“Without words, these artists capture the pace and rhythm of life in Israel in the 1970s. As with syncopation, their mark-making strategies are often surprising, creating rhythms that are multiple, varied, and overlapping. These energies describe the culture and country. Time, too, is related to the title, connecting two different ways to 'see' the exhibit. You’ll encounter visions of parched deserts in Gross’s art, the blue Mediterranean in Alima’s prints, and the mystic aura of Safed in Levy’s watercolors. There are deep connections with the love of this timeless land.” — Deborah Feinstein, curator, founding chair of the Hebrew College Arts Initiative, and member of the Hebrew College Board of Trustees.

Read more...

“These past few years have been so hard for many teens. Both the pandemic and the social justice issues that we as a society grapple with so acutely seem to have a particularly profound effect on teens. It no longer works [for Jewish educators] to simply rely on a sense of tradition or obligation to motivate people to participate. We need to make the case for how Judaism actually helps individuals navigate life—how it can provide spiritual growth, intellectual growth, and a true sense of community. Teens need those things, just as we all do.” — Bridget Connor-Feldbaum, director of Hebrew College Prozdor

Read more...

This past summer I made my way through The Overstory, a sweeping work of fiction by Richard Powers. A Pulitzer Prize winner in 2019, the novel weaves together nine stories of Americans fighting the deforestation of the California redwoods. One of them, the plant ecologist Dr. Patricia Westerford, writes the following in her book on the power of trees: 

“Trees know when we’re close by. The chemistry of their roots and the perfumes their leaves pump out change when we’re near… When you feel good after a walk in the woods, it may be that certain species are bribing you. So many wonder drugs have come from trees, and we haven’t yet scratched the surface of the offerings. Trees have long been trying to reach us. But they speak on frequencies too low for people to hear.”

What might the trees be trying to tell us?

Read more...

Rand Hoch (Prozdor `73) says he's always thinking back on what he learned at Prozdor. His time in the program led him to support Hebrew College both through generous annual campaign donations and by including the College in his estate planning.

“For those of us who’ve been impacted tremendously by our education at Hebrew College, it’s very easy to say ‘this is what I want to do,’ so I made that a part of my estate.”

Read more...