News and Events

News and Events

Hebrew College offers many exciting events that are open to the general public. We welcome you to learn about upcoming events on this page, as well as read about the latest news from the Hebrew College community.

Events
News

Events

March 1 - 11 - Boston Jewish Music Festival

Hebrew College is a major sponsor of the 3rd Annual Boston Jewish Music Festival, March 1-11. This year’s festival offers a wide range of Jewish music experiences. From Shabbat services to Yiddish Art Songs, faculty and students from our School of Jewish Music are prominently featured. Some of the many exciting and varied events include:

Friday March 2 – As part of the Songs of Shabbat Across the Region, Cantor Louise Treitman along with students from the School of Jewish Music will be leading The Salamone Rossi Baroque Kabbalat Shabbat service at Ahavath Torah Congregation, Stoughton at 7:30pm. For reservations, please click here.
Sunday, March 4 – The Yiddish Art Songs of Lazar Weiner – featuring School of Jewish Music faculty member Lynn Torgove with Yehudi Wyner, pianist. 4:30pm at The Old South Meeting House, Boston. For tickets, please click here.
Friday, March 9 – As part of the Songs of Shabbat Across the Region, School of Jewish Music student Jeri Robins has programmed and will be conducting the Choir and performing in Shir Chadash: Contemporary Composers’ Shabbat at Temple Shalom, Newton, 8:00pm. For reservations, please click here.
Saturday, March 10 – School of Jewish Music faculty member Cantor Ken Richmond will be performing in A Taste of Shalshelet at Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, 8:00pm. For tickets, please click here.

Sunday, March 11 - “Shalshelet Finds Jewry’s Hidden Composers” - Introducing new music for Psalms, Shabbat, Zemirot & Sacred Poems, with workshops for everyone: composers, singers, song leaders, choir members, clergy, teachers, students -- all who enjoy Jewish music. Hear new music. Meet the composers. Learn how new compositions are created. Join the conversation for a unique day of learning. With the participation of the following Shalshelet New England composers: Cantor Emil Berkovits, Hazzan Devin Goldenberg, Sylvia Goldstein, Jeremiah Klarman, Ernest Rakhlin, Cantor Ken Richmond and more. Hebrew College, 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. Cost: $10 in advance, $15 at the door.In partnership with the School of Jewish Music of Hebrew College and Shalshelet. Dairy lunch will be provided. You may register here.

The Third Annual Boston Jewish Music Festival

A Community Celebration of Creativity

March 1-11, 2012

Bostonjewishmusicfestival.org

March 5 - “The Masks We Wear: Preparing for Purim”

Lecture by Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld (7:00pm – 9:00pm). What does Megillat (Scroll of) Esther teach us about Jewish identity in the past and the present? How does this discussion relate to the widespread custom of dressing in costume on this holiday? In what ways can Purim serve as an occasion for spiritual and ethical reflection amidst the noisemaking and merriment of the day? Register for this event here.

Mar. 11 - Godly Play Training for Jewish Educators

Godly Play is a Montessori-based approach to enhancing the spiritual life of children using biblical stories and constructed artifacts for story telling. Developed over three decades in the US and Europe by Rev. Jerome Berryman, Godly Play's respect for and attention to childhood spirituality and the use of story to develop spirituality address goals common to both Christians and Jews. This training workshop, facilitated by Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire, Dean and Professor of Jewish Education at Hebrew College and Rev. Cheryl Minor, Godly Play trainer and pastor, All Saints Church, will initiate a research project being developed by the Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education. Cost of the workshop is $85 per person (includes Sunday dinner and Monday lunch; dietary laws observed). The event takes place on Sunday, March 11 from 5:00 - 9:00 pm and Monday, March 12 from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm at All Saints Church (17 Clark Street, Belmont, MA). Please see the program flyer here. For further information, contact shoolman@hebrewcollege.edu or 617-559-8624.

Mar. 14 - “Revolution and Change in the Middle East: Policy Challenges for the U.S.”

Presented by Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer

Wednesday, March 14

7:30-9:00 pm

Berenson Hall, Hebrew College

Drawing on his many years of experiences as a prominent United States diplomat, Ambassador Kurtzer will share with us his unique perspective on current events in the Middle East and their impact on the global community. Through a careful analysis of key political and social trends, he will offer an insider's view on the prospects for peace in the region.

