Rabbanut North America: The Hartman Beit Midrash for New North American Rabbis

The Shalom Hartman Institute’s Beit Midrash for New North American Rabbis (Rabbanut North America) is training visionary leaders in the Jewish texts, ideas, and skills they need to lead the North American Jewish community as cutting-edge rabbis. The inaugural cohorts of Rabbanut North America will be ordained as rabbinic thought leaders fully equipped to lead communities and institutions grounded in pluralism, moral aspiration, commitment to Jewish peoplehood, and courageous leadership.

Rabbanut North America is a pathway to the rabbinate for candidates who have already proven themselves in a first career and are prepared to move quickly and efficiently through a course of study designed to build on their existing strengths and fill in whatever gaps they may have in their knowledge and skills. Our Institute, because it is not modeled on the university, is a nimble and creative organization with extensive experience in designing and implementing this kind of program. – Yehuda Kurtzer, President, Shalom Hartman Institute

In this challenging moment of Jewish history, Jews are turning to their rabbis in unprecedented numbers for pastoral support, moral clarity, guidance, understanding, and tools for activism. Jews are also flocking to community for a sense of belonging. This reengagement with Jewish community presents a renewed opportunity for rabbis to shape the future of Jewish identity, meaning, and purpose for the next generation.

Rabbanut North America, this new network of North American rabbis, will join their counterparts from Hartman’s Rabbanut Yisraelit: The Hartman Beit Midrash for Israeli Rabbis, which has ordained four cohorts of rabbis since 2015. Together, these innovative rabbis will form a pluralistic rabbinate for the Jewish people and forge new paths of leadership for the future of Judaism and Zionism.

The Jim Joseph Foundation is a supporter of Rabbanut North America. Learn more about the program, including its model and curriculum, at hartman.org.il/program/rabbanut-north-america/.