Message from the President

By Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld 

At this time of continuing heartbreak, we mourn the losses of six of the hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7, who were murdered in captivity last week.

We remember their names:

Ori Danino z”l
Carmel Gat z”l
Hersh Goldberg-Polin z”l
Alex Lubnov z”l
Almog Sarusi z”l
Eden Yerushalmi z”l

May their memories be for blessing.

We pray for their families and loved ones in this time of profound grief and extend our condolences to all who are touched personally by these losses, including many in our own community.

The funeral announcement for Hersh Goldberg-Polin z”l described him as a child of light, love, and peace — ילד של אור, אהבה, ושלום.

May the coming year bring blessings of light, love, and peace to all of us, as we do what we can to help bring an end to the bloodshed and bring the rest of the hostages home alive.

תכלה שנה וקללותיה
תחל שנה וברכותיה

May the old year and its curses come to an end,
May the new year and its blessings begin.

Rosh Hodesh Elul: Beginning the Journey Home

By Rabbi Daniel Klein, Dean of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College

As we move through late summer into autumn, we can feel approaching what the educational theorist and activist Parker Palmer describes as a “season of steady decline.” As Palmer says, “The days become shorter and colder, the trees shed their glory, and summer’s abundance starts to decay toward winter’s death.” A sense of mortality creeps into the air.

And in this moment, Jewish tradition makes the audacious choice to have our primary New Year’s celebration. This week, with the new 

Jewish month of Elul, we begin the preparatory process for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and the fall chagim (holidays). We mark this transition through changes in our prayer liturgy, adding Psalm 27 to our morning and evening prayers and in the Sephardi tradition by saying selihot, liturgical poems related to repentance, and blowing shofar each morning. We also begin the essential personal task of this time period, teshuvah (repentance/returning), the process of reflection on and assessment of our actions and direction in life, making amends for misdeeds, and striving to live better lives.

Read more...

SEVENTY FACES OF TORAH
Amid the Toppling Towers

By Naomi Gurt Lind, Hebrew College Rabbinical Student

Parashat Shoftim (Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9)

We are living in an extraordinarily bewildering time. Not only in Israel, but also in American politics, and all over this gorgeous fragile planet, the world seems ready to boil over. With competing, incompatible narratives battling for legitimacy and primacy, it feels like we are squarely in the post Migdal Bavel (Tower of Babel) moment.

The tower is toppling as we shake our fists at one another.

How mysterious are the connections that bind us to each other and to our God! In a time of uncertainty and loss, a time of dread that often feels existential, where do we turn? What do we do with our doubt?

Read more...

TA SH'MA FALL RABBINICAL SCHOOL OPEN HOUSES
Meet Naomi and other students, along with Hebrew College Rabbinical School faculty, at one of our fall open houses, November 18 (in-person) or December 8 (online). Learn more and register. 

ENTERING ELUL

Sounds of Awe Concert, Workshops, & Tefilah for Elul 

Hebrew College is excited to welcome Hazan/Paytan Roni Ish-Ran in September for three exciting programs to welcome Elul and lead us into the High Holy Days.

Community Selihot Services (beginning Rosh Hodesh Elul) with Roni Ish-Ran
September 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12 |  7 a.m.  | Hebrew College
Join the Hebrew College community to sing, pray and ask for forgiveness. 

Sounds of Awe: A Concert for Elul with Hazan/Paytan Roni Ish-Ran and Friends
Sunday, September 8 | Pre-concert reception 6:30 p.m., Concert 7 p.m. | Hebrew College
Tickets: $5, $18, $36 | Hebrew College students & faculty: Free
Join us for our first Soul Sounds concert of the academic year with one of the greatest living interpreters of Syrian, Turkish, and Sephardi-Yerushalmi piyyutim, musician Roni Ish-Ran. Thank you to our Soul Sounds Series organizational partners: Base Boston, Jewish Arts Collaborative, Temple Beth Zion, and Temple Reyim.

The Heart of Selihot with Roni Ish-Ran
Workshops: September 4 & 11 | 3-5 p.m. | Hebrew College
Hebrew College students: Free | Non-Hebrew College students: $18 | General public: $36
Study the music and text of the Sephardi-Yerushalmi Selihot service with Roni Ish-Ran and faculty of Hebrew College Rabbinical School. Join us for either or both sessions. 

Learn more, purchase tickets & register for workshops...

TAMID OF HEBREW COLLEGE FREE LEARNING SERIES

Join us again this academic year for Tamid of Hebrew College Adult Learning’s free, monthly GROW series. We hope you will spend an hour with us for these programs to Gather, Reflect, Observe, and Wrestle with topics that will deepen your Jewish learning. 

Fall Programs 

Program: The Religious Origins of Secular Judaism 
Date: Wednesday, September 18, 2024 | 12-1 PM/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Instructors: Rabbi Leonard Gordon, D. Min.
Join us: Register now

Program: The Past & Future of Liberal Zionism
Date: Wednesday, October 9, 2024 | 12-1 PM/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Instructor: Rabbi Dan Judson, PhD
Join us: Register now

Program: When Arguing Works, When it Hurts, and How to Tell the Difference 
Date: Wednesday, October 30, 2024 | 12-1 PM/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Instructor: Rabbi Natan Margalit
Join us: Register now

Program: Memory & Memory Enhancement in Medieval Ashkenaz
Date: Wednesday, November 20, 2024 | 12-1 PM/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Instructor: Susan Einbinder
Join us: Register now

Program: Kabbalah, Darkness, and Light — Hanukkah’s Season of Balanced Hope
Date: Wednesday, December 18, 2024 | 12-1 PM/9-10 AM PST | Zoom
Instructor: Yaakov Ginsberg-Schreck
Join us: Register now