HARTMANRabbinic Leadership

Hartman Rabbinic Programs provide intensive continuing education, intellectual challenge, and spiritual nourishment ֿfor rabbis of all denominations

Hartman Rabbinic Leadership ProgramsDespite the dramatically shifting identity of the North American Jewish community

and its demographics, rabbis and synagogues have remained the backbone of

Jewish identity and engagement across the United States for more than 100 years.

Jews of all denominations continue to turn to their rabbi and local synagogue

for ritual and study, yet despite the crucial role that rabbis play, there are very few

structured frameworks for ongoing rabbinic study, enrichment, and intellectual

leadership training.

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Since its inception nearly 35 years ago, the Shalom Hartman Institute

has made the advancement of Rabbinic Leadership a core mission.

Widely recognized as a leader in pluralistic, intensive, thoughtful, and

challenging study and leadership development opportunities for rabbis

of all denominations, the Institute offers a variety of rabbinic programs

universally respected for the quality of their faculty and the depth of

Torah study in which participants engage. Rabbis participating in Hartman

Rabbinic Programs, led by Rabbi Dr. Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi,

deepen their textual knowledge and broaden their repertoire of ideas

while strengthening their relationship with Israel. Studying together in

a spiritually and intellectually challenging Beit Midrash pushes rabbis to

develop their own voices as intellectual and spiritual leaders in North

America. By learning to continually infuse their communities with new

energy, these rabbis become ever-more significant agents of change and

intellectual leaders in North American Jewish life.

"My learning at the Hartman Institute has affected my rabbinate in profound ways. First, it helped me take myself more seriously as a teacher, leader, and thinker. Second, it helped me recognize the power of Klal Yisrael and how much I could learn from other rabbis. Finally, it taught me over and over again how important Israel is not only in the larger Jewish story but also in my own story. I am a better rabbi because of my connection to the Hartman Institute."

Rabbi Laura Geller, Temple Emanuel of

Beverly Hills, Beverly Hills, CA

"RTS was an extraordinary experience. I was inspired not only by the content of the teaching but by the enthusiasm, humor, and humility of the teachers across the board. Hartman gives me hope."

Rabbi Jay Rosenbaum, Herzl-Ner Tamid,

Seattle, WA

Rabbinic Torah Study SeminarPowerful learning and spiritual development

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Our annual 10-day seminar for rabbis of all

denominations is a powerful learning experience

and opportunity for spiritual development. More

than 100 rabbis, many of whom return year after

year, convene at the Hartman campus in Jerusalem

to engage in thought-provoking, pluralistic study

that helps them to meet the diverse and complex

needs of their communities with renewed energy

while enhancing their knowledge, gaining new

insights, and enriching their capacity to inspire.

For more information about the program, see http://hartman.org.il/rts

The intensive three-year Rabbinic Leadership Initiative (RLI) immerses

an elite cadre of North American rabbis in the highest levels of Jewish

learning. RLI equips rabbis to meet contemporary challenges with ever-

increasing intellectual and moral sophistication.

Over the course of the three-year program, participants spend a month

each summer and a week each winter studying at the Hartman campus

in Jerusalem. During the remainder of each year, participants engage

in study with North American rabbinic partners and leading Hartman

Institute scholars in our virtual Beit Midrash, studying classical and

modern sources and developing ways to integrate this learning into their

work as rabbis. The pluralistic framework of the program fosters a vibrant

exchange of ideas and creates a community of rabbis uniquely able to

elevate the quality of Jewish life in North America.

Rabbinic Leadership InitiativeA transformative experience, immersing rabbis in the highest levels of Jewish learning

"RLI has opened up my thinking and broadened my views and inspired me to teach more text and innovate more in practice. It has enriched me personally and professionally and I am a stronger leader because of it."

Rabbi Amy Small, Beth Hatikvah,

Summit, NJ

We are grateful to the many private

supporters and to the following

federations that have supported

rabbis participating in RLI: Jewish

Federation of Greater Los Angeles,

Jewish Community Federation of

San Francisco, Jewish Federation

of Metropolitan Chicago, Jewish

Federation of Utah, United Jewish

Communities of MetroWest New Jersey,

Combined Jewish Philanthropies of

Greater Boston, Jewish Federation of

Northern New Jersey.

