HUC/Los Angeles Celebrates Graduation and Ordination 2022

Students, faculty, administration, alumni, Board members, and community leaders joined together to celebrate the 2022 Graduation and Ordination Ceremonies of HUC-JIR in Los Angeles. Ordination was held at Stephen Wise Temple in Los Angeles on Sunday, May 15. Graduation was held at HUC-JIR's Jack H. Skirball Campus in Los Angeles on Monday, May 16. Rabbi Laura Geller '76 of Temple Emanuel of Beverly Hills presented the Ordination Address. Stephen D. Smith, Ph.D., Executive Director Emeritus, USC Shoah Foundation, and USC Visiting Professor of Religion, presented the Graduation Address. These ceremonies were among the series of events in New York, Los Angeles, and Cincinnati, during which 138 degrees and certificates will be bestowed. Read more about the Class of 2022here. Read the event programhere.

Watch Los Angeles Ordination 2022 below:

Watch Los Angeles Graduation 2022 below:

The following students were ordained as rabbis:

Scott Ethan Goldberg
Michael Franklin Lewis
Elana Sara Rabishaw
Rachel Ann Rothstein
Brett Charles Weisman
Mira S. Weller
Sofia Louisa Zway

The following students received graduate degrees:

MASTER OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Rachel Jean Altfeld
Julia W. Berg
Elana Aura Ackerman Hirsch
Shirah Coran Kraus
Malcolm J. McElheney
Eliana Shira Linsky Rubin
Liana Marie Wertman

MASTER OF ARTS IN JEWISH LEARNING
Malcolm J. McElheney

MASTER OF ARTS IN JEWISH EDUCATION
Sarah Alicia Moody

MASTER OF ARTS IN TEACHING
Emily Regina Baumgarten
Sara Faye Goldrath
Polly Ann Holzman
Laura Brooke Hussey
Samantha Esther Parker
Sarit Peisach
Charlene Rachel Niku
Noah Ariel Scheindlin
Shiri Surkin

MASTER OF ARTS IN JEWISH NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT
Carrie Rose Bohn
Miriam E. Hoffman
Emily Anabeth Hoolihan
Shir Horovitz
Jessica Micole Jacobs
Mikhail Kemerau
Adrián Asallas Lederman
Chayva Lindsay Lehrman
Zachary Isaac Lempert
Lily Brielle Mandell
Kal Adam Marcus
Malcolm J. McElheney
Justin Joseph Nemanpour
Alexander P. Rubin
Alyssa Jennifer Silva
Hannah Rose Sullivan
Tamara Ariana Zishuk

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN ORGANIZATIONAL LEADERSHIP AND INNOVATION
Samara Leader
Andrew Max
Shani Mink
Mark Pattis
Suzy Sostrin
Jasmine Tarkoff

MASTER OF ARTS IN HEBREW LETTERS
Max G. Antman
Taylor Shannon Baruchel
Hannah Claire Bender
Aria Adele Caligiuri
Jade Abronson Carter
Rebecca Frances Chess
Timothy Welles Gaylord
Shirah Coran Kraus
Jerry Nathan Kudan
Franklyn Henry Salzman
Samantha Rose Thal

LOUCHHEIM SCHOOL FOR JUDAIC STUDIES
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN JEWISH STUDIES AT UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Shelby Rebecca Chickman
Alejandro Herrera
Sione Ngalupepeloa Tautalatasi Kefu
Xinyu (Ciao) Zhao

The following alumni received honorary degrees:

DOCTOR OF JEWISH RELIGIOUS EDUCATION, HONORIS CAUSA
Aviva Levin
Rachel Stern
Julie Lebenson Lambert
Bryan Conyer

DOCTOR OF MUSIC, HONORIS CAUSA
Kenneth A. Jaffe
Melissa Adleman

DOCTOR OF JEWISH NONPROFIT MANAGEMENT, HONORIS CAUSA
Aaron Levinson
Andi Milens
Ruth Ellen Cislowski
Laurence A. Nathan
Judy Berkeley
Julie Lynn Harris
Michelle Landau Brooks
Mandi Richardson

DOCTOR OF DIVINITY, HONORIS CAUSA
Camille Shira Angel
Kenneth Milhander
Andrew Paley
Richard Steinberg
Richard Winer
Scott Alan Meltzer
Michelle Paree Missaghieh
Jonathan Klein
Leon A. Morris
Nancy Rita Myers
Janet Irene Offel
Theodore Hirsch Riter
Howard Jacoby Ruben
Rick Schechter
Zachary Rootberg Shapiro
Stacia Deutsch
Daveen Litwin

Stephen D. Smith, Ph.D., Executive Director Emeritus, USC Shoah Foundation, and USC Visiting Professor of Religion, presented the Graduation address. He shared, "[H]ere you are at a fork in the road. Just like the one that brought you here to HUC, for sure you are going to take it. As our distinguished alumni being honored with doctorates here today will attest, you will follow your path until the next fork, and the next, and the one after that. Sometimes, you get to choose your own adventure, other times life will intervene in good ways, and sometimes bad. The very fact you are graduating from HUC (or did so eons ago, honorees), means you have already made a life decision about what is important to you. You have chosen a path that prepares you to be upholders of community, practitioners of faith, teachers of the next generation, managers of meaningful organizations, and thoughtful leaders. You make tikkun olam real, everyday, and boy does our world need that. You chose that, otherwise you would not be here. But for all the learning there is no diploma for "how to make a good decision about the next agonizing fork in the road." That's just life, and it's right ahead, everyday, until the day you die." Read Dr. Smith's full speech here.

Rabbi Laura Geller presented the HUC/Los Angeles Ordination address. She stated, "[This] is a moment for you to reflect on your journey so far and to imagine the path that is unfolding before you. And for all of us, it is a moment to reflect on the 50th anniversary of the ordination of the first woman to be ordained at a rabbinical seminary, Rabbi Sally Priesand '72. So much has changed over these 50 years. More than 1,500 women have been ordained across the Jewish world. Women-identified rabbis have been an important part of the transformation of Judaism, supported by the scholarship, leadership and vision that has brought the insights of feminism and women identified voices from the margins into the center of the Jewish story. Every dimension of Judaism is different - theology, liturgy, ritual, leadership, even synagogue architecture. Judaism has become more inclusive, more welcoming, more meaningful. Men as well as women and non-binary Jews have benefited from these changes. This is a moment of real celebration…Yes, we have come a long way and yet, at the same time, we need to remember that while it only took our ancestors 40 years to get to the promised land, we still have a long way to go." Read Rabbi Geller's full speech here.

HUC-JIR's mission is to prepare rabbis, cantors, educators, nonprofit leaders, scholars and pastoral caregivers to serve the Reform Movement, the Jewish people, and humankind. Through rigorous academic and professional study and mentored professional experiences, they gain the knowledge and skills to teach, lead worship, provide pastoral care, advocate for social justice, promote mutual responsibility among North American Jews and Israel, and serve effectively as visionary community leaders.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.