Sh'ma Koleinu--Voices of the SR Fellowship

Mazal Tov to the First Class of Schusterman Rabbinical Fellows!

2011-08-22T21:16:00.000-04:00

Mazal tov to the members of the the Aleph (inaugural) cohort of the Schusterman Rabbinical Fellowship! All were recently ordained by HUC-JIR and JTS, and despite a very challenging job market for rabbis, every member of the group found rabbinic positions at leading institutions across the country.

Their post-graduation job placements are as follows:

Rabbi Ethan Bair-- Director of Jewish Student Life, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Michael Mauricio Fel—Assistant Rabbi, Temple Emunah, Lexington, MA
Rabbi Jason Fruithandler—Assistant Rabbi, Sinai Temple, Los Angeles, CA
Rabbi Samantha Orshan Kahn, Assistant Rabbi, Congregation Emanu El, Houston, TX
Rabbi Aaron Miller—Assistant Rabbi, Washington Hebrew Congregation, Washington, DC
Rabbi Sara Newman Rich—Jewish Educator, Princeton University Hillel, Princeton, NJ
Rabbi Jesse M. Olitzky---Assistant Rabbi, Jacksonville Jewish Center, Jacksonville, FL
Rabbi Deborah Zuker –Rabbi, Temple Ner Tamid, Peabody, MA

Engaging Volunteers for a New Kind of Jewish Community

2011-08-22T20:13:00.000-04:00

The Gimmel cohort of the Schusterman Rabbinical Fellowship just finished up a retreat focused on creating a vision, managing strategic change, and working with volunteers and a board in a synagogue setting. David Spinrad, an SR Fellow from HUC-JIR in Cincinnati, shared these reflection about the gathering:

It's morning, and I'm at my desk. I arrived home last night from our August retreat at the Pearlstone Center in Maryland, but instead of feeling tired from the travel, I feel energized by the experience and encouraged by our subject matter. We covered a great amount of material in a relatively short time, focusing primarily on community building through creatively engaging members of the congregation and we also dug deeply into the mission, vision and values of our congregational communities. It felt great to be in a setting with other passionate people, talking, brainstorming and dreaming of what we can do to help the Jewish community and our communities at large pulse with life and meaning.

At the heart of the forty-eight intense hours we fellows spent with Rabbi Ellen Flax, synagogue and non-profit consultant Rabbi Hayim Herring and the innovative volunteer strategist Jill Friedman Fixler a thought kept spinning around my head and continues to fill me now: We can either see the world and our Jewish communities as they are, or we can practice holding and envisioning them as they might be. Or, maybe, there exists a third path, a middle path, a quintessentially Jewish path that requires courage, chutzpah and even a willingness to fail in order to breathe new life into Jewish life. We can think differently about our communities, our people, our institutions and how we live out our eternal brit. Our world is challenging us to both stand strong in our devotion to God, Torah and Israel and demanding from us a willingness to articulate this relationship with a vision that speaks specifically to where we'll be tomorrow.

Gender Norms and the Clergy

2011-02-03T17:02:00.000-05:00

SR Fellow Joshua Stanton, a third-year rabbinical student at HUC-JIR in New York, was inspired by a recent SRF program with Rabbi Joanna Samuels, the Director of Strategic Initiatives at Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community to write an article that appeared in the Tikkun Daily and the Huffington Post about gender norms and the Jewish community.

"Archetypes for men and women – and especially clergy – press us to conform to the norms dictated by our genders. People want religious leaders to look, sound, and seem familiar," Stanton writes. "But if rabbinic leadership requires authenticity, then I, like so many others, must be allowed to lead from within the gray space I live in, between the overgeneralized norms that seldom apply to anyone."

Read the full article here.

