Faculty Biographies

Hebrew College 160 Herrick Road Newton Centre, MA 02459

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Faculty Biographies

To see a list of of Hebrew College faculty, click here.

To see a list of adjunct faculty, click here.

Faculty

S haron Cohen Anisfeld has been Dean of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College since 2006. Prior to assuming this position, she served as an adjunct faculty member at the Rabbinical School and then as Dean of Students. She graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in 1990, and subsequently spent 15 years working in pluralistic settings as a Hillel rabbi at Tufts, Yale and Harvard. She has been a summer faculty member for the Bronfman Youth Fellowships in Israel since 1993. She is the author of several articles and co-editor of two volumes of women's writings on Passover, The Women's Seder Sourcebook and The Women's Passover Companion (published by Jewish Lights).

T zilla Barone directs Hebrew College Ulpan and also serves as Hebrew Language coordinator for academic programs. Her teaching experience began at University of Oklahoma; she also taught at Brandeis University and Clark University. In 1987 Ms. Barone came to Hebrew College and began teaching in both Ulpan and academic programs. She is currently the coordinator of Israel affairs for the Prozdor program at Hebrew College. Ms. Barone studied at Haifa University and graduated from SUNY Albany. She is affiliated with the Boston Haifa Connection, Technion Alumni association, Friends of Haifa University and is a member of NAPH (National Association of Professors of Hebrew) as well as other organizations.

S igalit Davis, Instructor of Hebrew Language, holds a dual degree in Education and Hebrew Language from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her expertise in and thorough understanding of the history and development of the Hebrew language has enabled her to develop numerous teaching methodologies for particular types of students and settings. Ms. Davis has developed numerous curricula and approaches to Hebrew teaching while in her role at Hebrew College. Born in Tel Aviv and a native Hebrew speaker, she has taught Hebrew and Jewish studies at many levels for more than twenty years, in diverse educational settings throughout the United States. She is the mother of two sons and resides in Newton, MA.

A rthur Green is the Rector of the Rabbinical School and Irving Brudnick Professor of Jewish Philosophy and Religion at Hebrew College. Professor Emeritus at Brandeis University, where he occupied the Philip W. Lown Professorship of Jewish Thought, he is both a historian of Jewish religion and a theologian; his work seeks to form a bridge between these two fields. Educated at Brandeis and at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he received rabbinic ordination, Dr. Green has lectured widely and taught Jewish mysticism, Hasidism, and theology to several generations of students at the University of Pennsylvania, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (where he served as both Dean and President), Brandeis, and now at Hebrew College where he was the founding dean of the Rabbinical School He was the founder of Havurat Shalom in Somerville, Massachusetts in 1968 and remains a leading independent figure in the Jewish renewal movement. Dr. Green is the author of over a dozen books. His most recent book (2010) is Radical Judaism: Re-thinking God and Tradition.

D an Judson is the director of Professional Development and Placement for the Hebrew College Rabbinical School. He is also a doctoral candidate in Jewish history at Brandeis University where his research focuses on the history of synagogues and money. He was for ten years the spiritual leader of Temple Beth David of the South Shore in Canton, MA. In 2003 he was the Daniel Jeremy Silver Fellow at Harvard University. He has co-authored a number of books on Jewish rituals including The Rituals and Practices of a Jewish Life: A Handbook for Personal Spiritual Renewal (Jewish Lights Publishing), The Jewish Pregnancy Book: A Resource for the Soul, Body and Mind During Pregnancy, Birth and the First Three Months (Jewish Lights Publishing) and Meeting At The Well: A Jewish Spiritual Guide to Being Engaged (URJ Press). His articles on American Jewish history have appeared in various journals.

Jane Kanarek is Assistant Professor of Rabbinics and Associate Dean of Academic Development and Advising in the Rabbinical School. She received her B.A. from Brown University, M.A. and Rabbinic Ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. She was also a Wexner Graduate Fellow. Dr. Kanarek specializes in Talmud and midrash as well as methods in the teaching of rabbinics. Her book manuscript, Legalizing Genesis: Biblical Narrative and the Formation of Rabbinic Law, is currently under review. She has published in a number of journals, including AJS Review, Journal of Jewish Education, and Teaching Theology and Religion. Dr. Kanarek is also part of Tal Ilan’s Feminist Talmud Commentary project, where she is writing a commentary on Tractate Arakhin. In addition to her scholarly work, Rabbi Kanarek is a member of the Rabbinical Assembly’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards.

