Four graduates received their MA in Jewish Educational Leadership award at Leo Baeck College’s first in-person ceremony for more than two years.

Adela Kobic (Head Teacher at Birmingham Progressive Synagogue), Frankie Gruzd (Head Teacher at Bromley Reform Synagogue), Avi Marco (a member of Finchley Reform Synagogue Council) and Oren Giorno (Youth Director at JEM, Paris) had all previously passed the Masters course, which is designed for those working in a Jewish educational context.

As no in-person event could take place last year, due to the pandemic, they chose to wait for a time when a ceremony was possible that would allow them to be together. The guest list was limited to close family and friends, community leaders and College faculty.

Dr Jo-Ann Myers, Director of Jewish Education at Leo Baeck College and Course Team Leader of the MA, said: “This Graduation Ceremony has been a long time coming, but the wait was certainly worth it. Our students did themselves and the College proud!”

Each graduate was presented with a beautiful handmade tallit, kippah and tallit bag in the College’s alternative colour palette, in order to distinguish them from the ones given to rabbinic ordinands. They were made by Maya Works, a member of the Fair Trade Federation that promotes economic justice for women in Guatemala.

After the ceremony – which saw each graduate speak about what they had gained by studying for the MA – a planting service took place in the Biblical Garden in the College’s grounds for a pomegranate tree donated by the four.

Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris, Leo Baeck College Principal, said: “We couldn’t have asked for a better day to all come back together. It was touching to hear the graduates talk about how studying at the College had helped them develop both personally and professionally. As we see the beautiful pomegranate tree bloom, we will remember this class.”