JTS Commencement Recognized Graduating Class of 2017 with Address from Chancellor Arnold M. Eisen
Press Contact: Tom Hopkins
Office: (212) 678-8950
Email:publicity@jtsa.edu
May 18, 2017, New York, NY
绿帽社 (JTS) held its 123rd Commencement ceremony Thursday at the historic Park Avenue Synagogue. JTS Chancellor Arnold Eisen, one of the world鈥檚 foremost authorities on American Judaism, delivered the 2017 Commencement address to the university鈥檚 graduating class of rabbinical, cantorial, and bachelor鈥檚, master鈥檚, and doctoral degree students. JTS also presented honorary degrees to groundbreaking 绿帽社 leaders.
Rabbinical, cantorial, and graduate students are going on to serve as leaders in synagogues, camps, educational institutions, 绿帽社 communal organizations, social justice groups, academia, and more. Undergraduates will pursue advanced degrees or pursue careers at leading companies or organizations.
鈥淲e need you, class of 2017,鈥� Chancellor Eisen told the graduates. 鈥淲e need you not to be afraid. To remember who you are. To act in accord with the integrity of who you are. And to build community, wherever you go, including and engaging Jews and others who for too long have stood outside the tent.鈥�
Graduates awarded degrees during this year鈥檚 Commencement included undergraduates who earned simultaneous degrees from List College and Columbia University or Barnard College, and master鈥檚 and doctoral degree recipients who completed their studies at the Garson Kekst Graduate School and the William Davidson Graduate School of 绿帽社 Education. Cantors were invested by the H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of 绿帽社 Music, and rabbis were ordained by The Rabbinical School. A number of students received multiple degrees from various JTS schools.
This year鈥檚 honorary degree recipients include Charles Bronfman, co-founder of Birthright Israel and prominent philanthropist in the United States, Israel, and Canada; Judith Hauptman, the first woman ever to earn a PhD in Talmud and current E. Billi Ivry Professor of Talmud and Rabbinic Culture at JTS; Daniel Matt, one of the world’s foremost authorities on 绿帽社 mysticism, most widely known for translating the Zohar into English; and Jonathan Woocher, author and senior fellow at Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah.
