KESHER We Take Pride in... Professor David H. Aaron's book Biblical Ambiguities: Metaphor, Semantics and Biblical Divine Imagery was published by E.J. Brill (Netherlands) in the fall; his articles "Judaism's Holy Language," edited by Jacob Neusner, was published in Approaches to Ancient Judaism, volume 16, by Scholars Press (1999), and "Hebrew Language as Doctrine" edited by Alan Avery-Peck, et al., was published in the Blackwell Companion to Judaism, by Blackwell Press (2000).  Dr. Ira A. Abrahamson received the year 2000 Walter Emmerling Award from the Rotary Club of Cincinnati. Dr. Rachel Adler was awarded the 2000 Tuttleman Foundation Book Award by Gratz College for her nationally acclaimed book, Engendering Judaism: A New Theology and Ethics. Faculty in HUC-JIR's Doctor of Ministry Program, including Gary Ahlskog, S.T.M., Ph.D. (Senior Editor), Ann Akers, M.Div., Vivienne Joyce, S.C., C.S.W., and Alida Margolin, C.S.W., and alumna Rabbi Zahara Davidowitz-Farkas (NY '88) have contributed to a new textbook, entitled The Guide to Pastoral Counseling and Care (Psychosocial Press). Rabbi Ruth Alpers has been selected as the Chair of the CCAR Rabbinic Wellness Committee. Dr. Isa Aron, Dr. David Kaufman, and Professor Sara Lee participated in the STAR (Synagogue Transformation and Renewal) Summit in Chicago in September. The STAR project was created to stimulate and promote comprehensive synagogue transformation and renewal across the denominational spectrum. Dr. Carol Balin's book, To Reveal Our Hearts: Jewish Women Writers in Tsarist Russia, was published by HUC Press in November. Dr. Avraham Biran delivered the keynote address, "Jesus Research and Archaeological Discoveries," at the opening of the Princeton Theological Seminary Symposium. Biran addressed the Centennial of the American Schools of Oriental Research, and spoke to HUC-JIR students in Jerusalem on the "British Mandate and the Declaration of the State of Israel." He chaired the Committee for the Municipality of Jerusalem in selecting a candidate for the Jerusalem Archaeology Prize, and was chairman at the annual conference of the Israel Exploration Society. William Blumstein was honored at the Westchester Jewish Conference in June as a congregational leader of Westchester Reform Temple. Dr. Eugene B. Borowitz gave five lectures at the Chautauqua Institution this summer to hundreds of people, many of whom were Christian clergy or church leaders. His response was published in Reviewing the Covenant: The Postmodern Renewal of Jewish Theology. Laura Bramson was honored at Temple Israel of Hollywood, CA, where she is the religious school principal. Rabbi Herbert Bronstein received one of two of the year 2000 Distinguished Alumni Awards of the University of Cincinnati's College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Michael Chernick published "Turn it and Turn it Again: Culture and Talmud Interpretation" in Exemplaria (Pegasus Press, the University of North Carolina). He organized a session at AJS to respond to Moshe Halbertal's work called "Mahapekhot Parshaniot be-Hithavutan."  Dr. Rodney Cloud was honored by Lipscomb University, which named its Beginning Hebrew Award the "Rodney Cloud Hebrew Award." Dr. Martin Cohen's book, The Canonization of a Myth: Portugal's "Jewish Problem" and the Assembly of Tomar (1629) was published. He hosted a visit to the College-Institute of 30 educators from Dusseldorf, Germany and presented a lecture on "The Religious Meaning of Yom Kippur for the Secularized Liberal Jew" at the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue in New York. Dr. Norman Cohen's book, The Way into Torah, the first of a 14-part adult education series, was published by Jewish Lights Publishing. Dr. William Cutter received a study grant from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture to work and study in Israel on his project, "A Berlin Paradox: Micah Yosef Berdyczewski and the New Jewish Cultural Formulations." Joanne Doades led a session at the CAJE Conference in August at Hofstra University on "Will There be Room in Heaven for My Toys? Talking to Kids about Life's Tough Questions." Dr. Reuven Firestone was the guest editor of an edition of the CCAR journal about Judaism and Islam.  