Daniel C. Kurtzer is a lecturer and the S. Daniel Abraham Visiting Professor of Middle East Policy Studies at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs. During a 29-year career in the U.S. Foreign Service, Ambassador Kurtzer served as the United States Ambassador to Israel and as the United States Ambassador to Egypt. He is the co-author with Scott Lasensky, of Negotiating Arab-Israeli Peace: American Leadership in the Middle East. He also served as an advisor to the Iraq Study Group, and currently serves on the Advisory Council of the American Bar Association’s Middle East-North Africa Rule of Law Initiative; as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American University in Cairo; and as a member of the New Jersey-Israel Commission. He is on the Editorial Board of The Cairo Review of Global Affairs and Israel Studies Review. Ambassador Kurtzer has received distinguished service awards from the President, the Secretary of State and the United States Intelligence Community. Read Ambassador Kurtzer’s full bio here.

Cost: $10; $5 for students and seniors

RSVP Required - register here.

This event will be available through livestreaming; please visit hebrewcollegelive.com.

Mar. 21 - “Songs of Freedom: A Pre-Passover Concert”

Presented by Rabbi Minna Bromberg

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

7:30-9:00 pm

Berenson Hall, Hebrew College

Join us for an evening of soulful music with the multi-talented singer and songwriter, Rabbi Minna Bromberg (Hebrew College alum). Minna will share with us several original pieces and will engage us in singing an eclectic range of Jewish and American folk and rock songs on the theme of freedom. This is a wonderful opportunity to prepare our spirits for Passover, the great Jewish festival of liberation.

Cost: $10; $5 for students and seniors

RSVP Required - register her e (after March 5).

Apr. 16 - CIRCLE National Student Conference

Monday – Wednesday, April 16-18

Apr. 22 - Boston Jewish Food Conference

Sunday, April 22

12:00 - 8:00 pm

Hebrew College

How do Jewish traditions of dietary laws, agriculture and religion intersect with the modern pleasures and perils of sustainable food policy? Join the Greater Boston Jewish community for an in-depth exploration of food, cuisine, agriculture, labor, business, health, access, history and religious practice at the first annual Boston Jewish Food Conference: Sowing the Seeds of Sustainability

Participate in a range of hands-on activities—including planting in our garden, plucking chicken feathers in preparation for a kosher ritual slaughter, and making sauerkraut—and “food for thought” sessions—including, how should we think about the workers who harvest and process our food? What is ethical kosher eating? How do we inspire and develop greater local kashrut movement? What does being a Jewish Farmer look like today? Hang out in our shuk (marketplace) with educational resources for sale, local vendors of Judaica crafts, sustainable food goodies as well as do-it-yourself tables. This event seeks to foster new dynamics and connections within the Jewish community and help transform the landscape of the Boston Jewish food scene. The Boston Jewish Food Conference is Co-Sponsored by Ganei Beantown: Beantown Jewish Gardens and Hebrew College.

Apr. 25 - Israel Independence Day Celebration

7:30pm – 9:00pm

Registration open April 2, 2012

May 17 - Concert - Top 10 Jewish Composers

Thursday, March 14, 2012

Begins at 7:30 p.m.

Temple Ohabei Shalom

Join us for a concert that is the culmination of the Hebrew College on-line series of discussions about The Top Ten Jewish Composers. What is Jewish Music? Who is a Jewish Composer? Who are the Top Ten Jewish Composers and what works will be performed? All will be revealed at the concert which will take place in Temple Ohabei’s glorious domed sanctuary.

Featuring: The Zamir Chorale of Boston, Joshua Jacobson, Artistic Director, and Kol Arev, the Hebrew College Performing Ensemble, Cantor Randall Schloss and other Hebrew College performers from the School of Jewish Music at Hebrew College

For more details and to RSVP for the event, please click here.

News

Prozdor Teachers Selected for CJP Teaching and Technology Fellowship

Two Prozdor teachers, Michal Weiner and Matt Jerome, were recently selected from a talented pool of applicants to be members of the second cohort in the Combined Jewish Philanthropies Teaching and Technology Fellowship. The fellowship (which you can read about here) features professional development workshops and training for the Prozdor teachers, financial incentives for their participation, and a valuable benefit to Prozdor vis-à-vis additional computers and the expertise that Michal and Matt will bring back from their training.

Krieger Schechter Day School Selects Hebrew College Alum as New Headmaster

After a seven-month nationwide search, Krieger Schechter Day School has announced its new headmaster – Bil Zarch, currently the Head of School at the Lander-Grinspoon Academy in Northampton, MA – effective July 1.

