2023-24 Dignity Project Fellows at closing retreat

Learn about our high school fellowship, open to rising 10th-12th graders, from a participant perspective! The following is an excerpt from a Q+A with two Dignity Project fellows from the recently concluded cohort, Grace and Bee. Read the whole conversation here.

What were you looking forward to going into the Dignity Project, and what did you take away at the end of it? 

Bee: I was looking forward to having this long commitment for the year, learning about myself and other people–which is definitely my biggest takeaway. Now, when I meet people, even if I have snap judgments–which I often have–of who they are, what I know about them, I have a newer lens, too. There's so much that I don't know about them that could change my perspective, if I try to get to know them. And to treat everyone with this lens. Give them their dignity, respect who they are, what they think about, how they interact with the world. Like how beautiful it is that each person has their story?  

Grace: I have a better understanding of how I fit into the world around me. The world is changing so rapidly, it was great to have this space to sort of re-learn, or consider for the first time, how people approach the world. And how I can be more aware. The Dignity Project helped me realize that what I have to say is important, but what others have to say is really important as well, and that listening can sometimes be a greater power than using your voice. It was a totally unique experience, a space for asking hard questions, taking risks, being vulnerable. It feels impossible, but it actually exists! 

Applications for the 2024-2025 Dignity Project cohort are now open! Please encourage outstanding high school students to apply here, or send your nominations to Liz at laeschlimann@hebrewcollege.edu

On February 27, 2024, we lost Rabbi Ellen Bernstein, of blessed memory, a matriarch of the contemporary Jewish Environmental movement. Join the Miller Center, with co-hosts ALEPH and B’nai Or of Boston for a virtual gathering on Sunday, April 28, 2024, 11:30 a.m. Eastern to honor her legacy. Miller Center Director Or Rose will moderate a conversation with Rabbi Natan Margalit & Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker exploring the insightful teachings from Rabbi Bernstein’s book  Toward a Holy Ecology: Reading the Song of Songs in the Age of Climate Crisis, published February 2024 by Monkfish Publishing.

The gathering coincides with the festival of Pesach (Passover), during which Jewish communities throughout the world will chant the Song of Songs and rededicate themselves to caring for our beloved and shared planet. The program will include a brief personal remembrance by Ellen’s dear friend, Rabbi Kaya Stern; opening and closing prayers offered by Ariel Yisraelah Hendelman. Rabbi Shefa Gold will share one of her original chants from Song of Songs. Register for the event by clicking the button below. The zoom link will be sent to registrants a few days before the event. 

Beacons of Hope: Our Interreligious S/Heroes

Each month, we honor an individual whose commitment aligns with the bridge-building efforts of the Miller Center. For April, we shine a light on Dr. Celene Ibrahim, multidisciplinary scholar and Muslim Chaplain, as our Beacon of Hope. 

Dr. Celene Ibrahim is a multidisciplinary scholar of religious studies with a focus on Islamic intellectual history, gender studies, and applied ethics. She is the author of the award-winning monograph Women and Gender in the Qur’an (Oxford University Press). The book won the Association of Middle East Women's Studies Book Award, and the American Academy of Religion featured the title for Women's History Month. She is also the author of Islam and Monotheism (Cambridge University), an accessible primer on Islamic theology published by Cambridge University Press. She is the editor of the anthology One Nation, Indivisible: Seeking Liberty and Justice from the Pulpit to the Streets (Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2019), selections from which are featured in the Harvard Divinity Bulletin. Her current book project examines contemporary Islamic ethics related to issues of sex and gender. Celene's commentary on the role of Moses as a prophet of Islam was featured in the recent Netflix docudrama, Testament: The Story of Moses.

We are proud that Dr. Ibrahim is a member of the Miller Center advisory committee, and that she regularly serves as a teacher, lecturer, and facilitator in our leadership development programs and in our graduate programs. Before the establishment of the Miller Center, she served with Rabbi Or Rose and Dr. Jennifer Howe Peace as co-director of CIRCLE, the shared interreligious center of Hebrew College and Andover Newton Theological School. Commenting on Dr Ibrahim’s contributions to the Miller Center and the broader field of interreligious engagement, Rabbi Rose stated: “Celene is a multi-talented person who exemplifies the work of the scholar-practitioner, weaving together her intellectual and spiritual commitments in creative and generous ways. Further, she is a model of menschlichkeit—integrity and honor (in Yiddish and German)—who treats others with dignity and care. I am honored to call Celene my friend and colleague."    

A gifted scholar-practitioner, Dr. Ibrahim also specializes in spiritual care and chaplaincy, interreligious and civic engagement, education, and religious leadership in the public sphere. She previously served as a Denominational Counselor with the Office of Ministry Studies at Harvard Divinity School and as the Muslim Chaplain at Tufts University. She currently resides at the Groton School as a faculty member in the Department of Religious Studies and Philosophy. She also serves as the School's Muslim Chaplain. 

God & Country, a documentary from producer Rob Reiner and director Dan Partland, explores the historical and theological roots of Christian Nationalism within the American political landscape. The film unveils how the Christian nationalist movement, often camouflaged as a religious movement, is actively reshaping our nation's socio-political fabric. The film meticulously chronicles the movement's agenda, which aims to redefine America as a Christian-centric entity while advocating for regressive policies.

Rev. Rob Schenck

The Miller Center’s Visiting Scholar of Christianity and Religious Leadership, Rob Schenck, features among the documentary’s interview subjects. The film provides a platform for Rob and other devoutly religious individuals who have grown disillusioned by the politics and tactics of the movement, shedding light on the internal discord within Christianity caused by this ideological overreach. We encourage you to view this profound and necessary film. Click the button below to learn about sstreaming availability and the film’s limited theatrical run. 

Late last month Or contributed to Hebrew College's 70 Faces of Torah series, featuring commentary from a different member of the HC community each week. Or's thoughts about Va'yikra, the opening portion of Leviticus, begin with the shape and size of the letters themselves. 

By Rabbi Or Rose

A picture of the word "va'yikra" as seen in a Torah scroll

“And he [YHWH] called to Moses from the Tent of Meeting…” As one can see in the image above, the letter Aleph at the end of the word “Va’yikra—And He called,” is smaller than the rest of the letters. This oddity (like other instances of reduced or enlarged letters in the Hebrew Bible) has led to an outpouring of creative commentary throughout the ages.

One common interpretation is that the small Aleph is reflective of Moses’ humility. Even though he is a great prophet and leader, Moses does not develop an outsized ego. In fact, the Bible later describes him as “humbler than all other people on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3) As we begin reading the third book of the Torah—the center point or heart of the “Five Books of Moses”—we are reminded of the core value of humility.

But humility is not the same as denigration. The great Hasidic master, Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev (1740-1809), makes this point deftly through a careful reading of the verse just cited from the Book of Numbers. Why is Moses described as “humbler” than all other people? Because while they turned their gaze downward—to “the earth”—Moses looked up to the heavens.

The Miller Center staff and advisory committee wish all of our Christian colleagues and loved ones a happy Easter! 

We hope your celebration was a moment of meaningful personal, interpersonal, and communal observance.

Taught by Rabbi Or Rose, Miller Center Director

Based on the 2012 award-winning collection by the same name (and including materials from the 2023 follow-up volume, With the Best of Intentions), this course offers students the opportunity to explore narratives of transformative encounter across lines of difference. With wisdom, wit, courage, and humility, the writers—Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, etc.—share their experience of border-crossing and the lessons learned from their interreligious and cross-cultural adventures. 

Thursdays 7-9 p.m., hybrid online/in-person:  April 11, 18, May 2, 16, 23 & 30