Judith Kates, Professor of Jewish Women’s Studies, teaches Tanakh classes in the Rabbinical School at Hebrew College. She earned her B.A. from Radcliffe College and her M.A. and Ph.D from Harvard University. She has edited two innovative works in Jewish women’s studies, Beginning Anew: A Woman’s Companion to the High Holy Days (with Gail Twersky Reimer) and Reading Ruth: Contemporary Women Reclaim a Sacred Story (also with Gail Twersky Reimer). She has also contributed essays to a number of volumes, including two chapters on midrash in Scrolls of Love: Ruth and The Song of Songs, edited by Peter S. Hawkins and Lesleigh Cushing Stahlberg and an essay on the S'fat Emet in Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life: Classical Texts, Contemporary Reflections, edited by Lawrence Fine, Eitan Fishbane and Or N. Rose. Dr. Kates is the recipient of the Keter Torah award from the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Boston. She has been a teacher for adult students of all backgrounds in the Boston area.

E bn Leader is Director of the Bet-Midrash at the Rabbinical School at Hebrew College. He grew up in Jerusalem and was a Talmid (student-disciple) of Rabbi David Hartman and learned Talmud; was a Talmid of Amos Hetz and studied movement and movement notation. He is currently a Talmid of Arthur Green from whom he has received Semicha. Ebn Leader has a growing international reputation as a Jewish spiritual teacher in the neo-Hasidic tradition and is an authority on Jewish prayer. He is the co-editor of God in all moments: Mystical & practical wisdom from Hasidic masters published by Jewish Lights.

A llan Lehmann counsels, teaches and advises rabbinical students in a number of settings as Associate Dean of the Rabbinical College—in his office, in the Bet Midrash, in the classroom and all together as a learning community. He earned his BA from Columbia University, his MA from Temple University and Rabbinic Ordination from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. Before coming to Hebrew College in 2007, he served as the Jewish Chaplain and Rabbinic Hillel Director at Brandeis University for seven years. Previously he was the rabbi of a Conservative synagogue in Gainesville, Florida, for over twenty years. Minyan Olat Shabbat often meets at his (and Joanne Schindler’s) house in Newton Centre on Friday evenings.

D aniel Lehmann is the eighth President of Hebrew College. He previously served as the founding Headmaster of Gann Academy - The New Jewish High School of Greater Boston and the Founding Director of BIMA – The Berkshire Institute for Music and Arts. A graduate of Yeshiva University and its Rabbinical School, Rabbi Lehmann received the Covenant Foundation Award as well as the Benjamin Shevach Award from Hebrew College for his innovative leadership in Jewish education. He has both studied and taught at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem and the National Center for Learning and Leadership (CLAL) in New York. Rabbi Lehmann has written numerous articles and chapters on Jewish education and interreligious learning, and has lectured widely to professional and communal audiences.

M ichal Levy directs and teaches the online Hebrew language courses. She has worked at the Hebrew College for more than twenty years. Michal has taught multiple courses in the Ulpan , the College and the Hebrew Online program. Mrs. Levy received her BA from Tel- Aviv University in Israel and her Master of Art in Second Language acquisition and Multicultural Studies from Boston University.

B rian J. Mayer is Acting Dean, School of Jewish Music. Prior to his appointment at Hebrew College, he taught for 14 years at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York as Assistant Professor of Hazzanut. A recognized scholar of Hazzanut (cantorial music), he was featured in the nationally televised ABC-TV documentary, "To God's Ear," which was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2002. He has a national reputation for innovative, artistic and participatory, congregant-based concerts. In November, 2008, he was the Artistic Director of Shining Through Broken Glass: A Kristallnacht Concert, a highly acclaimed multi-media production featuring Leonard Nimoy. In 2003, as Cantor of Temple Emanu-El in Providence, he produced Kolot Emanu-El, a CD recording about which the music critic Morton Gold wrote, “Everything about this CD suggests quality.” Cantor Dr. Mayer was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he earned a Doctor of Sacred Music Degree.

B arry Mesch is Provost and Stone/Teplow Families' Professor of Jewish Thought at Hebrew College. He holds a B.S. from Columbia University, a B.R.E. from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D from Brandeis University. Dr. Mesch’s work focuses on medieval and modern Jewish thought; theology and the Holocaust; and the history of biblical interpretation. As Provost, Dr. Mesch oversees the Academic Programs of the College and takes special responsibility for the Jewish studies and Hebrew language programs. In 2001, he guided the creation and administration of the first online Master of Arts program in Jewish Studies on the Internet Prior to his arrival at Hebrew College in 1990, Dr. Mesch had a twenty-year career as the founding director of the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Florida in Gainesville. During this time, he was instrumental in acquiring several large collections of Judaica for the University. These became the Isser and Ray Price Library, the largest Judaica collection in the southeast. His book, Joseph Ibn Caspi, Fourteenth Century Philosopher and Exegete was published in 1975.

