Alumni Profiles

Alumni Profiles

Rabbi Daniel Berman

Rabbinical School ‘10

Daniel Berman is the Asst Rabbi at Congregation Mishkan Tefila in Chestnut Hill, MA. He received his ordination from the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in 2010. He has been a congregational leader and advocate for social justice, and has taught Jewish text and thought to adults, families and children in both formal and informal settings in the U.S. and in Israel. He received chaplaincy training at Massachusetts General Hospital, and has been dedicated to inter-faith learning and spiritual leadership.

Prior to entering rabbinical school, Rabbi Berman practiced as a trial attorney in Boston for several years, and held a position as Adjunct Professor at Northeastern University School of Law. He received his B.A. in Jewish History and U.S. History at Columbia College in 1996, and studied at the Hebrew University and the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. He graduated Northeastern University School of Law in 2000, and was ordained at the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College in 2010.

“I came to the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College primarily because of its commitment to pluralism as a foundation for Jewish learning and community building, explains Daniel. “I came because it was an opportunity to be part of an emerging rabbinic seminary, with an early founder's energy. And I came for a chance to learn with HCRS' founding rabbis and teachers. From its original inception the rabbinical school's goal was to combine the academy and the yeshiva - which meant learning with a contemporary eye and a deep soul.”

About his experience at Hebrew College, Daniel says, “I enjoyed the closeness of the community, including our rabbis, teachers, and classmates. We knew each other; we rooted for each other's success. Hevruta (shared partnership) learning was the soul of the program: fluency of Jewish text happened primarily through building relationships. They were equally complex. It was a powerful model both for reaching into a tradition and keeping it real. I learned how to teach, how to communicate, and how to use effective process as a path to decision making. I learned how to davenn with intentionality and meaning and creativity.”

Jen Kracoff

Prozdor ‘05

Jen Kracoff is a Prozdor alum. Her experience in Hebrew College’s Prozdor High school program prepared her for her future studies. She earned her undergraduate degree from Syracuse University, and is now a second year graduate student studying speech-language pathology at Emerson College. Upon graduation in May 2012, her goal is to work with kids who have various speech and language difficulties, as well as social-communication needs.

“Attending Prozdor enriched my high school years. I was provided with so many opportunities, all of which furthered my education and personal development. The best part of attending Prozdor was simply that I looked forward to it. I know very few individuals who can say that they excitedly anticipated each day at their high school; but with Prozdor, that is exactly how it was. I looked forward to seeing my close friends, to going on trips to Canada and Eastern Europe, to learning about Jewish philosophy, law, culture, to seeing my Hebrew language teacher, to so much more. While I loved being solely a student, I especially loved my senior year of high school when I enrolled in Prozdor's Moreshet program, which enabled me to continue taking classes and furthering my studies once a week, as well as act as a teacher's assistant for the Sunday hours. Being in that dual-role of student and teacher was an incredible experience.”

“Hebrew College is unique for many reasons, but first and foremost for its warm atmosphere. At Prozdor, despite the presence of hundreds of other students, I always felt unique and well-known. Teachers knew who I was, administrators practically knew my family history, and I was constantly given smiles and hugs by friends. The atmosphere was not one of competition; rather, it was one of collaboration. Everyone constantly worked together, networked, collaborated, and supported each other. You don't find that in just any learning environment.”

Leonard Rosen

Me’ah

Leonard Rosen lives in Brookline, MA and is a best-selling and widely respected non-fiction author among educational publishers (including Pearson, Allyn & Bacon, Little Brown, and Nelson Doubleday). Leonard is a Me’ah graduate, who has written Radio Essays broadcast by NPR’s Morning Edition, Only A Game, and All Things Considered, as well as op-eds published by the Boston Globe. He has taught writing at Bentley University and Harvard University.

“Through Me’ah I have acquired this unsettling sense of living on the arm of a pendulum that sweeps backwards and forwards through time, between the Arch of Titus and the Havdalah service, between the desolation of our people and joy. Life happens to be good for Jews—here, now. But the world is large and history is long, and Me’ah has taught me to take nothing for granted.”

“On behalf of the graduates, I commend Hebrew College for mounting a program that has made such study possible. Every graduate here has had the deep pleasure of sitting with others and debating the meaning of a text. Every graduate, I suspect, could offer a story—a Me’ah moment, like my moment in Rome or at the Havdalah service, that brings the world into a sharp, new focus. We students are changed for this learning, and I can think of no greater tribute to our teachers than to say: we are changed. Thank you.”

