MA in Ritual Leadership Residency, October 2026 

October 29, 2026

There was a palpable sense of excitement throughout the first-ever residency of JTS’s inaugural MA in Ritual Leadership, one of our new MA programs for emerging and established leaders seeking to deepen their skills in prayer leadership. Students who had spent weeks learning together online finally had the chance to gather in person, transforming familiar faces on a screen into in-person study partners, prayer leaders, and friends. Through shared meals, spirited conversations, and student-led tefillah, relationships deepened and a cohort began to take shape. 

MA in Ritual Leadership class photo

Prayer stood at the heart of the residency experience. Students explored the values that shape our sacred prayer spaces and siddurim, while also leading and participating in tefillah alongside the broader JTS community. One particularly meaningful moment came during the daily Minhah service. MA student Lindsay Bressman offered a kavanah, inviting the group to see those few minutes set aside for afternoon prayer not as an interruption to the day, but as a gift: an opportunity to pause, re-center, and reconnect.  

Students also engaged with Rabbi Ayelet Cohen, Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School and Dean of the Division of Religious Leadership, and Rabbi Gordon Tucker, Vice Chancellor for Religious Life and Engagement, in conversations about the principles and values that guide communal tefillah. They then put those ideas into practice with Cantor Rabbi Shoshi Levin Goldberg, Director of the H. L. Miller Cantorial School, tackling complex scenarios with thoughtfulness, creativity, and plenty of laughter along the way. (Who knew that calling page numbers could inspire such passionate debate?) 

MARL reading Torah during minha.
MARL in the classroom

By the end of the residency, students left with the beginnings of a community rooted in shared learning, prayer, and purpose.  

When dayschool teacher MollyBeth Rushfield needed to explain her two-day absence to her elementary school students, she created a delightful video (screenshots featured below). Her thoughtful and creative approach exemplifies the curiosity, creativity, and dedication that our MA students bring to the program.

Interested in applying for our MA in Ritual Leadership? We are now accepting Fall 2027 applications through March 1, 2027.

Want to learn more? Join us for our virtual open house on November 11 at 7:00 p.m. ET.