HUC-JIR will bestow 138 degrees at Graduation and Ordination Ceremonies in Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and New York on the Class of 2013's cadre of new Jewish professional leaders for the Reform Movement. Distinguished communal and civic leaders and alumni will be awarded with honorary degrees and prizes in recognition of their service to Reform congregations and North American Jewry, and in honor of their humanitarian work. Rabbi David Ellenson, HUC-JIR President, stated, “The Class of 2013 emerges from the College-Institute imbued with leadership skills, steeped in knowledge, strengthened by a commitment to service, and dedicated to bringing hope and healing to our troubled world. As they touch the lives of others through their sacred work as rabbis, cantors, educators, nonprofit management professionals, scholars, and pastoral care-givers throughout North America and around the world, they will be a source of inspiration and guidance.”

To cultivate creativity and knowledge-sharing surrounding the effective use of educational technology in Jewish higher education, HUC-JIR, JTS, and YU have launched an inter-institutional eLearning Faculty Fellowship. On May 7th, the twenty faculty members of Cohort 1 participated in the first of five live sessions to learn strategies, tools, and approaches for using educational technologies to improve student engagement and learning. HUC-JIR’s participants in Cohort 1 of the eLearning Faculty Fellowship include Kristine Garroway, Ph.D., Visiting Professor of Bible; Lisa Grant, Ph.D., Professor of Jewish Education; Rabbi Shirley Idelson, Dean, HUC-JIR New York; Rabbi Haim Rechnitzer, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Modern Jewish Thought; Evie Rotstein, Ed.D., Director of the New York School of Education; Richard Siegel, Director, School of Jewish Non-Profit Management; and Rabbi Nancy Weiner, D.Min., Clinical Director of the Jacob and Hilda Blaustein Center for Pastoral Counseling.

Join us for a breakfast briefing with Ambassador Dennis Ross on “Israel, Iran and the Middle East: The Challenge Ahead” on June 13. Ambassador Dennis Ross is Counselor at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He has played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process and dealing directly with the parties in negotiations in both the George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. Proceeds from this benefit event will support student needs and innovative programs at HUC-JIR. For further information, please call 212-824-2285.

A revolutionary Haggadah for the 21st century, The Bronfman Haggadah is a provocative and stunningly visual reinterpretation of the Passover story. A collaboration between world-renowned philanthropist and Jewish leader Edgar M. Bronfman and acclaimed artist Jan Aronson, it tells of the Exodus, the Jews' dramatic journey from slavery to freedom, in a way that will captivate generations to come. The exhibition is on view through May 30, 2013.

Photographic Visions of the Diaspora, on view through May 31, 2013 at the Jack H. Skirball Campus in Los Angeles, features the work of the late Sy Edelstein, who spent years photographing Jewish shopkeepers from New York to Los Angeles. His work in the 1980s and 1990s captures a once vibrant but rapidly fading world of small businesses that, as Edelstein said, “are a part of our lives, and whose presence we take for granted.” The exhibition is organized by Anne Hromadka, Guest Curator of the Art Collection and Exhibitions.

The Sexuality Spectrum, on view through June 28, 2013 at the HUC-JIR Museum in New York, offers a groundbreaking exploration of sexual orientation through the creativity of over fifty international contemporary artists. This exhibition explores a broad range of subjects, including the evolving social and religious attitudes toward sexuality; issues of alienation, marginalization, and inclusion; the impact on the family, child-rearing, and life stages; violence and persecution; AIDS/HIV; and the influence of the LGBTQI community on the Jewish and larger world.