About RTI
The Rabbinic Training Institute is the premier continuing education program for Conservative and Masorti rabbis in the field, bringing participants together for five days of intellectual, professional, personal, and spiritual growth. RTI is offered by JTS and the RA and is open to all Conservative rabbis.
RTI will be held from Sunday, January 11 to Thursday, January 15, 2026 at the Pearlstone Center in Reisterstown, MD.
Five Days of Learning
A deeply stimulating and nurturing experience, RTI prepares participants to return to their communities rejuvenated in mind, heart, and spirit, and with new skills to serve as even more thoughtful and capable leaders.
Meeting at an offsite retreat center from Sunday to Thursday, RTI participants engage in text study and professional skill building with a faculty of world-renowned scholars and consultants, while also reflecting with peers on individual and shared experiences. The program offers:
- Torah lishmah
- Professional skills courses
- Facilitated groups for personal and spiritual reflection
- Meaningful davening and divrei Torah
- Yoga, meditation, art workshops, and private massage (optional)
- Supportive and fun hevreschaft
View a sample schedule for RTI
Expert Faculty
The teachers and consultants who guide participants come from JTS and from diverse institutions around the world. Previous faculty have included:
- Mary Jo Barrett
- Dr. Tal Becker
- Rabbi Jordan Bendat-Appell
- Dr. Shira Billet
- Dr. Erica Brown
- Dr. Alan Cooper
- Rabbi Eliezer Diamond
- Dr. Arnold Eisen
- Rabbi Ed Feld
- Dr. Linda Stone Fish
- Dr. David Fishman
- Dr. Alyssa Gray
- Rabbi Judith Hauptman
- Rabbi Shai Held
- Rabbi David Hoffman
- Dr. David Kraemer
- Dr. Marjorie Lehman
- Rabbi Naomi Levy
- Rabbi Jack Moline
- Rev. Jake Morrill
- Rabbi Daniel Nevins
- Rabbi David Silber
- Dr. Kathy Simon
- Dr. Benjamin Sommer
- Rabbi Mychal Springer
- Dr. Devora Steinmetz
- Rabbi Ira Stone
- Rev. Doug Tanner
- Rabbi Gordon Tucker
- Rabbi Jan Uhrbach
- Dr. Burton Visotzky
- Rabbi Melissa Weintraub
- Dr. Sarah Wolf
Fees and Registration
Registration fee: $1,100
*Register through June 30 for $1,050
The registration fee covers tuition and study materials, double-occupancy accommodations, and all meals throughout the institute. Single rooms are available for an additional fee. Please note that there is limited availability for single rooms.
Scholarships
Scholarship funds are available for rabbis who cannot afford the full cost of RTI. If you would like to inquire about a scholarship for RTI, please email rti@jtsa.edu.
What People Are Saying
“RTI is the best professional development I do all year. It nourishes my body, mind, and soul. It provides me with tools to serve my congregation and the Jewish people better. An amazing time of learning, living, and being.”
“As rabbis we teach and preach about the need to create sacred space for our congregants, yet overlook that need for ourselves. RTI fulfills that need, and I return each year from RTI spiritually and emotionally rejuvenated and invigorated.”
“RTI is an invaluable opportunity to personally connect with colleagues as they are, with all of our rabbinic masks taken off. We cut straight to the tachlis, the practicality, and strive to help one another in whatever stage we are at in our careers and in our mindset or emotional state.”
Contact Us
RTI is directed by:
Rabbi Ayelet Cohen, Pearl Resnick Dean of The Rabbinical School and dean of the Division of Religious Leadership, JTS
Rabbi Ilana Garber, Senior Director of Rabbinic Leadership, RA
Tani Schwartz-Herman, Program Director, Division of Lifelong Learning and Professional Studies, JTS
For more information and/or to apply for a scholarship, please contact us at rti@jtsa.edu.
