Spring Break
Shalom, Rabbi Lehmann
After seven years, Brandeis' Jewish chaplain says goodbye
by Hannah Edber
Features Editor
Features | 5/1/07
Posted online at 11:39 PM EST on 4/30/07
/ Last updated at 4:44 AM EST on 4/30/07
Rabbi Allan Lehmann is humming as he walks down the hall to his office in the Usdan Student Center. With a ready smile and kind eyes above a full beard, he seats himself comfortably behind his desk. A color template from Where the Wild Things Are-in Hebrew-hangs on the wall of his office, and the bookshelves are filled with Biblical tomes, essays on Jewish marriage and memoirs of the Holocaust. But the floor is littered with cardboard boxes, stuffed with books and labeled with permanent marker.
After seven years at Brandeis, Lehmann is leaving the community he has worked to shape. With nearly of decade of work with a diverse Jewish community under his belt, Lehmann seems well-prepared for the next step in his career. He has accepted a position at the transdenominational rabbinical school-a program that strives to include all branches of Judaism in its teachings- of Hebrew College in Newton, Mass. "[Hebrew College] is the rabbinical school I would have wanted to go to," Lehmann said.
Lehmann was hired in 2000 as Hillel's executive director, and initially was responsible mainly for fundraising for the Jewish campus organization. Soon, Lehmann decided to rework his position to include serving as the University's Jewish chaplain, changing his title to Hillel's rabbinic director.
"It's been wonderful," he said. "It's been an opportunity to spend time with some really remarkable people," he said. "It's been an opportunity to be able to be a companion to people in significant times of discovery in their lives."
Lehmann, 59, said he had dreamed of working for Hillel even before he began rabbinical school at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where he was ordained in 1979. But after completing his studies, he took a position as a congregational rabbi in Gainsville, Fla., where he worked for 21 years. His family grew, and Lehmann said he was happy in his Florida community. But when he and his family took a college tour of Boston for Lehmann's son, a local friend suggested he consider applying for the Hillel position at Brandeis.
After seven years at Brandeis, Lehmann is leaving the community he has worked to shape. With nearly of decade of work with a diverse Jewish community under his belt, Lehmann seems well-prepared for the next step in his career. He has accepted a position at the transdenominational rabbinical school-a program that strives to include all branches of Judaism in its teachings- of Hebrew College in Newton, Mass. "[Hebrew College] is the rabbinical school I would have wanted to go to," Lehmann said.
Lehmann was hired in 2000 as Hillel's executive director, and initially was responsible mainly for fundraising for the Jewish campus organization. Soon, Lehmann decided to rework his position to include serving as the University's Jewish chaplain, changing his title to Hillel's rabbinic director.
"It's been wonderful," he said. "It's been an opportunity to spend time with some really remarkable people," he said. "It's been an opportunity to be able to be a companion to people in significant times of discovery in their lives."
Lehmann, 59, said he had dreamed of working for Hillel even before he began rabbinical school at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, where he was ordained in 1979. But after completing his studies, he took a position as a congregational rabbi in Gainsville, Fla., where he worked for 21 years. His family grew, and Lehmann said he was happy in his Florida community. But when he and his family took a college tour of Boston for Lehmann's son, a local friend suggested he consider applying for the Hillel position at Brandeis.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Shoshana Nisbet
posted 6/04/07 @ 6:59 PM EST
Thankyou so very much for this article. I've looked for "My Rabbi" and Brother for years. When we went into the Army I lost touch with him. He is THE smartest and most Holy person I've ever been Blessed with in my life. (Continued…)
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