Leonard Fein, founding editor and publisher of Moment magazine, will deliver the commencement address at Hebrew College's 81st graduation ceremony on June 4. A prolific author and lecturer, political activist and longtime advocate for social justice, Fein will also receive an honorary degree.

Fein taught political science at MIT in the 1960s, where he served as Deputy Director of the MIT/Harvard Joint Center for Urban Studies. In 1970, he joined the faculty of Brandeis University, where he was Professor of Politics and Social Policy and, for six years, the Klutznick Professor of Contemporary Jewish Studies. Among his many community initiatives, Fein founded Mazon: A Jewish Response to Hunger in 1985 and established the National Jewish Coalition for Literacy in 1996.

Other honorary degrees will be presented to former Hebrew College Board of Trustees Chair Mickey Cail Me’ah’03, owner of Cail Realty and Investment Corporation and a prominent Jewish lay leader with Combined Jewish Philanthropies, the Anti-Defamation League and other organizations.

Also honored will be Board of Overseers Chair Louis Kaitz, chair of the board of National Lumber Company and a notable lay leader and philanthropist among Jewish organizations, including American Friends of the Hebrew University and State of Israel Bonds. Dr. Marietta Lutze Sackler, a physician and world traveler who helped found the Interreligious Center on Public Life, will also receive an honorary degree.

Eighteen students will receive Master of Arts in Jewish Studies (MAJS) and Master of Jewish Education (MJEd) degrees this year, marking the largest graduating class of master's students in recent history. Two MAJS degrees will be granted to online students and two MJEd degrees will be granted to Hebrew College South students. Early Childhood Jewish Education Certificates will be presented to eight graduates, and others will receive certificates in the Cantorial Arts, Jewish Family Education, Jewish Informal education, Jewish Special Education and Early Childhood Jewish Education Leadership.

A separate ceremony will be held for the more than 140 graduates of Prozdor. In addition, more than 200 Me’ah graduates from Greater Boston sites and 17 Me’ah Graduate Institute students will receive certificates at Hebrew College. A total of 423 Me’ah students will graduate from sites in Boston, Providence, Baltimore and Metro-New York this June.



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