Prior to the Lander-Grinspoon Academy, Zarch served as the Director of the High School at Prozdor Hebrew High School at Hebrew College in Newton Centre, MA. He earned his bachelor’s degree in public communications from SUNY Buffalo, a masters degree in Jewish education from Hebrew College in Boston and is a fellow and graduate of the Day School Leadership Training Institute (DSLTI).

“We are extremely excited to have Bil coming to KSDS,” said Mark Neustadt, incoming Chair of the KSDS Board of Directors. “He has a proven track record of success and philosophically he aligns perfectly with where we want to take the school. The entire Jewish community of Baltimore will benefit by his presence.”

“We selected Bil Zarch to be Krieger Schechter’s next Head of School because of his experience as a successful Schechter school educational administrator, his passion for Day School and his love of children, his educational vision for teachers and classrooms and his warm, engaging personality,” said Rabbi Ron Shulman. “We are very excited that Bil will lead our school community into the future.”

In addition to over 15 years of educational experience, Zarch has also served in his community as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts, co-chair, Jewish Community of Amherst Rabbinic Screening Committee and Coordinating Committee and is a former member of both the Camp Yavneh Board of Directors and the Temple Hillel B’nai Torah Board of Directors. In 2011 he was awarded for Exemplary Jewish Community Leadership by the Jewish Federation of Western Massachusetts and the Harold Grinspoon Foundation.

“I am so honored to have been chosen to be the next Head of School at Krieger Schechter Day School,” Zarch said. “During the entire process, it was electrifying to see how committed so many members of the community were to the success of this fine school. I understand that KSDS holds a unique place in the Baltimore community and I am looking forward to working with the entire team of administrators, faculty and lay leaders as we envision the next phase of life at KSDS.”

Zarch will be only the second headmaster in the history of Krieger Schechter as the current headmaster, Dr. Paul Schneider, steps down after 29 years in that role. The search committee, led by KSDS trustee and parent Ari Zaiman with members that included faculty, administrators, KSDS board members, Chizuk Amuno Congregation board members and members of other Baltimore synagogues, was assisted by national firm Independent Thinking (IT). In addition to the selection of a new headmaster, Krieger Schechter also just celebrated its 30th year serving Baltimore’s Jewish day school community.

From Boston to Berlin: Hebrew College Chorus Completes Successful Tour

The Zamir Chorale of Boston, Hebrew College's chorus in residence, has just returned from a very successful tour to Berlin. Concerts were performed in the Rykestrasse Synagogue, the Jewish Museum and the Krankenhauskirche. Professor Josh Jacobson also presented two lectures as part of the Lewandowski Festival. Pictured below are (left to right) Cantor Nancy Sargon (an SJM alum), Cantor Louise Treitman, SJM student Hinda Eisen, Prof. Josh Jacobson, SJM student Devin Lawrence, President Daniel Lehmann, and accompanist Ed Swanborn. You can read Hebrew College student Hinda Eisen's news story from the Jewish Voice and Herald here.

Hebrew College Student Wins Jewish Futures Competition

The Jewish Futures Competition winners have been awarded, and Hebrew College is proud to announce that one of the College’s own, Andrea Rose Cheatham Kasper, is one of two winners.

As communicated by the Jewish Futures Conference:

“In today's globally connected world, new ideas can come from anywhere. And they did...out of over 60 ideas submitted to the competition from across the world, our two winners this year come to us via Iceland and Jerusalem! Ben Weiner and Andrea RC Kasper share their visions for Jewish life in the 21st century.

Last year's contest winners have gone on to attract significant communal interest including a grant from The Jewish New Media Innovation Fund, and a home for their creative online platform with Behrman House.”

Andrea Rose Cheatham Kasper holds a BA from George Washington University, a Master’s degree in Jewish Education from Hebrew College, and is an Ed.D. candidate in the Hebrew college - Northeastern University joint Jewish Educational Leadership Doctoral Program. Originally from Israel, she has lived in the USA, Japan, Panama, and currently in Iceland. She is excited about the idea of developing a Jewish vocational high school. As a professional dancer she is intimately connected to the arts and creative process and was recently awarded a regional grant for the production of her work.

Early Childhood Education Conference

One People Many Faces - the Second Annual Early Childhood Jewish Education Conference took place on Monday and Tuesday, Novemeber 14-15. Drawing on its many years of experience as a provider of professional development for Early Childhood Jewish educators, Hebrew College's Early Childhood Institute explored new and exciting ways to teach young children about the concept of diversity within the Jewish community.