Hebrew College Koleinu: Historic Talmud, Project-Based Learning, Teen Beit Moot Din and More!

Koleinu will resume after Passover. Chag Pesach Sameach!

March 26, 2026 | 8 Nisan 5786

Koleinu |our voice|

Reimagining Jewish learning and leadership for an interconnected world.

Parashat Tzav | Candlelighting 6:46 PM EST

"We Are Here": Survivors' Talmud Marks a Legacy of Learning

Next month on Yom HaShoah, Hebrew College will hold a dedication ceremony for a historic Talmud edition in honor of Rachel Jacoff, a scholar of Italian literature and beloved longtime participant in the College’s Tamid adult learning community who passed away in January of 2025. Printed in postwar Europe with the support of the American military, the Survivors’ Talmud emerged from the devastation of the Holocaust as both a practical resource for rebuilding Jewish learning and a powerful symbol of the enduring Yiddish declaration, “Mir zaynen do”, "We are here." At Hebrew College, this historic volume has never been treated as a relic, but as a living text, studied and engaged as part of a vibrant, ongoing tradition. The ceremony will honor Jacoff’s generosity, intellectual passion, and lasting contributions to the College, and reaffirm the Survivors' Talmud’s legacy as a testament to continuity, renewal, and the enduring power of Jewish learning. While the Talmud will be set in a more permanent and dignified display in the Mascott Beit Midrash, it will be available as a study and reference text for ordination students and other learners.

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Detail from the Survivors' Talmud

MATAROT: CENTER FOR JEWISH PROFESSIONAL LEARNING & LEADERSHIP

Project Based Learning: New Approaches to the Timeless Work of Jewish Education

Hebrew College believes that delivering compelling Jewish education in the 21st century is an ongoing process of experimentation and refinement, stepping into new modes of learning while preserving the heart of our tradition. Educators across an array of program settings are looking for ways to spark curiosity and deepen student engagement. In this spirit, Hebrew College’s MaTaRoT Center for Jewish Professional Learning & Leadership operates Project Based Learning (PBL), an initiative to help schools evolve from passive content-delivery models toward active, relevant learning. For Marion Gribetz, Director of Hebrew College Educational Initiatives, who supervises Hebrew College’s Project Based Learning consulting and coaching work, PBL meets the needs of educators seeking “something more hands-on, more engaging. Students are actually doing something, not only receiving content.”

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“Prayer in Blue” from Hebrew College's 2024 "Silvina Mizrahi: A Sephardic Spirit" art exhibit.

SEVENTY FACES OF TORAH

By Rabbi Avi Killip `14, Executive Vice President at Hadar

I think a lot in my work as a rabbi about what fires I am lighting and how they will or won’t keep burning for future generations. Like Honi of the Talmud, who plants a tree so that his grandchildren can eat the fruit seventy years later (BT Taanit 23a), I wonder what seeds I might plant to feed my own children’s children someday. But as I read Parshat Tzav this week I am left thinking about the other direction– the fruit we have inherited. Or in this case, the fire. I read about the fires my ancestors built on the altar before me and I ask how I might access their heat and holiness. I imagine our ancient priests with piles and piles of wood at the ready, never allowing the fire to go out, even until today when it reaches me. I long to feel the warmth.

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TEEN BEIT MIDRASH OF HEBREW COLLEGE

Hebrew College Teens Grapple with Organ Donation at 2026 Moot Beit Din Competition

This past weekend Hebrew College's Teen Beit Midrash sent a team of two students to compete in Hadar's Maimonides Moot Court Competition in New Jersey. This year's theme of organ donation sparked difficult ethical questions about the risk a person is permitted—or obligated—to take to save another, whether teenagers can provide informed consent for a major surgery, and how Jewish law guides decisions when time is short and the stakes are high. The teens spent 10 weeks preparing halakhic sources to make a case about living liver donation for minors, then composed a written argument summarizing their position and reasoning and an oral argument to present at the competition. Their work culminated in a shabbaton and competition with over 100 students, where they presented their argument to and fielded questions from a panel of three judges and five other teams. Congratulations to the TBM team for all their hard work and dedication!

Learn more about Teen Beit Midrash...

Moot Beit Din teammates Ariyeh Schmelzer and Oren Schwartz.

Special thanks to Harvey and Marsha Chasen and Ed and Barbara Scolnick for their support of Teen Beit Midrash.

Enrich your Passover Seder

The Hebrew College Passover Companion offers a pathway into one of our central ritual moments—the Passover seder. The Companion is structured around the simanim, or signposts, of the seder, bringing you from the ritual’s beginning, through the meal, and to its closing. We hope it will generate new questions and new conversations around your own seder table—and that you will be touched and surprised by the many ways we can tell our story of liberation. Learn more...

