ALEPH is distinguished from other seminaries by two main features: 1. It’s a “seminary without walls,” a “low-residency” program in which students from all over the world come together a few times each year, but otherwise attend video-conference courses, retreats, and participate in other “learning modalities” to reach their academic goals, rather than attending a campus-based school. Each ALEPH student designs a yearly learning plan under the direct supervision of their Director of Studies, ultimately …

READ MOREKnow Your Seminary: ALEPH Ordination Program.

The Search Committee’s fifth meeting on August 25th focused on articulating and prioritizing the many roles our future rabbi will play. Drawing from “Aliya: A Congregation’s Rabbinic Search Guide,” the committee identified fourteen vital dimensions to this unique job, such as: “Pastoral Counselor”; “Worship Leader”; “Teacher”; “Music Leader”; “Social Activist”; “Administrator”; “Fundraiser”; and “Community Builder.” Our new rabbi must be competent, of course, in every role. But what are the three or four roles the …

READ MOREThe Role of the Rabbi

Among the ways the Search Committee is preparing for upcoming interviews with applicants, the members are familiarizing themselves with the different rabbinical schools the applicants may have attended. Curious, yourself? Then in the second of our continuing series “Know Your Seminary!” we’ll be profiling the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC). Founded in 1968, the RRC is the only seminary officially affiliated with the Reconstructionist Movement. Located in Wyncote, PA (just a few miles north of Philadelphia), …

READ MOREKnow Your Seminary: Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

This week we’ll be profiling Rabbi Noyo’s alma mater, Hebrew College. Founded in 1921 in the Boston area (and planning a move to a new Newton campus this January), Hebrew College is so-named because a cornerstone of its original vision was teaching exclusively in Hebrew, reflecting an ardent Zionism in its founding members. Today, the college emphasizes its role as “a pluralistic institution, recognizing and valuing human diversity.” Communal responsibility and Jewish creativity are two …

READ MOREKnow Your Seminary: Hebrew College