HEBREW COLLEGE APPOINTS RABBI ARIEL MAYSE AS DIRECTOR OF JEWISH STUDIES

NEWTON CENTRE, Mass., Aug. 8, 2016 -- Hebrew College of Newton Centre, MA announced today the appointment of Hasidic and Jewish Law scholar Dr. Ariel Evan Mayse as the incoming director of Jewish Studies and visiting assistant professor of modern Jewish thought.

"We are fortunate to be able to welcome Dr. Ariel Mayse to the Hebrew College faculty and administration," said Rabbi Dr. Michael Shire, chief academic officer and dean, Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education and Jewish Studies Program. "He is one of a group of new emerging scholars bringing exceptional intelligence, steeped in Jewish literacy and a critical mind to the field."

Hebrew College's Jewish Studies program offers students the opportunity to critically examine the Jewish past and its legacy through a lens that focuses on contemporary challenges and emerging thought. Rabbi Mayse brings scholarship and expertise that will enable the program to continue to flourish. Expressing his enthusiasm, Mayse commented, "This unique program allows us to draw upon the best of academic Jewish Studies and rabbinic education, blending their strengths into a course of study that bespeaks commitment to both scholarship and personal meaning."

Dr. Mayse earned his PhD in Jewish Studies from Harvard University and received his rabbinic ordination from Beit Midrash Har'el. He taught at Yeshivat Orayta in Jerusalem for four years, and most recently served as a Research Fellow at the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan.

As one of the four co-editors of the two-volume collection Speaking Torah: Spiritual Teachings From Around the Maggid's Table (Jewish Lights, 2013), he has a well-established relationship with some of Hebrew College's prominent thought leaders, Rabbis Art Green, Or Rose and Ebn Leader. His body of work in Jewish mysticism includes several scholarly and popular articles as well as From the Depth of the Well: An Anthology of Jewish Mysticism (Paulist Press, 2014), lauded on Amazon as, "perhaps the best introduction to the primary sources of the Jewish mystical texts," and, "the beginning of what will be a career of brilliant scholarship, fine-tuned interpretive translation, and a deep understanding of Jewish Mysticism."

Hebrew College's Jewish Studies program offers a Master of Arts in Jewish Studies and a part-time Master of Jewish Liberal Studies. Additionally, in conjunction with the Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education at Hebrew College, students can earn a dual Master of Jewish Studies (MAJS) and Master of Jewish Education (MJEd). The Jewish Studies programs are completed online during the fall and spring semesters, and include one or two week-long, residential summer seminars.

Hebrew College, founded in 1921, promotes excellence in Jewish learning and leadership within a pluralistic environment of open inquiry, intellectual rigor, personal engagement and spiritual creativity. Its programs include a Rabbinical School, a School of Jewish Music, a School of Jewish Education, and graduate degrees and courses in Jewish studies; community education for adult learners; and a supplemental Hebrew high school and middle school. For more information, visit www.hebrewcollege.edu.

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