Dr. Nili Fox's book, In the Service of the King: Officialdom in Ancient Israel and Judah, a comprehensive exploration of the titles conferred on ancient officials and functionaries serving in the royal courts, was published by HUC Press. Dr. Edward Goldman was honored as an outstanding teacher by the Greater Cincinnati Consortium of Colleges and Universities at the 13th annual "Celebration of Teaching."  Cantor Israel Goldstein was Scholar-in-Residence at the Southwest Mid-Winter Regional Conference of the American Conference of Cantors. Rabbi Bruce L. Gottlieb received a Master of Social Work degree in May from Loyola University in Chicago and received the 1999/2000 President's Medallion - the University's highest student award - for the School of Social Work. Dr. Alfred Gottschalk and Allon Gal edited the book Beyond Survival and Philanthropy: American Jewry and Israel, published by HUC Press. Dr. Lisa Grant is finalizing a curriculum guide for a two-year course for adult bat mitzvah that will be published by the Women's League for Conservative Judaism and the Melton Center for Research in Jewish Education. She presented a paper, "Traveling to the Other to Learn about the Self: The Experiences of TALI School Educators on a United States Study Tour" (co-written by Rabbi Naamah Kelman and Hannah Regev) at the Israeli Association for Research in Jewish Education at Bar Ilan University in December. Rabbi Joseph Gutmann was a consultant to the exhibition For Every Thing a Season: Jewish Ritual Art in Cleveland, for which he organized an international symposium on Jewish ceremonial art at Cleveland State University and delivered a paper entitled "'With this ring I thee wed': Unusual Jewish Wedding Rings." Rabbi Leslie Y. Gutterman was the commencement speaker at the graduate school of Johnson & Wales University, where he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Robert M. Heller was elected a Vice-Chair of the UAHC. Cantor Regina Heit was appointed to teach Biblical Hebrew at the University of Colorado. Dr. Lawrence A. Hofffman's book, The Way Into Jewish Prayer, was published by Jewish Lights Publishing. He lectured on "Rabbinizing the Psalms: Liturgy as a Pseudo-Biblical Canon" at Yale University's "Up with a Shout" conference in January. Rabbi Ben Hollander served as weekend Scholar-in-Residence for Yom Yerushalayim Shabbat at Temple Beth Tikvah in Wayne, NJ, and taught a community Torah-study program in Berkeley, CA. Dr. Stephen Kaufman placed third in the World Championship of Poker in Las Vegas in May, which was featured in a Discovery Channel special in October. Rabbi Na'amah Kelman spoke on "From Alienation to Renaissance: New Jewish Expressions in Israel" at a New Generations of the New Israel Fund event in September. Cantors Evan Kent, Sam Radwine, Linda Ecker, and Chuck Feldman chaired the Los Angeles ACC-GTM convention.  Rabbi Leon Klenicki received the annual Catholic-Jewish Relations Council Partnership Award. He co-edited A New Millennium: From Dialogue to Reconciliation, Christian and Jewish Reflections with Dr. Eugene J. Fisher (2000).  Dr. Mark Kligman edited the 2,500 entries on terms related to music and worship in North American traditions in the book Worship Music: A Concise Dictionary, published by the Liturgical Press of America and edited by Ed Foley. Cantors Israel Goldstein, Benjie Ellen Schiller, Daniel Rosenfeld, Steven Weiss, Ilene Keys, Andrew Bernard, Sheila Case, and David Lefkowitz contributed to the Jewish terms. Dr. Kligman lectured on "Chanting Psalms Today: The Zemirot in Syrian Sabbath Prayers" at Yale University's "Up with a Shout" conference in January. Rabbi Lawrence Kushner gave five lectures on "The Jewish Mystical Imagination" to a consortium of Reform and Conservative synagogues in White Plains, NY and is completing a book with playwright David Mamet on how to read the Torah. Dr. Adriane Leveen offered commentary at USC's Institute for the Study of Jews in American Life Annual Jerome Nemer Lecture in November. Rabbi Joseph A. Levine, D.S.M.'s book, Rise and Be Seated: The Ups and Downs of Jewish Worship will soon be published by Jason Aronson, Inc. Laurie Lieberman was named a Hall of Fame Honoree for the Jewish