SRF Gimmel Group Meets for First Time

2010-12-22T00:56:00.000-05:00

David Spinrad, a third-year rabbinical student at HUC-Cincinnati and a member of the Gimmel cohort, shared these thoughts about the recent first gathering of his group:

"The hopefulness I felt while applying for the Schusterman Rabbincal Fellowship was replaced by the excitement of being selected as one of the eight recipients of the fellowship for 2010-2012. The excitement of being chosen was soon replaced by a surge of eager anticipation as I looked forward to meeting my fellow students and colleagues of Kvutzah Gimmel. After spending our first retreat together, after our first sessions of learning and getting a sense of the Jewish landscape and of the shape and scope of our fellowship, I am filled with a deep knowing that this experience and the learning opportunities I will be exposed to will shape my rabbinate and help me to serve the Jewish people with passion, commitment and love.

I'm getting a sense of how special an this opportunity is, and I intend to make the most of it by asking questions from our teachers and guides and by thinking deeply about the issues that face our collective Jewish future. I am most appreciative of the generosity of the Schusterman Foundation and thank Mrs. Lynn Schusterman for her contributions to the Jewish people."

How Rabbinical School is Like B'nai Mitzvah Tutoring....

2010-08-23T12:29:00.000-04:00

SR Fellow Aaron Miller, an HUC-JIR student in Cincinnati, shares this reflection about his rabbinical school training to-date:

One of the many highlights of the Aleph cohort's most recent Schusterman conference in June was a panel of young, rising “superstar” rabbis who have been in the field for less than five years and spoke to us about what it was like to be newly-minted rabbis. I took pages and pages of notes (I really wish I had a tape recorder) trying to soak in everything they had to teach. What an impressive panel!

Going back through my reams of chicken scratch, I noticed that one of the nuggets of wisdom I wrote down from this panel was a quote from one of the young rabbis who said, “Rabbinical school really only gives you a year’s worth of ‘material’ to use at your first pulpit. At best. I remember my first year trying to calculate who would be at whatever function I would be leading to see if I could repeat something I already said!”

It got me thinking: if rabbinical school only teaches us “a year’s worth of ‘material’… At best,” then what is the point of rabbinical school? Five years of rabbinical school, and we only get one year’s worth of “material?” It reminds me of a bar or bat mitzvah gone awry.

The first thing I tell my b’nei mitzvah students is that a “successful” bar or bat mitzvah has almost nothing to do with how much Hebrew they get up on the bima and say on the “big day.” Why spend months of learning for one Shabbat morning if the next time you step into a synagogue is (God-willing) at your wedding? For me, a “successful” bar or bat mitzvah is one where my newly-minted Jewish adults love being Jewish and have started to create an active and enduring Jewish identity.

In a way, the question that I ask my b’nei mitzvah students is one that I’m asking myself right now. As I careen toward the HUC finish line, what has rabbinical school taught me that will endure beyond my first year in the field? Rabbinical school has exposed me to genres of texts I never knew existed. It has completely changed my approach to teaching and to Jewish education. I have even learned some basics about things like officiating life cycle events, hospital bedside manner, and fundraising. Most important though, these past five years have shown me that there is always, always, more to learn and have instilled within me enough love of Judaism and the rabbinate to continue learning throughout my career. (I hope!) For now, I think that a “successful” rabbinic education is one that infuses newly-minted rabbis with a love of Judaism and the Jewish people that will be forever a part of their lives. If I leave rabbinical school with only this love, I’d like to think I have been well-trained for my life as a rabbi, even after that first year in the field.

What do you think? What are the enduring components of a formative educational experience (rabbinical, Jewish, or otherwise)?

Meet the Third Cohort of the SRF!

2010-06-28T20:03:00.000-04:00

The latest cohort of the Schusterman Rabbinical Fellowship has just been announced! This is the third group of outstanding rabbinical students from HUC and JTS who have been selected to participate in this groundbreaking, collaborative program. Over the next two years, the students will learn about ways to create a more welcoming, forward-thinking Jewish community and will sharpen their management and leadership skills.

Read all about the latest cohort here and here.

(In case you missed it, take a moment to meet our Aleph cohort and learn more about the members of our Bet cohort.)

SR Fellow to be honored by Federation of Rockland County

2010-06-10T18:08:00.000-04:00

Jesse Olitzky, a JTS student who is a members of the Fellowship's Aleph cohort, will be honored this Sunday by the Jewish Federation of Rockland County for his outstanding work as an educator. Way to go Jesse!

