To: Wellesley College Hillel students
From: Paula Johnson and Carol Bate
RE: Wellesley Hillel Update
Date: March 22, 2017
Dear Wellesley College Hillel students,
We are writing to share with you the bittersweet news that Rabbi Audrey Berkman has accepted an offer to become the associate rabbi at a thriving synagogue in the greater Boston area. She will leave us at the end of the academic year.
While we are happy that Rabbi Berkman has such a wonderful opportunity to offer her gifts as spiritual leader, cantor, pastoral caregiver, and educator to a lively, multigenerational Jewish community, we will truly miss her here at Wellesley.
We are grateful to Rabbi Berkman for her leadership and for her many contributions to the Jewish chaplaincy and Hillel. She has created partnerships and collaborations across our campus to foster what she calls “a sense of a Jewish family.” She has brought a Jewish perspective to the College, and has involved outside organizations and individuals to enrich Jewish life on campus—the Mayyim Hayyim Mikveh and Education Center, and Temple Beth Elohim, as well as author Anita Diamant and Israeli actress and director Hanna Asfari. Rabbi Berkman has been a warm, welcoming, and supportive presence for students of all backgrounds and traditions, and we thank her.
The search for a new campus rabbi and director of Wellesley College Hillel will begin soon. As we organize our efforts, we are grateful for the ongoing support of the Jewish Life Advisory Committee, a group of dedicated Jewish faculty and staff who provide counsel and foster Jewish life at Wellesley.
Please join us in wishing Rabbi Berkman the very best as she prepares to transition to this next exciting phase of her career.
Sincerely,
Paula A. Johnson,President
Carol Bate, Interim Dean of Students
