Rotations Guidelines

Registering for Rotations

Students should register for PRO 6401 for the semester in which they anticipate fulfilling the last of their rotation requirements. There is no formal class time associated with this course.

What Are Rotations?

Rabbinical students are required to complete five rotations, each a minimum of forty hours, in each of the following areas:

  • Chaplaincy
  • Jewish Communal Agency
  • Congregation
  • Education
  • Camp Ramah (at least one summer), or USY (one trip).

Students may choose to complete an additional minirotation:

  • Funeral Home Minirotation (optional)

To keep track of your rotations, you may use the Rotations Record.

Rotations are opportunities to explore various rabbinic careers. Although rotation requirements are satisfied with a minimum of forty hours, we strongly encourage you to maximize your rotation experience.

There is one significant variation to the requirement of five full rotations. It is not necessary to do a rotation in the area in which you will ultimately undertake the full 400-hour internship. Instead, you may "double up" on one of the other rotations, either by taking on two different assignments in those areas or by taking on one "maxirotation" of at least eighty hours.

For example, students working on congregational internships need not complete congregational rotations. Instead, these students may choose to do two chaplaincy rotations or one communal agency rotation of eighty hours or more.

The education rotation can be doubled only when the second experience is significantly different and intensified from your first rotation. Please consult with the director of Field Education to determine if such a second-education rotation is appropriate for double credit. For example, a student who has taught Hebrew school for rotation credit, then becomes a Hebrew school principal, is likely to earn rotation credit. A student who has taught at two different Hebrew schools is not likely to earn double-rotation credit. The Ramah rotation cannot be doubled, unless your work fits one of the other rotation credits.