Koleinu: Davening as Dance, Intra-Jewish Dialogue on Israel, Events & More

November 6, 2025 | 15 Heshvan 5786

Koleinu |our voice|

Reimagining Jewish learning and leadership for an interconnected world.

Parashat Vayera | Candlelighting 4:11 PM EST

THE ARTS AT HEBREW COLLEGE

Davening as Dance: "Field Work"

On Thursday, November 20, movement artist Hadar Ahuvia will transform the soundscape of an Ashkenazi (Eastern European) morning service into a score for movement. Building on previous solo work, Ahuvia's dance-research project "Field Work" includes fellow artists Jesse Zaritt and Bria Bacon. “My last project, 'nefesh', was a solo exploration of Ashkenazi prayer, inspired by my musical studies, and learning about centuries of rabbinic approaches to prayer as avodah, as spiritual labor,” says Ahuvia, who is also a rabbinical student at Hebrew College. “An essential ingredient in that practice is being in and with the community, so I knew any deepening of this research would mean inviting others to join me in space, in the studio, in my field work.”

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Purchase tickets for "Field Work" at Hebrew College, November 20 at 7 pm.

MILLER CENTER FOR INTERRELIGIOUS LEARNING & LEADERSHIP

A "Sturdy Enough" Space for Intra-Jewish Dialogue

Two years since the atrocities of October 7th, and in the midst of a fragile ceasefire, conversations within the Jewish community have become increasingly tense and often unmanageable. On college campuses, in synagogues, and around family tables, sharp rifts cut across generations and ideologies. But as we know from history and our present moment, silence and separation do not serve us. If there was ever a time to construct sukkah-like spaces where Jewish interlocutors can be honest and curious, that time is now. Earlier this fall, we launched Panim el Panim (Face to Face): Engaging Israel Across Difference (Face to Face), housed at Hebrew College’s Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership and funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.

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SEVENTY FACES OF TORAH

“Here I Am”: Sacrifice and Transformation

In the last moments of the Parshah we read Akeidat Yitzchak, Avraham’s binding of his son Yitzhak. In this section of Vayera Avraham repeats the word “הנני / Hineini‚—Here I Am” three times. The repetition of a phrase or word (called a leitwort or a guideword), as Biblical scholar Robert Alter explains, provides “psychological, moral and dramatic complications of biblical narrative” and reveals something new about the story or character. What wisdom might these words specifically offer us within the rupture and drama of the Akeidah?

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Teen Beit Midrash Invites Teens to Wrestle with Ethical and Religious Questions

Teen Beit Midrash is in full swing after the chagim, with 15 students from Newton, Brookline, Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, and Needham. The teens are studying the tractate Yoma, about Yom Kippur, repentance and how to make decisions when our ethical or religious values are in tension. "My students are excited and curious and a joy to teach," says TBM Director Rabbi Claudia Marbach. TBM is also recruiting for its shorter program, the Maimonides Moot Beit Din. Teams of 3-4 learn ancient and modern texts about an ethical dilemma and then participate in a weekend of debate and Jewish connection. This year's topic is the ethics of live organ donation. Applications are open and the program runs from January-March. For more information email Rabba Claudia Marbach.