Below please find the descriptions and facilitators for each of the Professional Learning Communities that will be offered during Sacred Connections, our 2021 Rabbinical Assembly Convention. Each group is limited in number to maximize the opportunity for genuine conversation. We are looking for diversity in many of the groups (i.e. geography, gender, career, age demographics). Therefore, groups will be formed based on order of request and demographics.
Please note that for continuity of experience, PLC participation requires attendance for the full experience (Monday March 1 - Wednesday March 3; 12:00 - 2:00 pm ET). Reach out to Sheryl Katzman with any questions.
All sessions are categorized according to one of the Bold Statements of our RA Strategic Plan.
Our Careers: Strengthening & Supporting
Career Fulfillment (Aaron Brusso & Stephen Treat): What defines career fulfillment? Take a pause to consider this question and develop your own metrics of success. With the guidance of an expert in the area of Career Fulfillment, we will consider how to define rabbinic success in various settings, and identify the criteria that we consider when forming this definition (i.e. what do we mean by impact, what role do numbers and setting play in our definition). How can we use our interests and passions to develop definitions of success and fulfillment?
Dignity in Critical Feedback (Melinda Zalma & Donna Hicks) How can we strengthen ourselves to receive and respond to critical feedback? Strengthening our response to critical feedback has the potential to open up conversations that honor our own dignity and the dignity of each individual. In many rabbinic professional settings we are called upon to give and receive critical feedback. This feedback is sometimes solicited, and also comes at times when we are not prepared to be in this mode of communication. We will use the Dignity Model to develop a set of tools and techniques that will help us turn offensive and disrespectful moments into opportunities to deepen personal relationships.
Women & Power (Ilana Garber & Gloria Feldt) How can we use understandings about women and power to build a healthier rabbinate? In its boldest phrasing we will ask: How will we smash the patriarchy and build a healthier rabbinate? This question holds within it these essential questions 1) How is power within the rabbinate defined now and how do we want it to be defined intentionally so that as women we can contribute our full gifts to our profession and be valued for it? 2) What are concrete steps to make that change happen for ourselves and the rabbinate as a whole? This group is for women only.
Preparing for Retirement (Howard Hoffman and Mark Greenspan + TBD) What are the concrete steps we can take to plan for a meaningful and fulfilling retirement? This PLC is intended for those planning for retirement in 1-3 years. We will explore several important transitions to consider as we plan for this next phase of our careers. Mitch Smilowitz will join us to help us develop a sound financial plan. Retired colleagues will share their wisdom and experience to help us with the emotional, spiritual, and tachlis plans that pave the way for meaning and fulfillment.
Our Torah: Designing a Post-Covid World
Jewish End of Life in a Virtual Age (David Levin & Anne Brenner) What do end of life rituals look like in a virtual age? How will we use and design rituals connected to grief and mourning that will hold a light to the unprocessed grief of the past year? How can we create new end of life rituals as our post-pandemic world evolves? Together we will design mourning and grieving rituals that will help us move to a post-pandemic period.
Transition Rituals for a Post-Pandemic Time (Guido Cohen) How can we use our tradition and innovation to design a ritual that marks our transition to a post-pandemic time? During our time together we will utilize old rituals in a new way, and introduce new ritual possibilities, to honor the experience of the pandemic - acknowledging our gratitude for those who helped us through, and mourning the losses we experienced. Drawing on rituals that help us mark the passage from one period of time, and one state of being to the next, we will develop a ritual to help guide our communities through this important transition.
Post-Covid Halakhic Responses (Joshua Heller) What parts of our pandemic were ruled only in response to she’at hadehak and what can be carried over to the post-pandemic time? The teshuvot written to respond to the pandemic created a new reality. Which practices are truly hora’at sha’ah, and how do we determine when that situation no longer applies? What constitutes she’at hadehak, and which practices should be considered on an ongoing basis as “norms” for our practice? This group will work with Joshua Heller to advise on the next teshuvot to be developed by the CJLS.
Our Truths: Dover Emet
Publishing our Social Justice/Public Policy Torah (Jay Kornsgold, Andi Merow + TBD) How can I effectively add my voice to issues of social justice/public policy? Participants will have the opportunity to discuss the complexities of bringing the rabbinic voice to this arena of discourse, and will learn strategies for navigating those complexities with the guidance of experienced colleagues.
During our time together we will each work to develop a piece of writing related to an issue of social justice/public policy for publication in a newspaper or blog.. Novice and experienced colleagues will develop an individual piece that will benefit from collegial feedback. Our time together will include the chance to workshop our writing for feedback.
Racial Justice (Reuven Greenvald + TBD) What does it mean to be a proximate in the fight for racial justice? Where have we found success, and what are the stumbling blocks that we encounter in this work? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught that authentic racial justice work happens in physical proximity and spiritual affinity. Jewish proximity to racial justice comes in several forms - some of us as Jews of color and parents/partners of people of color, many of us in allyship. This group will focus on gathering the work we are doing individually for racial justice in order to harness our varied experiences towards deeper affinity and concerted efforts in this important arena. During these three days, we will tap into our collective wisdom to support the development of an action plan to guide our next steps.
Our Innovation: Engagement
Collaborative Partnerships (Sherre Hirsch) How do we cultivate and maximize collaborative partnerships to deliver best in class digital learning to the broadest audiences possible? Everyone has experienced a great need for digital learning with limited sources for doing so. And we all have a desire to deliver broad, deep, top-tier content beyond what we can do on our own. These three sessions will be a focus group to inform the launch of a platform that can serve multiple partners to bring Jewish wisdom to all.
Spiritual Engagement for Adults with Memory Loss & Their Caregivers (Judith Hauptman, Sheryl Harawitz, Julie Rockowitz, Meredith Wong) How can we effectively serve the spiritual needs of adults with memory loss in our communities? Through the lens of designing a Kabbalat Shabbat service for individuals impacted by Alzheimer's/dementia and their families, we will consider how we can provide spiritual support to families impacted by memory loss. What are the reasons someone would participate in a Kabbalat Shabbat service aimed at people with Alzheimer's/dementia and their caregivers? We will share what we have learned from our experiences with people living with memory loss and their caregivers to develop new models of tefillah that provide spiritual fulfillment and meaningful community. Meredith Wong, manager of Connect2Culture at CaringKind, an organization dedicated to meeting the needs of people with dementia will join us to help apply the principles used to design museum programs targeted to reach people with memory loss to Friday night tefillah experiences.
Expanding & Growing the Pipeline of Jewish Educators (Jeremy Winaker + TBD) How do we retain and recruit the next generation of Jewish educators for our institutions? We are facing a time of great shifts in Jewish education. Currently our educational institutions are facing high retirement numbers. At the same time, we are noticing the trend of Millennial “bounce” where many of our most engaged young adults do not go on to assume leadership roles. How can we use our understanding of millennials and Gen Z to improve the educator pipeline?