Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Graduation, Ordination, and Investiture Advisory
New York, NY

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is proud to announce the ordination, investiture, graduate, and honorary degree recipients of the Class of 2002. HUC-JIR, the nation's oldest institution of higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual, and professional development center of Reform Judaism, trains men and women for service to American and world Jewry as rabbis, cantors, educators, and communal service professionals and offers graduate and post-graduate degree programs for scholars of all faiths.

The graduating class consists of a diverse and unique student body, including a documentary film maker, a former tour guide in Israel, a former environmental lawyer, a ceramics artist and founder of a congregation in St. Paul, Minnesota, and students who run the HUC-JIR soup kitchen, which feeds 200 homeless people every Monday night.

The ceremonies will reach across movement lines within Judaism and across denominations when presenting honorary degrees and the annual Roger E. Joseph Prize. HUC-JIR will award honorary degrees to the Chancellors of the Conservative Movement's Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, and Orthodox Judaism's Bar-Ilan University in Israel, Rabbi Emanuel Rackman, as well as the President Emeritus of the United Jewish Communities, Stephen Solender, and the Founding Director of the Brookdale Center of Gerontology of the Brookdale Center on Aging of Hunter College, Dr. Rose Dobrof. The Roger E. Joseph Prize will be awarded to Father Mychal Judge posthumously and The City of New York Fire Department.

GRADUATION - MAY 9, 2002

Rabbinical School
Seventeen students (10 men, 7 women) will receive the Master of Arts in Hebrew Literature, leading to rabbinical ordination.

School of Sacred Music
The nine students (1 man, 8 women) who will be invested as cantors on May 12 will also receive the Master of Sacred Music degree at Graduation on May 9.

Graduate Studies
Four students will receive the Doctor of Ministry degree; and one student will receive the Master of Arts in Judaic Studies degree.

New York School of Education
Four students will receive the Master of Arts in Religious Education degree.

The College-Institute will bestow honorary degrees upon the following recipients:

Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa

• Dr. Rose Dobrof, Founding Director, Brookdale Center of Gerontology, Brookdale Center on Aging of Hunter College
• Rabbi Emanuel Rackman, Ph.D., Chancellor, Bar-Ilan University
• Rabbi Ismar Schorsch, Ph.D., Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary of America
• Stephen Solender, President Emeritus, United Jewish Communities

Graduation Address
Dr. Ismar Schorsch, Chancellor, Jewish Theological Seminary

ORDINATION AND INVESTITURE – MAY 12, 2002

Rabbinical School
The Rabbinical School will ordain twelve rabbis (2 men, 10 women) in New York. In addition, eleven rabbis (7 men, 4 women) will be ordained in Cincinnati on June 1, and eight rabbis (3 men, 5 women) will be ordained in Los Angeles on May 5.

School of Sacred Music
The School of Sacred Music will invest nine cantors (1 man and 8 women).

2002 Roger E. Joseph Prize
Father Mychal Judge, posthumously, and The City of New York Fire Department
Judge, a Franciscan priest and New York Fire Department chaplain, died ministering to New York fire fighters on September 11th. He will be remembered for his courage in carrying out his Manhattan ministry in a manner unprecedented in its breadth and diversity. An active supporter of gay and AIDS organizations, who also worked with recovering addicts and advocated for those in need, he devoted his life to social justice.

The Roger E. Joseph Prize, HUC-JIR's highest award, is an international award presented annually to an individual or organization which, by virtue of religious and moral commitment, has made a distinctive contribution to humanity.

Ordination and Investiture Address
Rabbi David Ellenson, President, Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion