The Center for Pastoral Education at JTS
Every day, spiritual leaders are called on to provide comfort, guidance, and support to people in crisis. The Center for Pastoral Education has set a new standard in preparing them to receive these calls, through a transformative educational process that is grounded in Jewish tradition, and open and relevant to people of all faiths.
Programs in Clinical Pastoral Education
The center provides clinical pastoral education (CPE) students—seminarians, clergy, and professionals—with intensive training in hospice rooms, nursing homes, soup kitchens, and congregational settings, supported by expert certified educators. Our renowned center is one of only a few accredited seminary-based programs, equipping participants to respond to the need for pastoral care with a unique combination of psychological principles and Jewish wisdom enriched by intensive multi-faith engagement.
We offer full-time and flexible part-time options to allow seminarians, clergy, and professionals from all faith traditions and Jewish movements to pursue pastoral training on a timeline that best suits them.
JTS Rabbinical and Cantorial students complete a 400-hour unit of CPE as part of their training.
The Certificate in Pastoral Care and Counseling
The CPCC curriculum integrates academic learning and professional skills with religious and personal identity formation. Future clergy and religious professionals acquire the pastoral training—shaped by Jewish values and texts—that will help them serve the diverse needs of their congregants, clients, and students with compassion and creativity.
Learn about the certificate program
Tuition and Stipends
Tuition for full units of CPE is $800, and tuition for the Clergy and Religious Leaders Half Unit Program is $900. Scholarships and Stipends are available for individuals of all faith traditions enrolled in our Part-Time Academic and Full-Time Summer Units.
Financial aid is available to students enrolled in the Clergy and Religious Leaders Half Unit Program on a case-by-case basis. All requests for financial aid must be submitted in writing before the program begins via email to infocpe@jtsa.edu. JTS rabbinical and cantorial students are also eligible to receive the Paul A. Kaplan Memorial Fellowship in Pastoral Care. All tuition and fees are non-refundable.
Events
Healing Torah: A Series of Workshops for Spiritual and Emotional Caregivers in Jewish Life
Online | Clergy: Continuing Ed | Online Learning | Pastoral Education
A series of online workshops for healing professionals.
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Harold and Carole Wolfe Director of the Center for Pastoral Education; Assistant Professor of Pastoral Education
Rabbi Naomi Kalish is the Harold and Carole Wolfe Director of the Center for Pastoral Education and assistant professor of Pastoral Education. Prior to coming to JTS, Rabbi Kalish taught clinical pastoral education (CPE) at New York–Presbyterian Hospital to students from diverse religious, denominational, national, and cultural backgrounds. Rabbi Kalish has served on the Interprofessional Education Faculty at Columbia University Medical Center. She has taught chaplaincy and pastoral care courses and programs for the Academy for Jewish Religion, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, Yeshivat Maharat, and JTS. Rabbi Kalish has extensive experience in interreligious dialogue and its application for peace-building and community relations. She earned her BA from Tufts University and an MA in Jewish Philosophy and rabbinic ordination from JTS. She is a doctoral candidate in Education and Jewish Studies at New York University.
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