Hebrew Union College Celebrates Founders’ Day 2025 in Cincinnati with Vision, Gratitude, and Resolve

On March 20, 2025, Hebrew Union College marked its annual Founders’ Day on the Cincinnati campus, honoring the dynamism of Reform Judaism as a movement of learning, leadership, and sacred service.

Held in the historic Scheuer Chapel, the program featured remarks by President Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., and a Founders’ Day address by Rabbi David Lyon ’90, President-Elect of the Central Conference of American Rabbis and Senior Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in Houston, Texas. Four dedicated alumni received honorary degrees in recognition of their 25 years of service to the Jewish People.

In his remarks, President Rehfeld reflected on the unique nature of the College’s mission, describing it as “translational education—translating the wisdom of science and scholarship for practical impact in our world. Translating the wisdom of our tradition to help individuals and communities use Torah as an avenue for meaning, purpose, and justice in our world.” He emphasized the multidimensional excellence required of today’s Jewish leaders—spiritual, intellectual, pastoral, and communal—and how Hebrew Union College nurtures student development across those intersecting fields.

The ceremony also honored four distinguished alumni celebrating 25 years of service to the Jewish people. Each was awarded the Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa:

• Rabbi Holly Levin Cohn ’00, Hospice Chaplain, The Legacy Senior Communities
• Rabbi Franklin DeWoskin ’00, Rabbi, Temple Beth Emet
• Rabbi Melinda Mersack ’00, Director, JHUB
• Rabbi Bruce Pfeffer ’00, Jewish Life Advisor, DePauw University

Rabbi Lyon’s Founders’ Day address, “Reform Judaism and Hebrew Union College: A Study in Movement,” offered a deeply personal and powerful reflection. “We are עברים, Hebrews, always on the move,” he said. “The future is honored today by those who are Doctors of Divinity, honoris causa, and in the ways that each of us and Hebrew Union College will continue to cross over, pass through, and thrive as a people—here in Cincinnati, across North America, in Eretz Yisrael, and everywhere Jews move.”

The ceremony also included remarks and blessings from Hebrew Union College faculty members Rabbi Richard Sarason, Ph.D., Rabbi Haim Rechnitzer, Ph.D., and Christine Neal Thomas, Ph.D., M.Div., whose benediction reflected the day’s deeper purpose: “May we go forward, inspired by the past, strengthened in the present, and committed to the future of a just, inclusive, and peaceful world.”

This Founders’ Day event affirmed that the leadership spirit of Hebrew Union College lives in the faculty who teach with vision, the students who bring deep commitment and their whole selves, and the alumni who carry boldly forward a proud progressive Jewish tradition of learning, justice, and community. From Cincinnati to Los Angeles, from New York to Jerusalem, their work ensures that the vision of our founding continues to move, evolve, and inspire.