J acob Meskin is Academic Director of Adult Learning, and Assistant Professor of Jewish Thought and Education, at Hebrew College. He was the inaugural holder of the Ruderman Chair in Jewish Studies at Northeastern University in 2009-2010, and has taught previously at Princeton University, Rutgers University, the Bernard Revel Graduate School of Yeshiva University, Williams College, and Lehigh University. He received his MA and PhD from Princeton University. His articles have appeared in Modern Judaism, The Journal of Religion, Soundings, Levinas Studies, Judaism, Cross Currents, and in several edited volumes. He both teaches in and trains faculty for Hebrew College’s Me’ah program, and is one of the co-authors of the curriculum for the Parenting Through A Jewish Lens (Ikkarim) program, in which he also teaches. In addition he works as a consultant on adult Jewish education and teacher training in the Boston area.

N ehemia Polen is Professor of Jewish Thought at Hebrew College. He is the author of The Holy Fire: The Teachings of Rabbi Kalonymus Shapira, the Rebbe of the Warsaw Ghetto, and is a contributing commentator to My People’s Prayer Book, a multi-volume Siddur incorporating diverse perspectives on the liturgy. He received his Ph.D. from Boston University, where he studied with and served as teaching fellow for Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel. In 1994 he was Daniel Jeremy Silver Fellow at Harvard University, and has also been a Visiting Scholar at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is an ordained rabbi and served a congregation for twenty-three years. In 1998-9 he was a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow, working on the writings of Malkah Shapiro (1894-1971), the daughter of a noted Hasidic master, whose Hebrew memoirs focus on the spiritual lives of women in the context of pre-war Hasidism in Poland. The research culminated in his book, The Rebbe’s Daughter, recipient of a National Jewish Book Award. He teaches and lectures on Hasidic spirituality, tales and melodies (niggunim); sacred time and place in Judaism; enriching prayer life; and the meaning of the book of Leviticus. Professor Polen’s current research focuses on early Rabbinic mysticism.

I na Regosin is Associate Dean of the Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education, and founding Director of the Early Childhood Institute. A national leader in the field of early childhood education, she is editor of Milk and Honey: A Curriculum Compendium for Early Childhood Educators. A veteran Jewish educator who has worked in all aspects of Jewish education, from days schools to Jewish camps, Ms. Regosin currently teaches courses on educational leadership at Hebrew College. She earned her BA from Brooklyn College, her MS from Wheelock College, and has undertaken graduate Jewish studies at Yeshiva University and the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Karen Reiss-Medwed is Assistant Professor of Jewish Education in the Shoolman Graduate School of Education of Hebrew College. The first graduate of the doctoral program in Education and Jewish Studies in the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University, she most recently served as Director of Religious Education at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania. She earned her BA's and MA at Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary’s joint program where she also received Rabbinic Ordination. Dr Reiss Medwed's teaching and research focuses on teaching and learning in educational venues for the 21st century. Dr Reiss Medwed is also the Director of the doctorate in Jewish Educational Leadership program, a collaborative between Hebrew College and Northeastern University, and she coordinates the MJEd in day school teacher education for the Pardes Educator's Program, a collaboration between Hebrew College and the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. Dr. Reiss Medwed's areas of interest include educational leadership, TCPK, the teaching of religious text, and Jewish day school teacher education.

S hayna Rhodes is a graduate of Bais Yakov High School and Barnard College, and was a member of the first graduating class of Hebrew College Rabbinical School. Upon ordination she joined the faculty as a Bet Midrash instructor. She now divides her time between the classroom and the Bet Midrash. She teaches Talmud, Tanakh, and Halakhah, and facilitates Tefillah. Shayna combines tradition with feminism empowering students to discover their own voice in sacred text.

O r N. Rose is the founding Director of the Center for Global Judaism at Hebrew College. He also serves as the Co-Director of CIRCLE: The Center for Inter-Religious & Communal Leadership Education, which is a joint venture of Andover Newton Theological School and Hebrew College. Rabbi Rose is the author or editor of many articles and books on Jewish spirituality, social justice, and inter-religious cooperation. He is the co-editor of Jewish Mysticism and the Spiritual Life: Classical Texts, Contemporary Reflections (Jewish Lights, 2010), and My Neighbor's Faith: Stories of Interreligious Encounter, Growth, and Transformation (forthcoming, spring 2012, Orbis Books). Rabbi Rose is a member of the Shalom Hartman Institute's North American Scholar's Circle, and a member of the editorial committee of Sh'ma: A Journal of Jewish Responsibility. He is currently completing a doctorate in Jewish thought at Brandeis University with a thesis on the famed early Hasidic master, Rabbi Levi Isaac of Berditchev.

Solomon Schimmel is Professor of Jewish Education and Psychology at Hebrew College, Newton, MA. He is the author of three books, The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs: Fundamentalism and the Fear of Truth; Wounds Not Healed by Time: The Power of Repentance and Forgiveness; and The Seven Deadly Sins: Jewish, Christian and Classical Reflections on Human Psychology, (all published by Oxford University Press), and numerous articles and book chapters on Jewish thought, psychology of religion, and Jewish education. He was a Fulbright Senior Research Scholar and Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University, England in 1998, where he researched the concepts and practices of repentance and forgiveness in the Abrahamic religions, in psychology, and in moral and legal philosophy. Dr. Schimmel has been a National Science Foundation Research Fellow at Harvard University, and a Visiting Professor at Brandeis, Bar-Ilan, and Hebrew Universities, and most recently, a Visiting Scholar at Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan and at Shalom College in Sydney, Australia.