For more information about the

program, see http://hartman.org.il/rli

Launched in 2011, the annual RLI study retreat offers rabbis

an additional opportunity to “recharge their personal

batteries” and explore the possibility of creating joint

initiatives with fellow alumni that have the potential to

have an impact beyond the community of each individual

rabbi. Participants enjoy intensive Beit Midrash study and

lectures on relevant topics with SHI and guest faculty

such as Rabbi Professor David Ellenson, Professor Moshe

Halbertal, Professor Israel Knohl, Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer, and

Rabbi Dr. Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, while rejuvenating

the bonds they have previously formed with one another.

The retreat includes roundtable sessions for collegial

sharing/teaching and a special evening to which local

colleagues are invited to experience Hartman learning.

For more information, see http://www.hartman.org.il/rlialumni2012

RLI Alumni Retreat

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Developing Hartman Rabbinic Leadership

Hartman Beit Midrash for Rabbis in North AmericaContinuing education, intellectual challenge, and spiritual nourishmentLaunched in fall 2011, the Hartman Beit Midrash for

Rabbis seeks to provide continuing education, intellectual

challenge, and spiritual nourishment for rabbis in their home

communities. In 2011-2012, the Beit Midrash for Rabbis will

meet in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco and will

likely be expanded into Toronto, Chicago, New Jersey, and

southern Florida in the future. The monthly Beit Midrash

is hosted by leading local institutions (often in partnership

with the local Board of Rabbis) and SHI rabbinic fellows. Top

SHI scholars, such as Rabbi Dr. Donniel Hartman, Dr. Yehuda

Kurtzer, Dr. Tal Becker, Dr. Melila Hellner-Eshed, Dr. Ariel

Picard, Rabbi Dr. Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, and Noam

Zion, lead text study for local rabbis, providing inspiration

as well as practical application. Through these encounters

Hartman rabbinic program alumni and future rabbinic program

participants experience the excellence of Hartman teaching.

Bring Hartman scholars to your community

Hartman Institute Video Lecture Series

Thousands of congregants throughout North

America have already benefited from the

partnership of their rabbis with the Hartman

Institute. Through the Hartman Institute Video

Lecture Series, rabbis teach text materials, present

lectures by SHI faculty, and lead discussions,

challenging participants to think more deeply

about urgent questions facing the Jewish people.

Comprised of video lectures and source material,

the first three volumes of the series, Leadership

and Crisis, The Other in Jewish Tradition,

and Jewish Peoplehood: The Meaning of the

Collective in Modern Jewish Life (release in 2012),

draw on cutting-edge scholarship to address

the burning questions of our time. A special

edition series, Engaging Israel: Foundations for

a New Relationship, goes deeper than politics or

advocacy to reframe the discussion about the

enduring significance of the State of Israel for

contemporary Jews worldwide.

“Al Rabbanan v’Al Talmidehon....for our teachers and their students and the students of their students. The Hartman DVD series brings students in our congregations into the lineage of great teachers that is the Shalom Hartman Institute. What a blessing!”

Rabbi Judith HaLevy, Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue, Malibu, CA

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Special Edition:Engaging Israel: Foundations for a New RelationshipGoing deeper than politics or advocacy, the

Engaging Israel course reframes the discussion

about the enduring significance of the State of

Israel for contemporary Jews worldwide. This

curriculum elevates the conversation about Israel

by rooting it in Jewish values and ideas rather

than in response to crisis, equipping individuals

and communities with a quintessentially Jewish

values-based vocabulary to define and articulate

why Israel can and should be fundamental to

their Jewish identity.

“Bringing the Shalom Hartman Institute’s Engaging Israel series to my congregation and community is one of the best decisions I’ve made in my rabbinate. Engaging Israel is providing my congregants with a new, meaningful paradigm for relationship with Israel.”

Rabbi Jacob Herber, Congregation Beth

Israel, Glendale, WI

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Volume III:Jewish Peoplehood and the Meaning of the Collective in Modern Jewish LifeBased on core Biblical and classical rabbinical

texts, the lectures in this series explore different

models of Jewish Peoplehood and apply new

understandings to contemporary reality. The

units in this series focus on questions such as:

Who are the Jews? What is the role of place?

How does one understand the conflict between

the individual and the collective? What are core

principles of Jewish Peoplehood today?