Rabbi Alyson Solomon

Rabbinical School ‘09

Born in Portland, Oregon, Rabbi Alyson Solomon was ordained by Hebrew College in 2009, and is now an assistant rabbi at Congregation B'nai B'rith in Santa Barbara , California. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Occidental College with an advanced BA in International Diplomacy and Human Rights, and was awarded a Richter International Fellowship to study the Jews of Bombay and wrote her honors thesis on Jacobo Timerman. Alsyon notes that her positive educational experience at Occidental - personal time with professors, challenge from fellow students, rigorous text study, experiential learning, attention to the arts, diversity - drove her to seek a similar experience form the rabbinical school she would ultimately decided to attend.

About her time at Hebrew College, Alyson states, “I loved the small, in-formation, feel of Hebrew College. I was blessed by lots of personal attention, help in learning how to learn, support, encouragement and off the charts inspiration from my fellow students and professors.”

“Each of our teachers was dedicated to their field of expertise and passionate about the community that they were helping to form. My fellow colleagues were devoted to creating a vibrant community and we had a lot of adventures together - Purim, celebrating each other's s'machot, rich interfaith encounters, and lots of hours sitting, learning away in the beit midrash. People were resources for each other, a supportive and loving family. I gained skills to learn and to teach, to led and to creative, to ask for help and to offer it.”

Cantor Shana Onigman

MJEd ‘06, CEP ‘07

When Shana Onigman MJEd’06, CEP’07 joined Congregation B’nai Israel, a Conservative Synagogue in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, as its first full-time cantor in August 2007, the synagogue’s Shabbat morning Torah service was a largely clergy-driven affair. But since she launched an ongoing, congregation-wide Torah chanting workshop, the bimah has become a lot more crowded. Drawing on skills she honed at Hebrew College, Onigman devised a highly accessible system to teach the melodic notations that uses colored highlighters, English translations and digital recordings. “I now have 23 congregants who can independently read Torah,” says an effusive Onigman. “On a given Saturday I can get seven people canting.”

Cantor Onigman has also enabled dozens of people to give voice to Jewish prayers, holiday songs and folksongs in the sanctuary and beyond. Rather than hire outside professionals to make a Friday night service special for last year’s Shabbat Across America service, she decided to “promote from within” and co-founded (along with her husband Matthew, who once sang with her in the Zamir Chorale of Boston) a congregation-wide intergenerational choir. Featuring up to 30 voices of all skill levels, the group has sung at havdalah services, holiday celebrations and more. Its repertoire has included a number of songs that Onigman adapted using techniques gleaned from Hebrew College music composition classes.

As Cantor-Educator, Onigman aims in both Torah chanting and choir initiatives to empower congregants to connect more with Jewish texts, liturgy and culture so that they become more active and involved in services and holiday observances. “The more participation and leadership they take on, the more they own their Judaism and the more the text becomes a part of them,” Onigman observes. “At every service, everyone sings a bit louder and stronger.” Onigman’s trajectory to the cantorate started in her junior year in college, when she volunteered to help lead High Holy Day services at her hometown shul. After assuming this role for three consecutive years, she became hooked. “A rabbi told me, ‘You’re a conduit through which the congregation is reaching something higher.’ I never forgot that.”

Rabbi Chaim Koritzinsky

Rabbinical School ‘08

A member of the Rabbinical School’s first graduating class, Chaim Koritzinsky found the perfect career match with a small congregation in Santiago, Chile. As spiritual leader of Congregation Ruach Ami, he is building a vibrant, inclusive prayer community that reaches out to youth, singles and families currently unaffiliated or underserved by the organized Jewish community. “There is tremendous potential to reach out to hundreds—perhaps even thousands—of Jews who haven’t yet found their place in the Jewish community of Santiago,” he says.

Chaim came to the Rabbinical School with years of community development, social justice and teaching experience at Jewish organizations in the United States, Israel and the former Soviet Union; a passion for havruta-style learning; and a desire to serve a wide spectrum of Jews, drawing on a solid foundation in Jewish texts and educational expertise. The program exceeded his expectations, particularly in shaping prayer leadership skills. “It’s become second nature to think creatively about how to build a dynamic, engaging service that addresses as wide a spectrum of daveners as possible while still being authentic to yourself,” he says. Ruach Ami presents a perfect opportunity to hone those skills while building community. An offshoot of a Jewish Community Center congregation that recently closed, this small group of families seeks to create a synagogue community both rooted in tradition and open to innovation. “Many have expressed a real hunger for something new,” says Chaim, “something grounded in the tradition that also touches the soul.”