Fourteen Pulpit Rabbis Selected to Participate in New Continuing Education Program at JTS

For Immediate Release

Press Contact: Sherry Kirschenbaum
Office: (212) 678-8953
Email: shkirschenbaum@jtsa.edu

June 19, 2008, New York, NY

Fourteen pulpit rabbis from across the country have been selected to participate in the first cohort of The Jewish Theological Seminary’s newly created Legacy Heritage Rabbinic Enrichment Initiative (LHREI).

An important step in JTS Chancellor Arnold Eisen’s life-long learning contract, the two-year program is designed for congregational rabbis who are in evolving positions of rabbinic leadership for eight to fifteen years as either an assistant rabbi or as a solo rabbi in a small- to medium-size pulpit and are experiencing greater demands and expectations from their laity and their positions.

Over the course of two summers, LHREI Fellows will convene at JTS for intensive institutes focusing on professional skills development, led by experts in management and leadership development who also understand the complexities of the rabbinate.

The 2008 Summer Institute will concentrate on the “Rabbi as Manager” and offer courses on management skills as broadly defined as the day-to-day operations of rabbis in their personal, professional, spiritual, and family lives. Special attention will be paid to team building and working with synagogue professionals as well as cultivating lay-rabbinic relationships.

An integral part of the initiative is continued study, which will be achieved through a virtual beit midrash throughout the year, during which Fellows will study in hevruta and engage in a dialogue with a JTS professor. The video-conferencing study will offer rabbis further Jewish learning that is directly related to their work as rabbis and will focus on deepening textual learning with an eye on practical application for sermons and adult education classes.

LHREI Fellows include:

Rabbi Charles Arian, Beth Jacob Synagogue, Norwich, CT
Rabbi Edward Bernstein, Congregation Shaarey Tikvah, Beachwood, OH
Rabbi Mark Biller, Adath Shalom Synagogue, Morris Plains, NJ
Rabbi Melissa Crespy, Lakeland Hills Jewish Center, Ringwood, NJ
Rabbi David Glickman, Congregation Shearith Israel, Dallas, TX
Rabbi Felipe Goodman, Temple Beth Shalom, Las Vegas, NV
Rabbi Joel Levenson, Congregation B’nai Jacob, Woodbridge, CT
Rabbi Neal Loevinger, Temple Beth-El, Poughkeepsie, NY
Rabbi Michael Pont, Temple Beth Ahm, Aberdeen, NJ
Rabbi Francine Roston, Congregation Beth El, South Orange, NJ
Rabbi Michael Singer, Temple Beth David, Palm Beach Gardens, FL
Rabbi Michael Stanger, Old Westbury Hebrew Congregation, Old Westbury, NY
Rabbi Michael Ungar, Tifereth Israel, Columbus, OH
Rabbi Jeremy Wiederhorn, Conservative Synagogue of Westport, Westport, CT

Support for the Legacy Heritage Rabbinic Enrichment Initiative has been generously provided by the Legacy Heritage Fund Limited. Further information about LHREI is available by contacting Rabbi Marc Wolf, LHREI director and senior director of Community Development at JTS, at (212) 678-8933.

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