JTS Convocation Honors Rabbis for Over 25 Years of Dedicated Service
Press Contact: Tom Hopkins
Office: (212) 678-8950
Email: publicity@jtsa.edu
March 3, 2017, New York, NY
Honorary doctorates were awarded to 55 rabbis—all members of the Rabbinical Assembly (RA) who have served the Jewish community with distinction for 25 years or more—by The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) at a convocation on Thursday, March 2. Through the degrees conferred, JTS celebrated the achievements of important spiritual leaders and expressed appreciation for their manifold contributions to Jewish life.
The ceremony took place at Sutton Place Synagogue in New York City, with Alan Levine, Esq., chair of the JTS Board of Trustees, presiding. Professor Arnold M. Eisen, chancellor of JTS, conferred the degrees and delivered the convocation address. Rabbi Daniel S. Nevins, dean of the Division of Religious Leadership and Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School, sponsored the honorees. Rabbi Rachel Ain of Sutton Place Synagogue welcomed the assembled, and Rabbi Debra Newman Kamin, Vice President of the Rabbinical Assembly, delivered greetings on behalf of the RA. Honoree Rabbi Naomi Levy, the spiritual leader of Nashuva: a community of prayer in action in Los Angeles, gave remarks on behalf of those being honored. The rabbis receiving this distinction included congregational rabbis, Jewish communal professionals, educators, and chaplains from across the United States and Canada as well as from Israel and Switzerland.
The 2017 honorees (Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa) are:
Rabbi David Louis Abramson
Rabbi Daniel P. Alder
Rabbi Dov Yarden Bard
Rabbi David S. Barnett
Rabbi Barry Richard Baron
Rabbi Shmuel Birnham
Rabbi Carolyn Braun
Rabbi Marcelo Raul Bronstein
Rabbi Ronnie David Zishe Cahana
Rabbi Debra Sue Cantor
Rabbi Steven Lane Conn
Rabbi Stephanie Ann Dickstein
Rabbi David H. Ebstein
Rabbi Joshua S. Finkelstein
Rabbi Lori Forman-Jacobi
Rabbi Gabriel Isaias Frydman
Rabbi Jodie Michelle Futornick
Rabbi Michael Steven Goldstein
Rabbi Susan C. Grossman
Rabbi Joshua Jared Gutoff
Rabbi Alan Joseph Iser
Rabbi Elana Cecile Kanter
Rabbi Robert Simpson Kasman
Rabbi Shelley Kniaz
Rabbi Aaron Benjamin Krupnick
Rabbi Claudio Javier Kupchik
Rabbi Paul M. Kurland
Rabbi Jonah Samuel Layman
Rabbi Allan Lehmann
Rabbi Naomi Levy
Rabbi Jacob Malki
Rabbi Joel S. Mishkin
Rabbi Sally Olins
Rabbi Daniel Avram Ornstein
Rabbi Martin Jay Pasternak
Rabbi Eliott Neil Perlstein
Rabbi David Sandor Polnauer
Rabbi Charles S. Popky
Rabbi Joseph H. Prouser
Rabbi Gustavo Alberto Romang
Rabbi Eliseo D. Rozenwasser
Rabbi Neal S. Scheindlin
Rabbi Ethan David Seidel
Rabbi Stuart A. Seltzer
Rabbi Howard Martin Shub
Rabbi Marion Ruth Shulevitz
Rabbi Ian J. Silverman
Rabbi David J. Small
Rabbi Elie Kaplan Spitz
Rabbi Reuven H. Taff
Rabbi Stewart L. Vogel
Rabbi Arthur D. Weiner
Rabbi Kalman E. Winnick
Rabbi Alberto Zeilicovich
Rabbi Mark H. Zimmerman
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