2 Iyyar, 5769 * April 26, 2009
Ms. Barbara Friedman
Rabbi David Ellenson
Hebrew Union College
One West Fourth Street
New York, NY 10012-1186
Dear Rabbi Ellenson and Ms. Friedman,
First and foremost, we want to thank you for your leadership during these extraordinarily challenging times for the College-Institute and all of us who love it. While the decisions ahead for you and the Board are profoundly difficult, we have great confidence in the two of you and your partners in the leadership of HUC-JIR, and trust that the Board of Governors will reach decisions in the best interests of the College-Institute as a whole.
We are writing not to stand up for a particular building or piece of property, but for a program of the College-Institute that has been formative in our rabbinates: the Rhea Hirsch School of Education – and in particular, to emphasize the sense of privilege and gratitude we feel as members of the cohort known in shorthand as “rabbinic/ed” students.
While we were each blessed with influential teachers at the various campuses we attended, our years in Los Angeles hold a special place in our hearts, and our time at the Rhea Hirsch School in particular. Without a doubt, that year had more impact on our actual work as rabbis than any other single year in our rabbinic education.
A rabbi is a teacher, and at the Rhea Hirsch School, we learned how to be teachers – in the classroom with students of all ages, and more importantly, in envisioning what Jewish education can and should be for the Reform Jewish community of today and tomorrow. Our internship experiences with the rich array of Jewish institutions and talented educators in the Los Angeles area helped us to integrate theory and practice, to hone our skills and broaden our horizons.
A rabbi is a leader, and at the Rhea Hirsch School, we learned to be leaders. The Rhea Hirsch School introduced us to the literature of organizational development and leadership theory in a way that was not possible anywhere else in the College-Institute. The exploration of that literature, and the self-reflection upon which our professors insisted, created an enduring foundation, discipline and practice for our role as leaders today.
Most of all, the Rhea Hirsch School and its faculty created an atmosphere of both personal caring and intellectual rigor that for us will always represent the College-Institute at its best. The Rhea Hirsch faculty pushed us hard to get past pat clichés of commitment and to articulate clear and well-reasoned positions, and they were there to support us as we struggled. The insistence on philosophical clarity was an occasional feature in the rabbinic program at the time (you could count on it from Rabbi Ellenson) – but it was a constant requirement in the Rhea Hirsch School. That emphasis on the most basic questions – “What are we trying to accomplish? Why is it important? What is the horizon towards which we strive? What is the Jewish integrity of what we seek to do? Are our actions consistent with our core beliefs?” – resonates with us still today. They are the questions that will continue to help us shape a vibrant future for our movement.
The RHSOE faculty nurtures a clinical faculty (of internship mentors) who consult regularly with the Director and with the students’ academic advisors to reflect upon the students’ progress and to partner in guiding growth. Thus, as an intern, more than merely “doing our jobs”, we were guided to grow as educators and rabbis through focused learning and reflective practice. Each partner in my growth process – academic advisor, school director, internship mentor – was trained extensively and repeatedly toward the goal of reflective practice.
The Rhea Hirsch ethos resonates in part because of the remarkable accessibility of the faculty to us throughout our careers. Isa Aron, Sara Lee and Michael Zeldin have been important guides to our communities and to us in countless ways. Much of what we have been able to accomplish as rabbis is due to the training and support we received not only as students, but as alumni of the Rhea Hirsch School. That ongoing counsel is an immeasurable gift.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. We hope that amidst all the options being considered, the Board of Governors will recognize the invaluable resource that the Rhea Hirsch School represents to educators, rabbis, and the future of the Reform movement.
With gratitude for your leadership,
Rabbi-Educator Graduates of the Rhea Hirsch School of Education
Paul Kipnes, Congregation Or Ami, Calabasas, CA
David Stern, Temple Emanuel, Dallas, TX
(partial list)
(Synagogues and organizations are listed for identification purposes only)
