Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Twenty-eight Rabbis Together in Jerusalem

What do you get when you engage 28 rabbis in creative Jewish learning and programming in the heart of Jerusalem?  For nearly four weeks, I participated in the first stint of the fifth cohort of the Rabbinic Leadership Initiative (RLI), sponsored by the Shalom Hartman Institute.  Our cohort consists of rabbis spanning at least 25 years in age and representing a broad ideological spectrum.  

Among the group are several Renewal rabbis as well as members of the faculty of Yeshivat Maharat, which describes itself as “the first institution to ordain Orthodox women as spiritual leaders and halakhic authorities."
 
In the coming months, I will be writing and speaking further about what I’ve learned so far through RLI.  At this point, I want to give some impressions and a few anecdotes as an introduction to the scope and depth of the program.