Marlene Schultz is the Director of Field Experiences for the Shoolman School of Jewish Education. She is in charge of all field based courses and works with both students and supervisors to craft robust field based experiences. Prior to coming to Hebrew College, Marlene was Assistant Professor and Director of Fieldwork at Brandeis University’s Hornstein Program in Jewish Professional Leadership and Associate Director of Field Placement at Lesley University. She received her BSSW from Ohio State University and her MSEd from Lesley University. Marlene is a LCSW (Licensed certified social worker) and a LMHC (Licensed mental health counselor). She works with students in the areas of personal ,professional and career counseling as well as academic advisement. Marlene is an active lay leader in her synagogue and a commissioner on her local Human Rights Commission.

M ichael Shire is Dean of the Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education at Hebrew College. Formerly Vice-Principal and Director of Education of Leo Baeck College London, he holds a doctorate in Jewish Education from Hebrew Union College in the field of Religious Development. He gained MA’s in Religious Education (HUC) and Jewish Studies (LBC) and s’micha from Leo Baeck College. He has published widely in the field of religious growth and development as well as the Jewish theology of childhood most recently in the International Handbook of Jewish Education, Eds. H. Miller et al, Springer 2011. He has also published four books of creative liturgy with medieval illuminations in association with the British Museum. He has recently relocated to Boston with his wife Rabbi Marcia Plumb and two children Anya and Micah.

S cott Sokol is Professor of Psychology, Jewish Education and Jewish Music at Hebrew College, and the new Associate Dean for Academic Support. He was the former dean of the Jewish Music Institute (now School of Jewish Music) and the founding Director of both the Cantor-Educator Program and the Special Education Program at Hebrew College. Most recently, he served as the first Korman Family Professor of Jewish Special Education. He also serves as part-time cantor at Temple Beth Sholom of Framingham, MA and maintains a small, part-time practice as a pediatric neuropsychologist. He has a BA in Psychology from Brandeis University, MA and PhD degrees in Cognitive Neuropsychology from the Johns Hopkins University and a MSM and Cantorial Investiture from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He was spiritual leader at Congregation Kehillath Israel in Brookline for eleven years and served for a dozen years on the clinical and academic faculties of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He is a recipient of a Young Psychologist Award from the American Psychological Association and is a former Fulbright Scholar and Wexner Fellow. Dr. Sokol is a featured soloist on several recordings with the Zamir Chorale of Boston and is the co-founder of Koleinu: The Jewish Community Chorus of Boston and Sheminiyah, a local cantorial ensemble. He is married to Francene and is the father of Benjamin (11) and Samuel (8).

L ouise Treitman is Associate Dean of the School of Jewish Music at Hebrew College. She had been involved with the college for many years, helping to create the Jewish Music Institute and returned in 2008 to work in the Cantor-Educator Program. In addition to teaching cantorial students, she also works with rabbinic, education and music certificate students. Cantor Treitman served Temple Beth David of Westwood for 20 years, being named Cantor Emerita. She has served as assistant conductor of the Zamir Chorale of Boston and currently sings with the group. She is also co-director of Il Concerto di Salamone Rossi Hebreo. She serves on the board of Mayyim Hayyim - Community Mikveh and Education Center in Newton. With degrees from Wellesley College and The New England Conservatory of Music, Cantor Treitman received Certification as an Invested Cantor through Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York.

D onald Wertlieb is the Korman Visiting Distinguished Professor of Special Education and Director of the Hebrew College Inclusive Education Roundtable (HIER). As professor at the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, Tufts University, his research focuses on how children, families, and communities cope with adversity and disability, using that knowledge to design interventions that foster coping and resilience. He is an applied developmental scientist specializing in pediatric psychology and consults with faith-based communities both nationally and internationally. Notable are partnerships under the auspices of the Jewish communities in Haifa (Mercaz Gil Center for Learning; Parent Partnership Project) and in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine (Educational Resource Center for Children with Disabilities.) Dr. Wertlieb served as a consultant to the Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative (JECEI), and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Jewish Family and Children’s Services and Tufts Hillel Foundation. He is co-author of Inspiring Jewish Connections: Outreach to Parents of Infants and Toddlers (2008).

