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October 22, 2020 | 4 Cheshvan 5781
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In a world in need of hope, this week we offer inspired stories and Torah from Hebrew College alumni, faculty, staff, and students—including our teens. May their voices offer us courage and light in the weeks ahead.
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Nurturing Youth Leadership Development in Hard Times: The Hebrew College Dignity Project
By Kimberley Bress, Assistant Director of the Dignity Project
In this moment of increased polarization and resurgent intolerance, we need to help young people develop the ability and sensibility to find common ground when possible, and to engage in dignified discourse and debate when necessary. This is particularly important for our target audience, as these teens move closer to adulthood, preparing to leave home for college, university, and work life. — Rabbi Or Rose, Miller Center Director, Dignity Project Proposal, December 2019
Hebrew College's Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership began planning for the new Dignity Project a few months before the COVID-19 outbreak; we felt a growing need to help teen leaders in our city navigate the diversity of American life during a time of widespread political and cultural polarization.
But the pain and isolation of the pandemic and the recent social uprising have made the mission of this new project—designed to train outstanding high school students from Greater Boston to serve as interreligious and cross-cultural bridge-builders—even more urgent and relevant.
Members of the inaugural fellowship cohort of 16 fellows come from Baha’i, Buddhist, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian traditions, as well as from secular communities. Our goal is for these fellows to engage the diversity of our city— and broader society—with thoughtfulness, skill, and care . . .
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Keeping Social Issues Relevant During a Pandemic
What’s important to you? What are the social issues you want to really stand up and fight for? Do you feel more connected to and passionate about some things over others? There are many things that are important to me, but it can be difficult to focus on just one at a time. In Hebrew College's Jewish Teen Foundation of Greater Boston (JTFGB), we get the opportunity to figure that out and choose something together that matters to all of us as a group—in one way or another.
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Building Bridges through Walking Prayer
“When Rabbi Heschel was here in Alabama, he said, ‘I felt my feet were praying.’ That was very much on my mind. I realized what we can do during the pandemic is walk, take care of ourselves outdoors. We have to not gather. But if you stretch our congregation out along a long walking course, we can see each other. We are not congregated, but we are physically present. We can say Shana Tovah in masks.” — Rabbi Stephen Slater`18, Temple Beth El, Birmingham, AL
On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Rabbi Slater led more than 400 congregants and guests on a wheelchair-accessible path through the local botanical gardens with stations for reflection and prayer. He was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King's 1965 voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, in which Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel played a prominent role. (Photos courtesy of Temple Beth El)
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Building Towers to Knock Them DownParashat Noach (Genesis 6:9-11:32)
By Rabbi Becky Silverstein`14 | Rabbi/Founder, Beyn Kodesh l’Chol
From the floor on which I sit stacking blocks one on top of the other, I have a clear view of our bookshelves. I can see the complete Talmud set that my spouse bought me as a wedding present, a collection of bell hooks’ works that I’ve only barely begun to dig into, sets of Midrash Rabbah and Netivot Shalom with beautiful bindings, and a stack of Octavia Butler. Out of the corner of my eye, I catch our almost-one-year-old coming towards me. She has that “I AM INFANT. I WILL KNOCK DOWN TOWER. DO NOT TRY TO STOP ME!” look in her eyes. I don’t stop her. The tower crashes down.
As she picks up a long blue rectangle to put in her mouth, I start my tower over. There is no doubt in my mind that Edie will knock this one down too, just as she did the last and likely will the next. This time, as my mind wanders, it hovers on the things I would do if only, if only, I wasn’t sitting on the floor building toddler towers. I would teach more Talmud. I would write teshuvot that addresses the intersection of trans-experience and Jewish religious expression. I would be a more accountable board chair. I would be a more effective organizer. I would be a more efficient philanthropist. I would . . . I would . . . BANG. Edie has knocked over my tower again!
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Hebrew College Rector Rabbi Art Green was featured in the October 18 Jewish Telegraphic Agency article "Rabbi Art Green (still) believes Hasidic ideas are key to a vibrant modern Judaism."
Rabbi Becky Silverstein `14 co-wrote “The Kranjec Test: A Response” in the October 7 issue of eJewish Philanthropy.
Rabbi Josh Breindel `09 was quoted in an October 7 Tablet article, “The Great Streaming Experiment.”
Rabbi Allison Poirier`19 appeared in WGBH Radio's "In It Together" broadcast.
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FALL ONLINE EVENTS | All times are EST (U.S.)
OCTOBER
Jewish Law and Ethics: A Hackathon for the Age of COVID-19
T'ruah Web Series, co-sponsored by Hebrew College
October 27
Learn more & register
Elemental Breath in the Four Worlds:
A Workshop Centering Jews of Color
Hebrew College Breath Lab Full Moon Fall Series, Cheshvan 5781
October 28 | 7-8:30 p.m.
Learn more & register
NOVEMBER
Virtual Information Session
Hybrid Master of Jewish Education Program at Hebrew College
November 12 | 7:15 p.m.
Learn more & register
The Heidi Urich Annual Lecture on Jewish Genealogy
"Myth and History in the Recent Jewish Past"
Featuring Steven J. Zipperstein
November 15 | 1:30-3 p.m.
Learn more & register
LimmudBoston
Hebrew College, co-sponsor
November 15 | 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Learn more & register
Ta Sh'ma (Come & Hear) Ordination Programs Open House
November 16 | 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
Learn more & register
Film Screening of "Children of the Inquisition"
Discussion with Director and Guests
November 22 | 2-3:30 p.m.
Learn more & register
DECEMBER
Hebrew College Breath Lab Workshop: Kabbalah & The Body
Featuring Rabbi Daniel Klein, Hebrew College Dean of Students, &
Yaakov Ginsberg-Schreck, Director of the Breath Lab and
Hebrew College rabbinical student
December 1 | 7-8:30 p.m.
Learn more & register
Jewish CultureFest: Food, Music, and YOU! A Three-Part Online Series
Workshop #1: Tasting Hope - Embodying the Messages of Hanukkah & Christmas
Featuring Rabbi Or Rose, Director of the Miller Center and
Samir Selmanovic, Ph.D., Founder of THE KITCHENHOOD
Sponsors: Hebrew College; CJP; Temple Beth Shalom of Framingham, MA; Congregation Or Atid of Wayland, MA
December 6 | 4-5:30 p.m.
Learn more & register
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Hebrew College's diverse educational and cultural programs invigorate Jewish life and bring Jewish values to bear on the critical issues of our time. We do it with your support! Please make your fully-deductible investment to empower our thriving community.
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