WWWYEAR IN REVIEW | BERNARD REVEL GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JEWISH STUDIES | SCHOLARSHIP • TORAH • WISDOM • THOUGHT
This letter would have been unapologetically celebratory had it been written in the summer. But of course, while we at the Bernard Revel Graduate school are proud of the increasing diversity of our student body, we are all here to study Judaism together at a Jewish institution. And that means that for all of us, October 7th casts its shadow over everything we do. We all pray for the safe return of all the hostages, for the IDF soldiers—including current Revel students –protecting the state, and for all of Israel. As I wrote in my initial response to the events of October 7th, we at Revel will proudly continue to teach and study the traditions and texts that form the bedrock of our values and that sowed the seeds of the Zionist dream that Israel is fighting to protect. With that said, it remains important to nonetheless celebrate our suc- cesses. Our school continues to grow, with official student numbers having almost doubled in the last five years:*
School
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Bernard Revel
67
77
97
116
130
One key element driving this growth is the creation of innovative programs to appeal to new student constituencies. Last year, we welcomed our first intake of South Korean students. This year we are excited to have partnered with the Philos Project in the creation of a Hebraic Studies program designed for Christian students, a focus of which is our MA in Jewish Studies. We welcomed our first cohort of eight students in Summer 2023, and the program has been running very successfully to the enormous benefit of both the students and Revel more generally. Revel continues to pride itself on its faculty and their scholarship, about which you can read in the pages that follow. We recently brought that scholarship into the public sphere in the shape of a very successful December conference in partnership with the YU museum—Maimonides: Now and Then—an account of which you will also find in these pages, together with the link to a video of the full conference. On a sadder note, it would be remiss of me not to mention the untimely passing of Daniel Tsadik, Associate Professor of Sephardic and Iranian Studies at Revel from 2008-2020. Daniel, who arrived at Revel a year after I did, was our friend, colleague, and in my case, teacher—I took courses in Arabic with him during his time here. Daniel was a wonderful scholar, whose book The Jews of Iran and Rabbinic Literature: New Perspectives , won the (Israel) Prime Minister Prize in 2020. More importantly, he was among the kindest and humblest of people, and we will miss him deeply. יהי זיכרו ברוך In a more personal vein, this has been a challenging year with the loss of my father, David Rynhold, late in the summer. Dad was beloved to all who knew him and was my greatest inspiration in every way, not least in his attitude to Judaism. He used to find it difficult to understand those who experienced religion as a straitjacket. While it goes without saying that it isn’t always easy, dad used to say that he experienced Judaism like his favorite suit—something you’re comfortable in and proud to wear. Words to live by. None of the things that we celebrate in our Year in Review would be possible without the backing of you, our Revel friends and supporters, and we hope that we can rely on your continued support, both moral and material, as we seek to take the Bernard Revel Graduate School to ever greater heights. With all best wishes,
Daniel Rynhold, PhD Dr. Mordecai D. Katz Dean
*Note that these official university numbers only include credit bearing students. The total Revel student body including auditors, and undergraduate students talking Revel courses for credit take the total to 175.
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