Adjunct Faculty

R achel Adelman, adjunct instructor of Hebrew Bible, provides a dynamic, open approach to text study, drawing on a wide range of sources, from Tanakh and classical midrash to modern Israeli poetry. Having completed her M.A. in Jewish studies at Matan/Baltimore Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Dr. Adelman went on to pursue a doctorate in Hebrew Literature (with a specialty in midrash) at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which was awarded in the spring of 2008. She subsequently wrote a book based on her dissertation: The Return of the Repressed: Pirqe de-Rabbi Eliezer and the Pseudepigrapha (Leiden: Brill 2009).

Dr. Adelman has taught Tanakh and midrash at Matan (The Sadie Rennert Women’s Institute for Torah Study), the Conservative Yeshiva, Pardes, and the Rothberg School at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. During Academic Year 2011-12, she will be working on her second academic book — The Female Ruse: Women’s Deception and Divine Sanction in the Hebrew Bible – as a Research Associate in the Women’s Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School. She will join the Hebrew College faculty officially as Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible in the Fall of 2012.

D ebra Reed Blank taught liturgy and Talmud at the Jewish Theological Seminary from 1992-2009, after which she became a Visiting Scholar at Brandeis University’s Women’s Studies Research Center, where she has been writing a book about Jewish female-infant initiation. While at JTS, she also served as the acting dean of JTS’s undergraduate program and as an assistant dean of its Graduate School. She has taught at the Academy for Jewish Religion (New York) and the Russian State University for the Humanities (Moscow). Blank was a member of the first class of women to enter the JTS Rabbinical School in 1984. After ordination, she pursued her PhD in liturgy and rabbinics. She has also studied at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati and in NYC. Her edited volume, The Experience of Jewish Liturgy (Brill), was published in 2011. She has also authored many articles about Jewish liturgy and lectures frequently in adult education venues.

H arvey Bock is a graduate of the Yeshivah of Flatbush; Yale College, where he majored in linguistics; and Yale Law School. During more than twenty years of practicing law, with a specialty in banking regulation (most recently as a senior vice president of Morgan Stanley and general counsel of its Discover Card division), he maintained a passionate interest in Hebrew language and ancillary studies. In 2001 he embarked upon a second career as a teacher of Hebrew language---classical and modern---and Aramaic. He has translated several books, articles and poems from Hebrew into English, including An Introduction to Biblical Literature, by Alexander Rofé.

E dward Breuer, Visiting Associate Professor of Jewish history, teaches Jewish history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Canadian born and bred, he has a BA from Concordia University and an AM and Ph.D. from Harvard. After teaching in the U.S. for almost fifteen years, he and his family moved to Israel in 2001. Eddy's work focuses on medieval and modern Jewish intellectual history, specializing in the Jewish Enlightenment of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

D avid Brody teaches courses via distance learning in Hebrew College’s early childhood institute. His courses include Teaching Bible to Young Children, and Creating Developmentally Appropriate Curriculum for the Jewish Preschool. David received his DHL, a master's degree in early childhood education, and a Master’s degree in Jewish education, all from the Jewish Theological Seminary. He currently serves as chair of the early childhood department and the academic dean at the Efrata College of Education in Jerusalem. His research interests include coping mechanisms of early childhood educators in emotionally charged situations, professional development among teacher educators, and the problems facing male preschool teachers and caregivers. He lives in the settlement of Efrat in Israel.

Reuven Cohn, adjunct instructor of Rabbinics, received his rabbinic ordination as well as an MS in Jewish Education from Yeshiva University and an MA in Jewish Studies from Harvard University. He also received a law degree from Yale Law School. After practicing law for many years, he now teaches numerous adult education classes in the Boston area, serving a wide array of audiences and students. Reuven is an experienced teacher using distance learning methodologies, and has a loyal following of students who study with him in person at Hebrew College. A Boston native, he is also on the faculty of Maimonides School in Brookline.

S teve Copeland received his doctorate in education from Harvard University. He served as lecturer at Hebrew University's Center for Jewish Education and beginning in 1988 he was engaged as Assistant Professor of Jewish thought and education at Hebrew College. Since his return to Israel in 2007 he has continued as part of the College's adjunct faculty, teaching Hebrew College students both online and in person during their time in Jerusalem at the Pardes Institute. In addition, he teaches at Hebrew University, Machon Schechter, Young Judaea Year Course and Alma, as well as holds popular shi'urim (informal classes) at his apartment on topics such as religiosity without delusion. Dr. Copeland is currently engaged in conversation with a publisher in Jerusalem regarding his collected essays in Hebrew translation. Dr. Copeland’s work focuses on the exploration of Jewish texts as an active encounter between those sources and particular readers, with special emphasis on figurative rather than literal understandings of religious language.

