Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion
Graduation and Ordination Advisory
Cincinnati, OH

Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is proud to announce the ordination, graduate degree, and honorary degree recipients of the Class of 2003. 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.

GRADUATION - MAY 29, 2003

Rabbinical School
Seventeen students will receive the degree of Master of Arts in Hebrew Letters leading to rabbinical ordination. Four of the students who will be ordained on May 31 will also receive the Master of Education in Educational Administration from Xavier University through the HUC-Xavier Joint Program.

The School of Graduate Studies
Three students will receive the degree of Ph.D. Five students will receive the degree of Master of Philosophy. One student will receive the degree of Master of Arts.

The College-Institute will bestow honorary degrees upon the following recipients:
Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa
Dr. Geoffrey H. Hartman, Sterling Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature, Yale University
Dr. Baruch A. Levine, Skirball Professor Emeritus of Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies, New York University
Dr. Colette Sirat, Professor of Hebrew and Hebraic Texts, Sorbonne, and Director of the Hebraic Department, Institut de Recherche et d’Histoire des Textes

2003 Dr. Bernard Heller Prize
Edgar M. Bronfman
The hallmark of Edgar M. Bronfman’s life is his abiding concern for the safety and wellbeing of the Jewish people and Jewish communities worldwide. He demonstrates his commitment to human rights as President of the World Jewish Congress and helps ensure Jewish continuity through his philanthropic generosity to Jewish education. His landmark efforts in establishing justice and restitution to Holocaust survivors is testimony to his dedicated leadership; it is the fulfillment of the Biblical admonition, “Justice, justice, shall you pursue.”

The Dr. Bernard Heller Prize is an international award presented annually to an individual or organization whose, work, writings, or research reflects the values and commitment to the betterment of humanity.

Graduation Address
Dr. C. Hassell Bullock (C ’70), Professor of Old Testament and the Franklin S. Dyrness Professor of Biblical Studies at Wheaton College

ORDINATION - MAY 31, 2003

Rabbinical School
The Rabbinical School will ordain 19 rabbis (12 men, 7 women) in Cincinnati. In addition, 24 rabbis (12 men, 12 women) will be ordained in New York on May 4 and 13 rabbis (4 men, 9 women) will be ordained in Los Angeles on May 25.

Ordination Address
Rabbi Uri Regev, Executive Director of the World Union for Progressive Judaism