“I have rarely seen a group of congregants take to a learning opportunity as they did to the Shalom Hartman Institute DVD Lecture Series. The students quickly took to each week’s practice of hevruta study, eagerly engaging one another over text study... By the last few weeks they were chomping at the bit to get to their texts... Asked ‘now what comes next?’ I told them, ‘The next series from SHI.’ We can’t wait!”

Rabbi Eric S. Gurvis, Temple Shalom of Newton,

Newton, MA

Coming

Soon

Volume II: The Other in Jewish Tradition: Challenges and OpportunitiesThis volume explores the challenge of Jewish

identity in a contemporary context and describes

how engagement with the changing definitions

of who is a Jew can shape the future and

strengthen the Jewish people.

Volume I: Leadership and Crisis: Jewish Resources and ResponsesDrawing upon centuries of Jewish scholarship—

from Biblical sources to Holocaust literature—

this volume suggests Jewish responses to the

challenges posed by geopolitical and economic

crises.

For additional information or to place an order, see www.hartman.org.il/dvd

The Engaging Israel Conference for Rabbinic

Students targets students from six seminaries

spending a year in Israel as part of their

rabbinic studies. These students, who will very

soon become rabbis influencing thousands,

are often themselves affected by growing

disenchantment with and disengagement from

Israel. The conference presents them with a

new Jewish values-based discourse regarding

the Jewish state and equips them with tools

and pedagogical methodologies to effectively

communicate this discourse to the Jewish

communities with which they will work.

The Shalom Hartman Institute Rabbinic Students

Seminar focuses on pluralistic text study of

traditional and contemporary Jewish and Israeli

sources, community building amongst students,

and cultivation of rabbinic identity. The program

provides an opportunity for North American

rabbinical students of all denominations to

study with leading Hartman scholars during

their year in Israel. Creating this partnership

with young rabbinical students from across the

denominational divide in the formative years of

their training enables them to expand their view

of Jewish values and to explore how these ideas

can be integrated into their work in the rabbinate.

Pluralistic text study, community building, and cultivation of rabbinic identity

Rabbinic Students Seminar Engaging Israel Conference for Rabbinic StudentsA new, Jewish values-based discourse and pedagogical methodologies to effectively communicate it

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For more information about the program,

see www.hartman.org.il/rabbinicstudent

Rabbinic Student Initiatives

The Shalom Hartman Institute (SHI) is a center of transformative thinking and teaching that addresses the major

challenges facing the Jewish people and elevates the quality of Jewish life in Israel and around the world. A leader

in sophisticated, ideas-based Jewish education for community leaders and change agents, SHI is committed to the

significance of Jewish ideas, the power of applied scholarship, and the conviction that great teaching contributes to

the growth and continual revitalization of the Jewish people. The Institute consists of three divisions:

The Kogod Research Center for Contemporary Jewish Thought generates ideas and research on contemporary

issues central to Jewish life in Israel and around the world.

The Center for Israeli-Jewish Identity creates educational models and infrastructure aimed at nurturing pluralistic

Jewish identity among Israeli educators and leaders.

Shalom Hartman Institute of North America (SHI-NA) implements educational and research programs for North

American change agents – lay leaders, rabbis, educators, scholars, and professionals – to enrich and redefine Jewish

life in their communities. SHI-NA works to catalyze vital change by:

• Collaborating and creating deep partnerships with leading and innovative Jewish organizations.

• Selecting and cultivating with these organizations a cadre of leaders with the ability to serve as new agents of change.

• Defining the unique Judaic needs, purposes, goals, and challenges of these institutions and their communities.

• Creating and implementing Jewish educational programs that draw on 3,000 years of Jewish creativity, ideas,

and values to create and inspire vibrant Jewish life.

About the Shalom Hartman Institute

Shalom Hartman Institute11 Gedalyahu Alon Street Jerusalem 93113 ISRAEL | +972-2-567-5320

• Rabbi Rachel Sabath Beit-Halachmi, Ph.D.Vice President, SHI North America; Director, Rabbinic Leadership Programs

• Marlene Houri, Rabbinic Programs Coordinatormarlene@shi.org.il

Shalom Hartman Institute of North AmericaOne Pennsylvania Plaza Suite 1606 | New York, NY 10119 USA

+1 (212) 268-0300

• Yehuda Kurtzer, Ph.D., President

w w w . h a r t m a n . o r g . i l

HARTMANRabbinic Leadership