Directory
Rabbinic Leadership Program
Program Provider
Institute for Jewish Spirituality
Contact Person
Jonathan Slater
Program Components
- Retreat
- Institute
- Online/Distance Learning
- Ongoing Support
Description
This program is a two-year rabbinic program of retreats and interim study. The goals of the program are to help rabbis cultivate their own personal spiritual lives and provide tools for understanding the nature of the spiritual life in general; to help rabbis apply what they learn through the Institute to their work situations, by way of new and deepened skills, insights and program ideas; and to support rabbis to influence their workplaces in ways that will enhance understanding of and institutional support for a focus on the inner life. The Rabbinic Leadership Program is structured around four five-day retreats that take place over an eighteen-month period. In addition to the four five-day retreats, participants engage in interim work: a required weekly hevruta study of Hasidic texts and engagement in one of the core contemplative practices taught on retreat (meditation, yoga), in addition to periodic reading about the spiritual life; monthly spiritual direction; access to faculty; and communication about study, practice and applications at work on a closed e-mail list.
Target Population
- Rabbis
Program has been evaluated
- Yes
Type of Evaluation
JESNA- Berman Center for Research and Evaluation
Participants per Cohort
35
Total Participants
110
Click below to download the flyer for the Rabbinic Leadership Program.
IJS Rabbinic Leadership Program (2.23 MB)
We are pleased to announce the formation of the sixth cohort of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality Rabbinic Leadership Program. The IJS Rabbinic Leadership Program is a retreat-based program of study and practice for rabbis who seek to deepen their own spiritual lives and their abilities to develop as spiritual teachers and guides for others. Participants live and learn together for four five-day retreats over the course of eighteen months. Retreats combine prayer, meditation, text study, movement practice, group discussion, spiritual exercises and one-on-one guidance with faculty members. The period between retreats is an essential part of the program.
Participants continue to learn and grow through a guided program of requisite weekly hevruta study, as well as sustained engagement in either meditation or yoga, and e-conversation with the other participants. The program is grounded in contemplative practices, informed by classical and Hasidic texts and teachings, intended to ground and deepen one's personal spiritual life. It offers practices that increase physical, emotional and spiritual resilience. From this place of honest awareness, rabbis are more able to lead, teach and accompany the members of their communities with a deeper degree of authenticity, compassion and strength.
The program is comprised of four retreats over eighteen months, and includes weekly study and practice between each retreat, supported by contact with faculty and online conversation among participants. Winter retreats take place outside of LA; summer retreats in western Connecticut.
For more information or an application, contact Rabbi Jonathan Slater, Program Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; 914-478-7326; or visit the IJS website, www.ijs-online.org. Applications are due by June 30, 2009.