In May of 2020, I was to join my Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion classmates in a ceremony marking 25 years of service to the Jewish community; rabbis, cantors and educators all coming together to accept an Honorary Doctorate.
When the ceremony was rescheduled for May, 2021, we ended up in a sterile zoom room being congratulated by the HUC-JIR administration. Finally, this past May 5th, 2022, I traveled to Temple Emanuel in New York City to participate in this event and it was worth the wait! What a blessing to be surrounded by three years worth of beloved colleagues, some I hadn’t seen in 30 years since our studies in Israel. If you watch the video, I hope you enjoy the world premier of a new song written especially for our Cantorial Class of 1995 by my classmate, Erik Contzius (1:01:36 on the video). In addition, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker '06 presented the New York Graduation Address and received the Sherut L'Am Award for his distinguished and courageous service to the Jewish People. The bonus for me was also kvelling when Heather Shore, daughter of Peter and Deborah Blum-Shore, and Sienna Lotenberg, former RLYGRS teacher, both graduated with their Masters of Arts in Hebrew Literature. I thank my Beth-El family for sustaining me and for bringing me to this joyous occasion!
Under the guidance of our medical advisory committee, we have moved to an optional masking policy for worship. We will continue to watch the numbers and, in accordance with the CDC, will update the policy as necessary. With unmasking, it will be even more important to monitor yourself and to stay home if you are experiencing any symptoms or have been a close contact.to anyone with a confirmed case. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