Community Centers 2000. Rabbi Bernard Mehlman's article, "A Literary Examination of Ma'aseh Avraham Avinu 'Alav Hashalom, appeared in The Annual of Rabbinic Judaism, (E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1999); his essay, "Perspectives on Current Controversies in the Reform Movement," will be published by Routledge (Dana Evan Kaplan, editor). Cantor Sheldon F. Merel was honored by his congregation with the establishment of the Cantor Sheldon F. Merel Cantorial Scholarship Fund at the School of Sacred Music. An exhibition of treasures of Elaine and Melvin Merians' art collection, entitled The School of London and Their Friends, presented through January at the Yale Center for British Art, is on view at the Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase, NY. Dr. Michael Meyer will receive the degree of Doctor of Hebrew Letters, honoris causa from the Jewish Theological Seminary in May. He served as the Aby Warburg Guest Professor at the Aby Warburg Foundation in Hamburg, Germany in July and August, and was a Visiting Professor at Hebrew University and HUC-JIR/Jerusalem last fall. Claire Glass Miller received the Prism Award 2000 for achievement from Central Synagogue's Women's Focus Group. Dr. Philip E. Miller served as a member of the Scholars Committee of Yeshiva University Museum's inaugural exhibition, Major Intersections, at the Center for Jewish History. His article "Shukr Kuhayl in Galicia: An Anti-Hasidic Ruse?" appeared in Judaeo-Yemenite Studies (Proceedings of the Second International Congress), (Princeton, NJ and Haifa, 1999). Deborah Mohile, former President Clinton's Liaison to the Jewish Community, served as Mrs. Gore's Convention Director.  Nachama Skolnik Moskowitz was the Alumni Educator-in-Residence for the Rhea Hirsch School of Education. Rabbi Steven Moss led a workshop at the annual conference of the New York State Coalition for the Aging, "Spirituality and Aging." He received an Advanced Certificate in Gerontology from Long Island University, Southampton Campus. Dr. Carol Och's book, Our Lives as Torah: Finding God in Our Own Stories, a collection of personal stories showing how people can recognize God at work in their lives, will be published in February by Jossey-Bass. Daniel F. Polish's book, Bringing the Psalms to Life: How to Understand and Use the Book of Psalms, was published by Jewish Lights Publishing. Lisa Rosenberg delivered a paper, "Is Shulamite the Harlot of Proverbs 7?" at the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature meeting in St. Paul, MN. Jean Bloch Rosensaft lectured at the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre, and co-chaired the Collections Management Policy Subcommittee at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. Joyce Rosenzweig performed concerts in Boston, Charlotte, Nashville, Great Barrington, MA (with clarinetist David Krakauer), Houston (with the Houston Chamber Choir, and with Cantor Naftali Herstik of the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem), New York (at the Museum of Jewish Heritage with the concertmaster of the Prague Chamber Orchestra, and at the Center for Jewish History), and in Israel at HUC-JIR and Beit Daniel in Tel Aviv (with Cantors Israel Goldstein, Eliahu Schleifer, Mikhal Shiff-Matter, and Chaim Feifel). She conducted the "Performance of Christian and Jewish Psalmody" by SSM and Yale students at Yale University's "Up with a Shout" conference in January. Rabbi Marc Saperstein wrote a new introduction and compiled updated bibliographies for Jacob Rader Marcus, the Jew in the Medieval World: A Source Book 315-1791 (HUC Press). Amy Sapowith, delivered a paper, "Coercion and Conversion: A Case for Queer Desire in the Song of Songs" at the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature meeting in St. Paul, MN. Dr. Richard Sarason narrated the three part arrangement of King David by Arthur Honegger, sung by The Vocal Arts Ensemble of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music Chamber Players in May. Cantor Benjie Schiller recorded a CD of many of her compositions of sacred music, including "May You Live to See Your World Fulfilled," "Go Out in Joy," "Lamdeini," and "Grace," with the help and support of