Getting Rid of the "Shoulds"...

2010-06-10T17:57:00.000-04:00

Jason Fruithandler, a student at JTS, offered this reflection about the retreat for the Aleph cohort of the Fellowship that concluded today:

At the retreat, we were asked to think about our vision for the Jewish world and part of mine was to remove the word "should" form our vocabulary. Too often I find myself slipping into the mindset of looking at other Jews as what they should be. It doesn't permit me to see who they are. Worse, it creates expectations that will never be met or, will be met but only out of guilt. However, when I am able to switch the mode of thinking from "should" to "can" I am able to see people for who they are. Then my job is to show what opportunities and possibilities Judaism offer. When my vocabulary switches I am able to present an exciting form of Judaism and it becomes the congregant's option to take part in the meaningful Jewish life I am describing. My responsibility becomes crafting a picture, an image, an idea of how to live a Jewish life that is full of depth, seriousness, and subtlety. My job becomes creating experiences that act as a window into the kind of experiences that make Judaism inspiring to me. My vision for the Jewish people is one in which we approach our lives as Jews with the mindset of "what can be" rather than a mindset of "what should be."

Learning from Those in the Field

2010-06-09T14:40:00.000-04:00

The first cohort of Schusterman Rabbinical Fellows is currently participating in a retreat about life after seminary. The following is a reflection from one fellow, Michael Fel, a student at JTS:

For the past few years, I’ve spent considerable time learning rabbinic texts, perfecting my prayer leading skills and how to engage the Jewish people. While I’ve had some practical rabbinic seminars and sermon writing courses, I’ve actually never learned what rabbis do on a day to day basis. Last night, we had the chance to hear the stories of three Rabbis: Moishe Steigmann of the Westchester Jewish Center, Sari Laufer of Congregation Rodeph Sholom and Neil Tow from the Glen Rock Jewish Center. Hearing their personal stories and how they handled balancing their personal and public life, being the new rabbi and how to bring your fulll self to the pulpit will help me avoid the same pitfalls they experienced during their first years. A very worth while 2+ hour session!

SRF Paves the Way to Other Collaborations

2010-05-26T12:56:00.000-04:00

Collaboration between the various rabbinical seminaries is in the news...

As the JTA reports:

Partnerships have become a driver for JTS, which announced in early May that part of its new strategic vision included finding new allies in the education sector.

Hebrew Union College has become a natural ally for the Conservative movement’s seminary. The schools are in the third year of offering a combined fellowship funded by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Foundation that brings together rabbinical students from both seminaries for a joint seminar, and they also are now offering some joint classes as part of their respective cantorial programs.

Welcome to Sh'ma Koleinu--Voices of the Schusterman Rabbinical Fellowship!

2010-05-20T22:11:00.000-04:00

It is my pleasure to share with you the voices of the Schusterman Rabbinical Fellows, students who are training to be future leaders of the Jewish community!

The Schusterman Rabbinical Fellowship is a program for a select group of outstanding rabbinical students (eight per cohort) from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Reform) and the Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative.) The program is designed to create a cadre of Reform and Conservative rabbis who share a broad and dynamic vision of communal leadership for American Jewry.

The SR Fellows study leadership, collaboration techniques, and key issues in American Jewry, learning from faculty at HUC-JIR, JTS, and outside experts. Through semi-annual gatherings, monthly conference calls or webinars, and informal exchanges, the SR Fellows examine management methods, define personal visions for their rabbinate, and cultivate strategies for drawing Jews who often feel marginal—including those in interfaith relationships and those not affiliated with any Jewish congregation—closer to the heart of the Jewish community.

The Schusterman Rabbinical Fellowship Program is funded by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. The Center for Leadership Initiatives, Inc. (CLI), a private operating foundation dedicated to developing Jewish leaders and promoting managerial excellence throughout the Jewish community, has helped shape the program.

We look forward to sharing our views about Torah and the American Jewish community with you!

L'shalom,
Rabbi Ellen Flax
Director, Schusterman Rabbinical Fellowship Program