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BY PRESIDENT DAVID M. GORDIS Summertime at Hebrew College is anything but quiet. The lunchtime lilt of Hebrew chatter among 90-plus high school NETA Hebrew teachers from around the country; the buzz of hevruta study at the Rabbinical School's first summer Bet Midrash program; pressing questions in an intensive seminar on Jewish special education curricula and pedagogy; thoughtful dinner dialogue about the nature of free will in Jewish texts—engaging a Muslim teacher of Islam from Ramallah, an American Jew from an Israeli kibbutz, a Presbyterian minister from Ghana, a Mormon from California, a deputy consul general of Brazil and other fellow Hebrew College Online students—these were but a few sounds of impassioned Jewish learning that filled our classrooms, hallways, courtyard and dining hall from mid-June through August.
Hebrew College builds community. From its inception in 1921 as a Hebraist institution that united Jews from all backgrounds in a shared pursuit to preserve and enhance Hebrew education, to today's multifaceted "small university" that engages Jews and non-Jews in a vast and evolving range of Jewish study, Hebrew College connects diverse students and faculty in a journey of Jewish exploration. This klal Yisrael ethos, so evident in every classroom and the heart and soul of our Rabbinical School's Bet Midrash, both defines and distinguishes our transdenominational institution as a model for Jewish living. In our approach as well as in substance, Hebrew College also transforms community. We do not engage in impassioned, open dialogue on Jewish concepts in ivory tower isolation. Our fundamental mission is to engage Jews of all backgrounds in the exploration of our extraordinarily diverse Jewish culture and civilization. Our goal is nothing less than to be an agent of change in the fundamental transformation of Jewish community. This mission is essential at a time when most American Jews enjoy historic levels of professional and economic success by western secular standards, but know little about their own cultural heritage, its significance in shaping world history and its depth of human and humanitarian insight. The well-documented result is a widespread disconnect between Jews and Jewish community, evidenced by the rise in intermarriage and the decline in congregational affiliation and Jewish communal investment. Since the 1990 National Jewish Population Study sounded the alarm about risks to Jewish continuity, much effort and many resources have been devoted to reinvigorating Jewish community through Jewish education. Hebrew College has been at the forefront of this movement, first in Boston and now at the national level. Our goal is nothing less than to be an agent of change in the fundamental transformation of Jewish community—to engage Jews in Jewish exploration, empowering them to connect to Jewish culture as knowledgeable, committed participants—and to promote a new generation of Jewish leadership whose first credential is Jewish literacy. We have begun this communal transformation right here in Boston, where our two-year adult learning Me'ah curriculum, in its tenth year, has become the shared bond among Jewish communal leaders, and investment in lifelong Jewish learning is now a well-established community priority. Our Prozdor high school, with its exponential growth, has turned conventional wisdom about Jewish teen apathy on its head. In developing these and many other programs, Hebrew College is an innovator and an incubator for programs and approaches to Jewish education that expand access and draw more Jews into a dynamic conversation with Jewish culture, tradition and civilization. And we continue to widen the circle. As we cultivate Me'ah in cities around the country and promote the Prozdor model, create new and exciting ways to bring outstanding Jewish education to remote areas via the Internet, and develop Jewish leaders whose passion for Jewish learning and commitment to klal Yisrael is infectious, Hebrew College envisions a vibrant Jewish future. We look forward to a time when the Jewish community we enjoy here throughout the seasons of the academic year is no longer the exceptional model—but the rule for Jewish communities everywhere.
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Within each group of students, as they delved into Jewish texts or the fine points of Hebrew grammar, a sense of community grew during their time here—a sense of connection that bridged backgrounds as they wrestled with the insights and intricacies of Jewish concepts.