Merrill Hassenfeld and Paula Brody. L. Dennis Shapiro was elected a Fellow of the Explorers Club. Evely Laser Shlensky was honored by the National Jewish Fast for Peace and Justice in Washington, D.C. Cantor Michael Shochet and Rabbi Amy Schwartzman co-authored an article which was published in the CCAR Journal. Corey Slavin has been appointed to the Board of Directors for the Leo J. Ryan Education Foundation, which educates the public about destructive cults. Rabbi Henry I. Sobel, Senior Rabbi of the Congregacao Israelita Paulista, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, has served his congregation and community for 30 years. Dr. David Sperling gave a paper at Hebrew University on Moses' superiority to the "ordinary" Prophet (Numbers 12). Dr. Ezra Spicehandler was invited by The Rockefeller Foundation's Study and Conference Center in Bellagio, Italy, for a collaborative one-month residency with Professor David Patterson to work on a translation of three novellas and a short story by Joseph Hayyim Brenner.  Marcia Cohn Spiegel's story, "No More Family Secrets" appears in Jewish Mothers Tell Their Stories: Tales of Love and Courage (Haworth Press). Her 60th birthday celebration was featured in Timbrels and Torahs: Celebrating Women's Wisdom, a documentary presenting a new ritual for aging, Simchat Hochmah. Rabbi Richard Steinberg received the annual Harris K. and Alice Weston "Avodah" Award, from the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. Rabbi Malcolm Stern, z"l, is the only Jew to have been elected to the Hall of Fame of the National Genealogical Society. Jerry Tanenbaum was honored by the World Union for Progressive Judaism for his lifelong dedication to the Jewish people at the International Humanitarian Awards Dinner in New York, where Rabbi Richard Jacobs and Jane Evans were also honored. Dr. Yaffa Weisman's article "Women as Cultural Constructs in Modern Drama" was published in On Interpretation in the Arts, Interdisciplinary Studies in Honor of Moshe Lazar, edited by Nurit Yaari (Tel Aviv University, 2000). Rabbi Margaret Wenig spoke on "Shabbat Mincha with D'var Torah" at Yale University's "Up with a Shout" conference in January. Dr. Nancy Wiener was the Jewish faculty person at an interfaith research and writing colloquium, "The Coolidge Colloquium," sponsored by the Association for Religion and Intellectual Life. Her commentary on Vayakhel, entitled "Of Women and Mirrors," appears in the recently released book, The Women's Torah Commentary, published by Jewish Lights Publishing. Her article, "Counseling Same-Sex Couples as They Sanctify Their Love," appeared in New Menorah Journal (Spring 2000).  Dolores Wilkenfeld received the "Tikkun Olam" Award from Women's American ORT.  Dr. Steven Windmueller and Marla Abraham's "Principles of Jewish Communal Life for the New Millennium," was published in the Journal of Jewish Communal Service. Dr. Windmueller participated in the Interfaith Environmental Summit organized by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and co-sponsored by the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life of Southern California. Dr. Windmueller, Marla Eglash Abraham, and Dr. Bruce Phillips led a seminar entitled "Preparing Jewish Leadership for the 21st Century" in December for the Board of Directors of Synagogues and Organizations in the Eastern Region of Los Angeles, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of the Eastern Region.  Cantor Josee Wolf was appointed the head of the Commission on Synagogue Music for the UAHC. Rabbi Michael Zedek was welcomed as the new CEO of the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati. Moshe Zemer was awarded the first citation of "Builder of the Movement" by the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism at its national conference. HUC-JIR Ordination in Cincinnati featured four alumni who are former presidents of Aleph Zadik Aleph, the boys' division of the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization: Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman, Rabbi Lewis Kamrass, Rabbi Richard Steinberg, and Rabbi Daniel Moskovitz, who was ordained in June at the Plum Street Temple, led by Rabbis Kamrass and Steinberg!