D avid Frankel is Senior Lecturer in Bible at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, and adjunct instructor in Bible at Hebrew College. He is responsible for the Tanakh classes that fourth year rabbinical students, spending the year in Israel, are enrolled in. He received his Rabbinic ordination in 1991 and served as Rabbi for the Conservative Congregation in Gilo, Jerusalem for five years. He received his PhD in Bible from the Hebrew University in 1995 under the guidance of Professor Moshe Weinfeld. Among his published works are: The Murmuring Stories of the Priestly School (Brill, 2002), and The Land of Canaan and the Destiny of Israel: Theologies of Territory in the Hebrew Bible (Eisenbrauns, 2011). He lives in Talpiot, Jerusalem with his wife and five children.

J ason Gaines teaches Tanakh in the Rabbinical School at Hebrew College. He also serves as Lecturer in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University, where he is a Ph.D. candidate studying Hebrew Bible and ancient Semitic languages. His current research focuses on biblical poetry. Jason coordinates adult learning events at the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, including planning the Rabbi Samuel Chiel Genesis Forum. He received a bachelor's degree from Sarah Lawrence College and his master's degree from Brandeis, also studying at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Jason also teaches Bible and ancient mythology at Hebrew College’s Prozdor division.

A bigail Gillman is Associate Professor of Modern Languages and Comparative Literature at Boston University, where she teaches modern German and Hebrew literature, Hebrew Bible, and modern Jewish writing. As adjunct instructor of Hebrew literature at Hebrew College, she teaches courses on modern Jewish literature via distance learning. She has taught adult education courses at Hebrew College (Me’ah, Me’ah Graduate Institute), the Rashi School, and Temple Emanuel. Her research focuses on German Jewish culture, bible translation, the art and architecture of memory, and on the historic dialogue between two languages and literatures, German and Hebrew. She is the author of Viennese Jewish Modernism: Freud, Hofmannsthal, Schnitzler and Beer-Hofmann (Penn State UP, 2008), and is currently writing a cultural history of German Jewish Bible translation from 1783 to 1961.

L eonard Gordon is Senior Rabbi at Congregation Mishkan Tefila in Chestnut Hill, MA and adjunct instructor of Rabbinics at Hebrew College. Rabbi Gordon earned an MA in Religious Studies from Brown University and an MPhil from Columbia University as well as an MA and Rabbinic Ordination from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Rabbi Gordon taught Humanities at Columbia College, rabbinics at the Jewish Theological Seminary and a range of courses in texts and history at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. As a pulpit Rabbi, he has mentored rabbinic interns from Hebrew College’s Rabbinical School as well as the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Zeigler School of Rabbinic Studies, the Academy for Jewish Religion, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. He recently completed twelve years of work on Mahzor Lev Shalem as a member of the editorial committee. A past chair of the Rabbinical Assembly Social Action Committee, he now co-chairs the USCJ Social Action and Public Policy Committee. Leonard’s wife, Professor Lori Lefkovitz, is the Ruderman Professor of Jewish Studies at Northeastern University.

Z vi Grumet, adjunct instructor of Jewish Education, holds an MA in Jewish Education and a Specialist's Certificate in Educational Administration from Yeshiva University's Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, and rabbinic ordination from Yeshiva University's Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary. He teaches courses in pedagogy to Hebrew College students enrolled in the Pardes Educators Program, in Jerusalem. Prior to his making aliyah, Rabbi Grumet taught and was an administrator in American yeshiva high schools for eighteen years. He has published numerous articles on education and Tanakh, and lectures in a wide variety of adult-education programs. Rabbi Grumet is also the Tanakh coordinator at Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi, and a member of the educational team at the Lookstein Center of the School of Education at Bar Ilan University.

Lynne Heller combines her passion for the biblical text with her academic background in comparative literature and Jewish studies. She holds an MA and Ph.D. in English and comparative literature from New York University and currently teaches Tanakh to first year rabbinical students at Hebrew College. She has taught in several of Boston's community-wide adult learning programs, including Hebrew College’s own Me’ah program; Ma'ayan; and CJP’s Genesis program. A featured scholar in Synagogue Council of Massachusetts’ Kolot series, she inaugurated and taught their series of intensive Bible text study courses. Dr. Heller served on the editorial board for the revision of Siddur Sim Shalom, used by Conservative congregations across North America. A resident of Newton, she is the proud grandmother of five.

J oshua R. Jacobson holds a Bachelors degree in Music from Harvard College, a Masters in Choral Conducting from the New England Conservatory, and a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Jacobson is Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at Northeastern University, where he served nine years as Music Department Chairman and six years as the Bernard Stotsky Professor of Jewish Cultural Studies. He is also Visiting Professor and Senior Consultant in the School of Jewish Music at Hebrew College. He is also the founder and director of the Zamir Chorale of Boston, a world-renowned ensemble, specializing in Hebrew music. He has conducted workshops on choral music for various groups, including the American Choral Directors Association, and has guest conducted a number of ensembles, including the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Bulgarian National Symphony and Chorus, the New England Conservatory Orchestra and the Boston Lyric Opera Company. He has also written articles on various aspects of choral music, and over one hundred published compositions and arrangements. In 1989 he spent four weeks in Yugoslavia as a Distinguished Professor under the auspices of the Fulbright program. In 1994 he was awarded the Benjamin Shevach Award for Distinguished Achievement in Jewish Educational Leadership from Hebrew College. Prof. Jacobson is past President of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Choral Directors Association. He is the conductor and host of the PBS film, Zamir: Jewish Voices Return to Poland. His book, Chanting the Hebrew Bible: The Art of Cantillation, published by the Jewish Publication Society in 2002, was a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. He is co-author of Translations and Annotations of Choral Repertoire—Volume IV: Hebrew Texts, published by earthsongs in 2009. In 2004 the Cantors Assembly presented Prof. Jacobson with its prestigious “Kavod Award.”