Hiding in Holland: Hebrew College Tamid Hosts Shula Reinharz Book Talk

On March 19, Tamid of Hebrew College welcomed more than 100 guests to a book talk with Dr. Shulamit Reinharz, Jacob Potofsky Professor of Sociology, Emerita, at Brandeis University, who spoke about her award-winning book, Hiding in Holland: A Resistance Memoir. The book, which was a finalist for the Jewish Book Council Awards, Holocaust Memoir Category, is based on papers she discovered that her father, Rabbi Max Rothschild, had kept from that era.

Catch up on recent Hebrew College news and stories, including articles about faculty, students, and alumni who have been recognized for their work and scholarship here.

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Featuring Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld & Ben Berman

Wednesday, April 29, 2026 | 7 PM | Hebrew College | Free

Join us for the fourth evening of our "Poetry as Midrash in Motion" series with featured readers Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, President of Hebrew College, and award-winning poet Ben Berman. Co-sponsored by the Boston Chapter of Yetzirah, the only national nonprofit literary organization dedicated to supporting Jewish poets, nourishing writers and readers of Jewish poetry now and for generations to come.

SHARED CAMPUS PARTNERS

From Narrow Places to Open Pathways: A Passover Creative Immersive – Boston

Sunday, March 29 | 1-4:30 PM | Hebrew College

Join the Jewish Studio Project, in partnership with B’nai Or Boston and Hebrew College, for a nourishing half-day immersive using the Jewish Studio Process — combining Jewish text study, hands-on art-making, and reflective writing — to explore themes of constriction, release, and becoming that weave through the Passover story and our own lives.

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ART EXHIBIT

A Journey of Wonder: A Visual Dance with the Hebrew Holiday Calendar

Sunday, March 29 | 5-7 PM | Hebrew College

Join us for the opening of our spring art exhibit with works by artist Deborah Feinstein, chair of the Hebrew College Arts Committee and a trustee of the college. Featuring paintings that celebrate and correspond with the Jewish calendar cycle, inspired by medieval illuminated manuscripts.

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MILLER CENTER FOR INTERRELIGIOUS LEARNING & LEADERSHIP

Lighting the Way: Jewish Reflections on Pluralism, Democracy, and Religious Liberty at America’s 250th

Tuesday, April 14 | 7-8:30 PM | Hebrew College

Join Hebrew College and Interfaith America for a moderated panel discussion examining the American Jewish community’s unique past and future roles in building bridges across difference, upholding religious liberty, and protecting democracy.

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TAMID OF HEBREW COLLEGE

GROW April: Dispatch from Jerusalem: “Leading an Israeli Organization at a Time of Crisis”

Wednesday, April 15 | 12-1 PM | Zoom

Join Hebrew College Provost, Rabbi Dan Judson in conversation with Rabbi Leon Morris, President of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, as they discuss the experience of leading an Israeli organization in a time of crisis.

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NEW! SHARED CAMPUS PARTNERS

Application Deadline April 17: Jewish Studio Project Boston Summer Immersive

Sunday, July 19-Wednesday, July 22 | JSP Boston Studio, Hebrew College Collaborative Campus

A multi-day deep dive into creativity and ancient Jewish wisdom with practical tools for navigating uncertainty, a fresh perspective on Jewish learning, and new ways to build creative capacity in your life and community.

Learn more & apply

TAMID OF HEBREW COLLEGE

GROW May: Building Moral Courage in a Fragile Democracy

Wednesday, May 13 | 12-1 PM | Zoom

Join us online when Jody Kipnis, Co-founder, President & CEO of the Holocaust Legacy Foundation, will speak about how democracies erode, how dehumanization takes root, and how ordinary individuals develop the moral courage to speak up.

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Sacred Sparks! Hebrew College Spring Gala 2026

Thursday, May 14 | 6:30 PM Dinner, Program, and Dessert Reception | Hebrew College

Join us to celebrate our three award recipients: Helene, Seth, and Benjamin Gelber; Joshua Meyer; and Terry Rosenberg.

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SHAVUOT

Tikkun Zoom Shavuot

Wednesday, May 21 | 12-1 PM | Zoom

Join Temple Israel Boston as they celebrate the revelation of Torah at Mount Sinai by learning together in a yearly Torah all-nighter co-sponsored by Hebrew College. Learn alongside people from around the world as dozens of teachers, artists, and facilitators lead us in study, prayer, art making, music and more over 25 hours in the zoomosphere.

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BECOME A MEMBER OF HEBREW COLLEGE'S SUSTAINER'S TENT

Join a dedicated community committed to reimagining Jewish learning and leadership for an interconnected world. Now it’s even easier to support our students, faculty, and programs as a member of our Sustainer's Tent by establishing a monthly recurring gift with our secure online giving form. Please contact development @hebrewcollege.edu with any questions.

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