Rosh Chodesh Sivan: Harvesting Hope and Resilience on Shavuot

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

I recently learned of the research of Drs. Marshall Duke and Robyn Fivush about the power of knowing our family history, and this discovery could not have come at a better time.

According to Duke and Fivush, children who know stories about their family’s past, particularly ones that oscillate between challenge and triumph, have a higher self-esteem and are more resilient. The reason for these positive outcomes is because people have what Duke and Fivush call an “intergenerational self,” which is an identity that

extends beyond their physical existence. A strong intergenerational self-identity, knowing about the ups and downs of our familial past and feeling rooted in that story, tends to lead greater “personal strength and moral guidance” along with “increased resilience, better adjustment, and improved chances of good clinical and educational outcomes.”

As we mark Rosh Chodesh Sivan, we are a few days from Shavuot, a holiday that, like Passover, invites us into our Jewish intergenerational selves. This is readily apparent from the Biblical agricultural origins and practices of the holiday.

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CELEBRATING OUR GRADUATES

Hebrew College Holds 2024 Commencement & Ordination Ceremonies

“Please carry the living torah with you into this wounded world. Take your mentors with you in mind and heart. And when opportunity arises, become a mentor to others.”
— Park J. Palmer, Honorary Degree Recipient

On Sunday, June 2, 2024, Hebrew College celebrated our graduates at Commencement & Ordination Ceremonies, conferring 13 Master of Jewish Education degrees, one Master of Jewish Studies, and ordaining 13 rabbis. One hundred percent of the 2024 rabbinic class will transition into an array of roles across the spectrum of Jewish life, from congregational life to academia, hospital chaplaincy to community organizing — securing positions across the country, from Pittsburgh to Colorado to our own “neighborhood,” enriching the Jewish community of Greater Boston and beyond with their vision and leadership. (Above l-r: Rabbi Leah Carnow, Rabbi Michael Fraade with Rabbi Klein.)

Hebrew College President Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld echoed this theme in her own remarks: “You are stepping into leadership in a moment that will call upon you to live and work from a place of deep empathy, humility, courage, and compassion. The Jewish people is in great pain. Our world is drenched in grief. But you have not reached this moment alone, and you do not leave here alone . . . May the Torah you have learned together here continue to accompany and anchor you wherever you go. May you continue to seek out teachers and friends and, in these unforgiving times, try to offer a little grace and judge others favorably.”

The College awarded three honorary degrees during the ceremony to Dr. Cochav Elkayam-Levy, Dr. Parker J. Palmer, and Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum (bottom right), who each exemplify how teaching can form the center of a professional life dedicated to serving others. Hebrew College also honored Rabbi David Gedzelman (bottom left) and Joni Blinderman with special awards for their leadership shaping the future of Jewish education.

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SEVENTY FACES OF TORAH
Noting What Counts

By Naomi Gurt Lind. Hebrew College Rabbinical Student

Parashat Bamidbar (Numbers 1:1 – 4:20)

Six weeks ago, with the taste of afikoman still on our lips, we entered our season of counting. Day by day, week by week, we have been counting our days. The tradition of Omer counting marries these 49 days between Pesach and Shavuot with ancient traditions around the barley harvest. Each evening we bless and count: days and weeks in seven groups of seven, as commanded in Leviticus 23:15.  

Perhaps we do this counting in pursuit of a heart of wisdom, as the psalmist says. Perhaps we do it in exploration of the kabbalistic sfirot (aspects of God that are traditionally mapped onto the 49 days of Omer counting). Perhaps we do it in an attempt to recall and center an agricultural practice that feels foreign to us in an age when we can have organic produce or Flamin’ Hot Cheetos—or both—delivered to our doorsteps within the hour.

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HEBREW COLLEGE SHUL LUNCH COOP

Guided by Jewish Values

"We’re building a model for sustainable, equitable, and delicious Jewish food practice and community engagement. It's a new kind of congregation — one centered around mutual support, connection to earth, and celebration of food and pleasure as devotional practice." 
— Shul Lunch Coop Founders Becca Heisler and David Mahfouda

Finding both a need and an opportunity, Rabbinical School students Becca Heisler and David Mahfouda organized a food co-op for the Hebrew College community, providing healthy and fulfilling lunches for the entire campus, as a means of enriching our community and strengthening our networks for mutual care. The co-op’s work is guided by Jewish values: right relationship with earth, equity and mutual aid, avodah (service) as both labor and prayer, and simcha (joy). Members work together to grocery shop, cook, bake, set up, and clean up. Spending all day filling up your brain, teaching, or working for a campus partner organization can only sustain you for so long, and the Shul Lunch Co-op nourishes the heart as well as the body.

Throughout this inaugural year, the Coop has grown to a group of about 50 students, faculty, and community members, serving thousands of delicious vegan and vegetarian meals — all on a sliding scale. Though it has been a hard year, it has been a huge comfort to our community to know that there would always be food (and flowers) on the table.

Thanks to a recent $3,000 matching donation, the co-op is running a matching campaign through Monday June 17th. Please consider making a donation here today!

Read more | Listen to our "Founding a Food Coop" Speaking Torah podcast episode