A lvan Kaunfer is the Director of the Congregational Education Initiative and Adjunct Instructor in Jewish Education. Alvan is Rabbi Emeritus at Temple Emanu-El, Providence, where he served for 25 years as Religious School and High School Principal, Youth Director, Adult Education Coordinator, and Associate Rabbi, and supervised educational and family programming. He is also the founding Director of the Solomon Schechter Day School in Providence. He is a graduate of Brandeis University, Teachers’ College of Columbia University, and he was ordained and received a doctorate in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary. Rabbi Kaunfer teaches courses in Jewish Education at the Davidson School of the Jewish Theological Seminary, and at Hebrew College in Boston. He has published a number of articles on Jewish education and on Midrash. He lives in Providence, R.I. and has two children and four grandchildren.

Jonathan Klawans is a specialist in the religion and religious literature of ancient Judaism. He is Associate Professor of Religion at Boston University, where he has been on the faculty since 1997. At BU, he teaches courses in Western Religion, the Hebrew Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient Jewish history, and Rabbinic literature. Since 2009, he has been Visiting Associate Professor at Hebrew College, and has taught Second Temple and Early Rabbinic Judaism annually. Klawans has published articles in journals such as AJS Review, Harvard Theological Review, Journal of Jewish Studies, New Testament Studies, Numen and Religious Studies Review. He is also editor for ancient Judaism for the journal Currents in Biblical Research (http://cbi.sagepub.com/). Professor Klawans’s first book, Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism was published by Oxford University Press in 2000, and received awards as a best first book for that year from both the American Academy of Religion and the American Academy for Jewish Research. Professor Klawans’s second book was published in 2005, also by Oxford University Press: Purity Sacrifice and the Temple: Symbolism and Supersessionism in the Study of Ancient Judaism. This book aims to correct a number of misconceptions about the practice of sacrifice in the ancient world, and the understanding of it in the modern world. Professor Klawans’s current research project focuses on the theological views of Josephus and the ancient Jewish sects (Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes).

S andy Miller-Jacobs, has been a professor at Hebrew College since 2007. After teaching students with special needs for five years, she joined the faculty of Fitchburg State College, now Fitchburg State University. For over 25 years, she served as a professor in the Special Education Department, including six years as Department Chair and two years as the College’s Interim Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Academic Personnel. From 2001 to 2007, she served as Director of Special Education Services at the Bureau of Jewish Education of Greater Boston, where she worked with day, supplemental and preschools to initiate and expand programming for students with special needs. She consults to synagogues and day schools, gives workshops and presentations on differentiated instruction, the impact of disabilities on academic and social behavior, and behavior management. She has written articles and text chapters and a blog, Life through the Lens of a Special Educator. Dr. Miller-Jacobs earned her BA from Queens College, CUNY, MEd from Boston University and EdD from Boston College. She received a Keter Torah award from the BJE in 2007. She currently holds the title of Professor Emerita in Special Education at Fitchburg State University.

C harles David Osborne is a graduate of the Hartt College of Music of West Hartford, Ct. and Cantors Institute (now H.L. Miller Cantorial School) /Seminary College of Jewish Music of Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. His composition teachers included Miriam Gideon and Hugo Weisgall. He has taught at both his alma maters, and also at Northeastern University in Boston. In addition to being a member of the faculty of the School of Jewish Music of Hebrew College of Boston and spiritual leader of the Jewish Fellowship of Hemlock Farms, Lords Valley, PA., he is conductor and artistic director of the Pike County (PA) Choral Society. To date, Charles David Osborne has composed five full-length oratorios, a symphony, concertos for flute, guitar, viola and harp, other symphonic works, and over 200 choral pieces, both sacred and secular. He has also built a solid international reputation as a tenor in opera and concert, and as a choral director. His composition, "Samachti B'omrim Li" has become one of the most popular pieces of synagogue music in the world. Mr. Osborne is a member of A.S.C.A.P. (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers).

