February 1, 2026 – 3PM Rabb Hall – Harvard Hillel
Video Available! Watch Jane Meyer’s Talk about Rabbi Ben-Zion Gold, z”l, here
Inspired by a shared love of traditional Jewish music, Jane Myers encouraged Rabbi Gold to record dozens of songs and Chassidic niggunim learned throughout his rich educational and cultural upbringing in pre-war Radom, Poland, that would otherwise be lost to history if not for his fine voice and his outstanding memory.
Although his traumatic experiences haunted him throughout his entire life, with his brilliant, open mind, he possessed the unique ability to grasp and illuminate a coherent path from his roots in Eastern Europe to initiating and building an egalitarian, intellectually and spiritually rich Conservative community at Harvard University as Director of Hillel until 1992.
Jane will share what she learned from her 50-year relationship with Rabbi Ben-Zion Gold, including the power of music and memory to sustain a person. Jane will share video clips, song recordings, archival photographs, the website she created with the help of the Yiddish Book Center, and the CD she published, titled Touching the Memory: Songs Remembered from a Childhood in Poland. Annotated CDs will be available for purchase.
Jane Myers has been a teacher in secular and Jewish settings, a Conservative cantor, and an editor. She has also composed many melodies for the Psalms and liturgy.