New Rabbis, Cantors, Educators, and Leaders Celebrated Across Hebrew Union College Ceremonies

The 2026/5786 graduation and ordination ceremonies for Hebrew Union College unfolded across three North American cities over the course of two weeks, beginning at Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York on May 3 and concluding at Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles on May 18. Across six ceremonies - ordinations and graduations in New York, Cincinnati, and Los Angeles - the College sent forth new rabbis, cantors, educators, nonprofit leaders, and scholars, each shaped by years of rigorous academic, spiritual, and professional formation. The celebrations also honored scores of alumni marking 25 years of service to the Jewish people, a reminder that the College's commitment to its graduates extends well beyond the moment of degree conferral.

In New York, 19 new spiritual leaders were ordained, including a historic milestone: Shayna Burack completed the first simultaneous dual rabbinical and cantorial ordination stateside, and only the second in the College's history. The New York graduation, held the following day, recognized 35 graduate students and 37 alumni from multiple schools with honorary doctorates, including nine cantors receiving a Doctor of Divinity for the first time-a change from the previous classes who received Doctors of Sacred Music.

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In Cincinnati, four new rabbis were ordained at Plum Street Temple, where Rabbi Isaac M. Wise first built the foundation of Reform Judaism in America - and in a poignant capstone to that legacy, this was the final class to be ordained through the Cincinnati campus-based rabbinical program. The procession included 35 alumni who gathered to mark the occasion, connecting the newest rabbis to the generations who came before them. The preceding graduation at Scheur Chapel honored both new graduates and distinguished alumni.

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Read About Cincinnati Graduation

The Los Angeles ceremonies brought the season to a close, with six new rabbis ordained at Stephen Wise Temple and a final graduation at Leo Baeck Temple honoring graduates from the Rhea Hirsch School of Education, the Zelikow School of Nonprofit Management, and seventeen alumni returning for their 25-Year Honorary Degrees.

Read About Los Angeles Ordination

Read About Los Angeles Graduation

Woven through every ceremony was a shared set of themes - service, purpose, courage, and continuity. Speakers across all three cities called upon new graduates to carry forward not just knowledge, but a deep sense of responsibility to community. President Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D. reminded the New York ordinands that in the moment of ordination something changes, and that the power conferred must be used to bring hope and the sacred into the world. In Cincinnati, Rabbi Richard Sarason '74 Ph.D. urged the newest rabbis that their task must be to inspire, to console, to teach, to lead, and above all to give hope. And in Los Angeles, the new rabbis themselves articulated the spirit of the class, saying their cohort enters the rabbinate with deep Jewish joy, unending curiosity, and vibrant creativity, eager to serve as klei kodesh - vessels of holiness.

The ceremonies also included moments of recognition beyond the graduating classes. The Joseph Prize was awarded in New York to Chef José Andrés and World Central Kitchen for their humanitarian work feeding communities in crisis. Cincinnati's graduation honored Laurie L. Patton, President of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as its commencement speaker. And concluding in Los Angeles, graduation speaker Joshua Holo offered a memorable challenge to graduates and alumni, proposing the old English word "ruth" - brokenhearted dissatisfaction infused with compassion - as the animating force for a life of service.

The Class of 2026/5786 now joins thousands of Hebrew Union college alumni serving Jewish communities across the United States and around the world - the latest link in a chain that stretches back generations and reaches, with intention, into the future.

View Last Year's Ceremonies