Judith Pinnolis, adjunct instructor of Jewish Music at Hebrew College, received her B.A. in Music from Newcomb College of Tulane University, a Master in Music from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, and her M.S. in Library Science from Simmons College. She studied Yiddish at Columbia University and Brandeis. In addition to her library work, Judith teaches courses in Jewish music and Jewish history through film at Brandeis. She is currently Chair of the Jewish Music Roundtable of the Music Library Association; Past-Chair of Chapters Council of ACRL (the Association of College and Research Libraries); member of the Leadership Council of ACRL of the American Library Association; and Past-President for ACRL/New England. Her scholarly publications include: “Cantor Soprano” Julie Rosewald: The Musical Career of a Jewish American “New Woman” published in The American Jewish Archives Journal; 13 articles in Encyclopedia Judaica (2006), articles in Women and Music in America Since 1900: An Encyclopedia (2002), and The Reader's Guide to Judaism (2000). She published an extensive article on Miriam Gideon (2004), and a bibliography on Jewish music (2002) in Musica Judaica. She is also an author and editor of the website The Jewish Music WebCenter.

S usie Rodenstein, Instructor in Jewish Education, is an experienced teacher of Jewish Education. She received her BA from Queens College, CUNY and a Bachelor of Hebrew Literature and teacher certification from the Jewish Theological Seminary. At Hebrew University she earned certification as a school counselor. Her Masters degree in Cognitive Stage Theories, focusing on moral development and second language acquisition, is from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education. Ms. Rodenstein was a Jerusalem Fellow from 1992 – 1996, where she studied theories of professional development and reflective practice in addition to enjoying intensive Torah Lishma opportunities. Upon her return to the United States she joined the Mandel Teacher Educators Network, an organization which provides opportunities for text-based learning with colleagues from the U.S., Canada and Israel.

P eretz Rodman is a Jewish educator, writer, and translator based in Jerusalem. He earned degrees in Jewish studies at Hebrew College (B.H.L.) and Brandeis University (B.A., M.A.) and received rabbinic ordination from the Schechter Rabbinical Seminary in Jerusalem. He was a member of the inaugural cohort of Jerusalem Fellows and has taught in Jewish day schools and summer camps, at Jewish and Christian theological schools, and at universities in the U.S. and Israel. When not teaching, he can be found working on a book on conflict resolution in biblical narrative, or writing poetry in Hebrew.

N eil Schwartz grew up in Northern Minnesota, and has degrees from Carleton College (1975) and the Jewish Theological Seminary (1980). As Hazzan, he serves as "Kol Bo" for a synagogue in Saskatoon, Canada, and he has also completed several units of CPE hospital Chaplaincy training there. Hazzan Schwartz is the Jewish Chaplain for the University of Saskatchewan, and a Board Member of Multi-Faith Saskatoon. Nationally, he is a member of the Cantors Assembly; the American Conference of Cantors; and NewCAJE, the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education, for which he presents annual workshops. In addition to teaching classes in Trope and Nusach via distance learning for Hebrew College, Hazzan Schwartz has been a Scholar-in-Residence, and he has taught the United Synagogue IMUN Program for adult lay religious leaders. He also notates Nusach and Trope for Kinnor Software.

L ynn Torgove, Adjunct Instructor in Jewish Music, received a BA and BS from Tufts University and MUSM from Boston University School of Fine Arts and a Masters in Jewish Studies from Hebrew College. She is a mezzo-soprano and stage director, has had an international career as a soloist in many genres of classical music. In addition to being a frequent soloist with the Cantata Singers, Ms. Torgove has performed with the Boston Camerata, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Opera Boston, the American Repertory Theater, the Saint Louis Symphony, Portland (Maine) Symphony Orchestra, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, Berkshire Choral Festival and Boston Lyric Opera. She has sung in a number of Jewish Music venues as well, including concerts with Temple Emanu-El in Providence, the Zamir Chorale of Boston, the Nigun Ensemble and Hebrew College's Shir Tsion Chorale. She has served on the opera faculty at New England Conservatory, Boston University Opera Institute, and currently teaches at the Boston Conservatory Vocal and Choral Institute. She is currently on the faculty of the Longy School of Music as well as Hebrew College.

S usan Wall, adjunct instructor in Jewish Education, holds a BA in English Literature from Temple University, a MS in Library Science from Drexel University, a DHL in Jewish Education from the Jewish Theological Seminary, and was a Jerusalem Fellow from 1982-85. Dr. Wall teaches courses in pedagogy to Hebrew College students enrolled in the Pardes Educators Program in Jerusalem. She has worked in numerous venues in Jewish education in North America, including supplementary schools, day schools, camps, youth movements, and teacher-training frameworks. Before making aliyah in 1992, she served as principal of Ezra Academy, the Solomon Schechter day school serving the greater New Haven, Connecticut area. Prior to joining the Pardes staff in 2002, Dr. Wall taught Jewish Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Rothberg International School, and directed the Ramah Israel Institute, Ramah's short-term trip division from 1995-2001.