Thousands of Chabad rabbis gathered in Brooklyn for their annual “class photo,” having traveled from all 50 states and more than a 100 countries to attend a six-day convention at the group’s headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway.

As a bonus, Rabbi Avrohom Rapoport of the New Jersey shore measured each rabbi’s beard to determine which was the longest. The winner was 26 inches.

Photo by Chabad of Brooklyn

Sally A. Kornbluth, a cell biologist whose eight-year tenure as Duke University’s provost has earner her a reputation as a brilliant administrator, as creative problem-solver, and a leading advocate of academic excellence, has been selected as MIT’s 18th president. She will assume the post o Jan. 1, 2023, succeeding L. Rafael Reif, who had announced his intention to step down after 10 years leading the institute.

As Duke’s provost since 2014, Kornbluth has served as the chief academic officer of one of the nation’s leading research universities. She oversees Duke’s 10 schools and six institutes, and holds ultimate responsibility for admissions, financial aid, libraries among other facets of education.

Kornbluth’s election as MIT’s president is the culmination of an eight-month process in which a 20-member presidential search committee generated a list of approximately 250 possible candidates.

She earned her BA in political science from Williams College in 1982, followed by two years at Cambridge University as a Hershel Smith Scholar, where she earned a BA in genetics. She returned to the U.S. to pursue a PhD in molecular oncology at Rockefeller University, awarded in 1989, and took postdoctoral training at the University of California at San Diego. She joined the Duke faculty in 1994.

She is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Our own Rabbi Gadi and shul member Irma Strimban make the “Jews in the News” column in this month’s Shofar. Prior to the Rosh Hashanah observances at our shul,  Rabbi Gadi visited San Simeon by the Sound rehabilitation facility in Greenport and talked to the patients there about the holiday and the significance of the shofar, the ram’s horn that for many Jews is the most visible symbol of the Rosh Hashanah rituals. In ancient times, a blast from the shofar was a call to attention — an announcement of some importance. In the synagogue, the sound of the shofar reaches deep into one’s soul and recalls the greater than 5700-year history of the Jewish people. Our shul’s newsletter, aptly titled The Shofar, calls readers’ attention to newsworthy notes about our shul as well as items of global interest.                                                                                     San Simeon photo

A short play by our own shul member Chuck Simon has been selected among hundreds of submissions for inclusion in the third annual Soop to Nuts “Short Play Festival,” a series of 10-minute plays, to be presented  over two weekends by the Soop Theatre Company, from Nov. 4 through 19, at The 530 Studios, 530 5th Ave., Pelham, NY.

Chuck Simon’s play, “A Very Important Roll,” will debut on Saturday, Nov. 5, at 8 p.m., with a repeat performance on Sunday, Nov. 6, at 2 p.m.

Six of the plays will be chosen by audience vote for performances on the final round, Saturday, Nov. 19, at 8 p.m., when the contenders will be judged by a panel of professional writers, directors, actors and producers for a chance to win one of three cash prizes.

Chuck Simon is the author of Talmud Night, a novel, and also Building a Successful Volunteer Culture, a step-by-step guide to cultivating volunteers who thrive within the Jewish community, among other writings.

To reserve tickets to The Soop (Seat of our Pants) Theater Company’s “Short Play Festival,” at $15 each, call 914-738-0514 or visit sooptheatre.org/.

The Shofar joins the shul membership in extending a wholehearted mazel tov to the Joshua Rakhman family — especially baby Ava Rakhman, whose Hebrew name, Chava, was bestowed by Rabbi Gadi at the Hoshana Rabba service in the sanctuary of our shul on Sunday, Oct. 16. The Rakhman family and friends filled the sanctuary for the occasion, which was attended by many shul members as well.

Shul members will recognize Josh, who for the last two years has served the shul as security guard during High Holiday services. He honored us by celebrating this mitzvah at our shul.

Pictured, back row, from left, Antonia Rakhman, Ava’s mother; Rabbi Gadi; and Ava held by her dad, Josh. In front, Stella Arlette, a niece, joined the group for a family photo.

Adrianne Greenberg photo

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2022 to Ben Bernanke, Douglas Diamond, and Philip Dybvig for significantly improving our understanding of the role of banks in the economy, particularly during financial crises.

            Bernanke is a American economist who served as the 14th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 2006 to 2014. After leaving the Fed, he was appointed a distinguished fellow at the Brookings Institution. During his tenure as chairman, Bernanke oversaw the Federal Reserve‘s response to the late-2000s financial crisis, for which he was named the 2009 Time Person of the Year.

Before becoming Federal Reserve chairman, Bernanke was a tenured professor at Princeton University and chaired the department of economics there from 1996 to September 2002, when he went on public service leave.