the nature of redemption itself.
Nisan
is the month of Passover, the time when the Jewish people
were redeemed from Egypt. The redemption that informs Passover is
one the tradition states was marked by
hesed
–
grace. The deeds per-
formed by
‘
am yisrael
did not earn the people their freedom. Rather,
the liberation from Egyptian bondage was solely the result of divine
mercy. God redeemed Israel despite their lack of merit.
Tishri
is the month of the
Yamim Noraim
,
the High Holy Day season
when Israel stands before God in judgment. In contrast to
Nisan
,
the redemption that comes forth during
Tishri
is the result of human
performance. The acts that an individual and a people carry out play
a large part in determining whether redemption will occur. When
Rabbi Eliezer maintains, “In the future, Israel will be redeemed in
Tishri
,”
he reminds us that our deeds are crucial and that our accom-
plishments are capable of mending the world.
As the days of
Tishri
approach and as we prepare for the High Holy
Days this religious message is a critical one that affirms the role that
God calls upon us to play as covenantal partners in the process of
tikkun ‘olam
.
This issue of
The Chronicle
seeks to demonstrate that
HUC-JIR confirms its faith in this message through the activities
that unfold among our students, faculty, and alumni.
In this issue brief accounts are provided of the diverse career paths
three of our recent graduates have taken as they attempt each in their
own way to improve the world. We also celebrate our largest enter-
ing class in over a decade, and allow our incoming students to speak
for themselves as to their aspirations as they embark upon their
careers of service to the Jewish people and religion. The heartening
story of how so many of our first year students in Israel during the
last academic year served the
Jewish community of the FSU
during their Passover vacation
reflects the commitments that
inform our students as they
prepare for their vocations.
And the phenomenal growth of
the Miller High School Honors
Program is also celebrated as the College-Institute attempts to play a
role in the education of a future generation of Jewish leaders.
HUC-JIR regards its responsibility to educate our students as a
sacred trust, and our Provost Norman Cohen reports on the new
rabbinical core curriculum that has been inaugurated at HUC-JIR
this year under his direction. This initiative has far-ranging impli-
cations for every program at our school, and Rabbi Cohen
describes the substance and the hopes that inform and motivate
this initiative as our institution attempts to fulfill its mandate as a
school of applied scholarship.
Of course, this means that scholarship must remain at the heart of
our enterprise. Learning is what grants authenticity to our institu-
tion. Articles on the unparalleled scholarly contributions that have
made Michael Meyer the preeminent modern Jewish historian in the
world as well as the many academic accomplishments of our alumni
testify to the central role HUC-JIR accords scholarship. William
Cutter indicates how the recent
Festschrift
he co-edited in honor
of Professor Arnold Band of UCLA reflects the ongoing academic
commitments and contributions of our faculty. And the profile on
Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and the exciting and original
Women’s
Commentary on Torah
that she is now editing under the sponsorship
of the Women of Reform Judaism indicates how HUC-JIR is at the
forefront of creative academic and religious commentary and
research. The exploits of our faculty members Sara Lee and David
Weisberg in China are reported and a preview of the forthcoming
faculty lecture series at Florida Atlantic University as well as educa-
tional opportunities for alumni and adult learners are also provided
in these pages. The reach of the College-Institute through the schol-
arship of our faculty and alumni is truly global.
In all these ways the College-Institute seeks to discharge the task
assigned the Jewish people by God and articulated by Rabbi Eliezer.
Tishri
bids us acknowledge the need for human action and asserts
that redemption is contingent upon our human aims and achieve-
ments. We celebrate such aims and achievements in the pages of this
journal, and remain committed to such tasks and ends.
May all of you who read these words observe a meaningful High
Holy Day season, and to all of you I would offer the traditional
Sephardic salutation for this time of year, “
Tizku l’shanim rabbot –
May you merit many years of joy and accomplishment.”
Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D.
President ’s
Message
I