Hebrew Union College Celebrates the Class of 2025/5785 and the Future of Jewish Leadership
June 9, 2025
CELEBRATING A NEW GENERATION OF JEWISH LEADERS
In ceremonies filled with music, meaning, and purpose, Hebrew Union College honored rabbis, cantors, and graduates who are poised to lead.
This year’s graduation and ordination ceremonies in New York, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and Jerusalem marked the culmination of years of academic, spiritual, and professional preparation. In sanctuaries filled with music, joy, and deep purpose, Hebrew Union College honored our newest rabbis, cantors, and scholars – as well as 25-year honorees and honorary degree recipients – as leaders prepared to guide the Jewish community with wisdom, compassion, and a commitment to justice. These milestone moments reflect the College’s mission to shape a vibrant and inclusive Jewish future grounded in tradition and dedicated to progress.
Graduation
Grounded in text and tradition, and inspired by the promise of tomorrow, Hebrew Union College’s graduation ceremonies this year celebrated the transformative journey of study, service, and spiritual growth.
“When we embrace Jewish life and peoplehood, we do so not only for its own sake, but instrumentally: through the power of identity, community, and shared history,” said President Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D.
Read more about New York Graduation
In his welcome, Rabbi Joshua Garroway Ph.D., Dean of the Los Angeles Campus, noted, “Today we celebrate students whose learning has prepared them to step up and take on the challenges of the world.”
Read more about Los Angeles Graduation
“What makes our intellectual life so rich is that we can see and debate multiple worlds at once in the same source,” said Judah M. Cohen, Ph.D., Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Provost, in his graduation address, “… then to apply them to the world we want, the world we have, and the world we seek.”
Read More about Cincinnati Graduation
Ordination
Through word and song, in congregations, communities, and emerging spaces they will help create, our newest clergy are prepared to lead with purpose and vision.
“Your unique and collective gifts will help guide us through this unprecedented time and ensure a thriving Jewish future,” said Rabbi Lisa D. Grant ’87, Ph.D., Eleanor Sinsheimer Distinguished Service Professor in Jewish Education and past director of the New York Rabbinical Program, in her ordination address.
Read More about New York Ordination
“The training you have received from our world-class faculty at Hebrew Union College has provided you with the basic tools to be our spiritual and moral leaders,” said Steven Pruzan, Chair of the Academic & Faculty Committee.
Read More about Los Angeles Ordination
“We know where we came from, and we know how we got here. We stood for something. That all people should be equal – with equal involvement in religious life,” Ordination Speaker Rabbi Liz PG Hirsch ’15 told ordinees.
Read More about Cincinnati Ordination
In November, Hebrew Union College demonstrated the vitality of the Reform Movement in Israel with the ordination of seven new Israeli rabbis.
Read more about our Ordination in Israel
Ceremony Highlights
