Become a Rabbi

Our Rabbinical School Program

In a complicated world, as patterns of Jewish identification and involvement shift and institutions and values are called into question, we need courageous and authentic spiritual leaders to serve and guide us.

The Rabbinical School of Hebrew College is uniquely positioned to prepare Jewish leaders for the 21st century. Founded in 2003 with ten students, today we are thriving as the largest non-Orthodox rabbinical school in the country with 75 students and 185 alumni serving all around the globe. Within Hebrew College’s vibrant pluralistic community, our rabbinical students:

• Find their voice as they cultivate an honest, authentic expression of Judaism and develop a nourishing Jewish spiritual practice;
• Drink deeply from the well of Jewish tradition through our Beit Midrash-centered learning, traditional and creative tefillah, and academically-rigorous courses led by world-renowned faculty;
• Learn to lead diverse communities with skill and an open heart and help heal a fractured world;
• Enrich their learning through our partnerships with Beit T’Shuvah, BTI, Lehrhaus: A Jewish Tavern & House of Learning, Middlebury Language Schools, Moishe House/Base Movement, Naropa University, Pardes, and SVARA. (Learn more below under “Partnerships & Personalization.”

The Center of Learning, Community & Prayer

The Beit Midrash, or study center, is the heart of the Rabbinical School. It is a place of engagement — with Jewish tradition, with one another, with ourselves. We gather in the Beit Midrash to study together, engage in communal prayer and celebration, and share the rhythms of the Jewish year and of one another’s lives. Our students and faculty call this sacred space their second home and see themselves as a community — both within and beyond the walls of the classroom and the Beit Midrash.

Talmud Torah: Learning

Using ancient books and modern laptops, students in the Beit Midrash immerse themselves in sacred texts, developing the skills and habits to make engagement with our inherited tradition a part of their lives in school and beyond. All questions are welcome as students seek wisdom that will help them on their path toward an authentic personal expression of Judaism — and the ability to lead others on this journey as well.

Kehillah: Community

Supporting one another and nurturing a vibrant community is key to the Hebrew College experience and approach. In our diverse community, students and faculty learn with and from each other, supporting each other as we each seek our own path within Jewish tradition. Students cultivate the habits of heart and mind to meet fellow students and future congregants where they are and help them grow. Learn more about our community.

Tefillah: Prayer

In this spacious, light-filled room, we begin each day with vibrant tefillah that is both rooted in Jewish tradition and brimming with innovation. Students learn to tend to their own n’shamot (souls), cultivating Judaism as a spiritual practice, so they can sustain themselves as spiritual leaders and authentically guide others.

Nurturing the Heart, Mind and Soul

Hebrew College rabbinical students are encouraged to cultivate a personally nourishing and sustaining spiritual practice that is rooted in Jewish tradition. For us, this is the basis of being a spiritual guide and companion for others.

Our dynamic, meaningful prayer community welcomes and encourages engagement with traditional Jewish liturgy and prayer forms, as well as experimentation and creativity.

Some mornings, our shacharit (morning prayer service) includes a full, traditional liturgy. Other mornings, it is an innovative take on Jewish prayer, experimenting with liturgy, music, silence and/or movement.

Based on prayer goals and interests, students form smaller “tefillah groups” that both pray together and meet weekly to reflect on their practice. Examples of those groups include: Catharsis Minyan, Full Liturgy Minyan, Contemplative Minyan, Movement Minyan, and many more.

Our tefillah program is truly a communal endeavor that supports the cultivation of each student’s practice and prepares students to lead others into prayer.

Certificate in Tefillah Leadership: Shabbat

The Rabbinical School of Hebrew College has a culture of soulful davening and a reputation for drawing musically gifted students. Our ordinees lead communities in tefillah around the country and the Jewish world, often on the cutting edge of Jewish prayer music.

Tefillah leadership, real and vulnerable, is a multi-layered, nuanced art form, one that calls for training in liturgy and song as well as in listening—to the community, to the Divine, to our ancestral musical lineage.

We created the Certificate in Shabbat Tefillah Leadership to cultivate dynamic prayer in the Jewish world, and to transmit our rich musical and liturgical traditions to a new generation of Jewish leaders. Hebrew College’s renowned faculty members will teach courses for this certificate in partnership with masters of these traditions in the Boston area and beyond.

We invite you to join us for individual course modules, or to work towards the Certificate with four modules.

Contact us

For more information, please contact Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer, Hebrew College Rosh Tefilah & Artist-in-Residence at jmeyer@hebrewcollege.edu.

Module 1

The Kedusha: Fumbling towards Holiness

Instructor: Jessica Kate Meyer
Meetings: Wednesdays @ 3 pm: October 30, November 6, 13, 20, December 4, 11, 18

The angels in Jewish liturgy are clear in their speech and mission. They know what to say, when to say it, and to Whom they are saying it. When American Jewish communities stand together, calling and responding in the poetry of the Kedusha, there is a lot more confusion. In this six-week class, we will study the kedushot of Shabbat shaharit and musaf from textual, mystical, musical, and choreographic perspectives. We will explore the relationship between kahal and shlihat tsibur in the Kedusha’s dialogue and glean more about the nature of prayer.

This class is appropriate for students with strong liturgical Hebrew.

We invite you to join us for individual course modules, or to work towards the Certificate with four modules.

WINTER SESSION: Taste of Tefillah (Open to All)

1. Song and Sustenance: a Zemiros/t intensive – 2 Sessions

Shabbat table songs create a unique musical category, music to sustain our souls while digesting a Shabbat lunch, to give us hizuk during a seudah shlishit, and to lift the energy even higher after a rousing Kabbalat Shabbat service. On Thursday and Friday , January 30 and 31, we will study and sing piyyutim of the Shabbat table, to grow our repertoire, and to send us out into the world to galvanize Shabbat tables everywhere. On Shabbat evening and afternoon, January 31 and February 1, we will gather for a mini-retreat, and warm ourselves by the hearth of the zemiros we’ve learned together.

Date: January 27+28 Shabbat retreat January 31-Feb 1

2. קול הנשמה: a Voice Workshop for Prayer Leaders and Sermonizers (1-2 sessions)
Instructor: Jessica Kate Meyer

As rabbis and shlihei tzibbur, we use our voices publicly more than most people. To be heard, and to sustain our voices over many years in service of the Divine, it is important to connect to our breath support, to learn how to pace ourselves, and to care for this important instrument.

During this workshop, we will focus on practical exercises in support of vocal health and endurance.

3. Prayer Percussion – 1-2 sessions

The rhythm, the beat, the tempo is the engine of prayer. This is what grounds the community and propels us forward, and as shlihei tzibur, we must learn to use our bodies and our shtenders to pick up the pace, slow down the train, or confidently hold the congregation in rhythm. These workshops are for those of us who aren’t percussionists, but who want some fundamental skills, and a few beats for our back pocket.

We invite you to join us for individual course modules, or to work towards the Certificate with four modules.

Module 2-3

Nusah Improvisation for Tefillah Leaders: Nusah 2.0 (Two 6-Session Modules)

The essence of nusah is improvisation l’Shem Shamayim. The texts of our prayers are codified in the siddur, but the kavanah, the meaning we breathe into these words is through song. In this class, students with a foundational knowledge of Ashkenazi Shabbat nusah will learn modal improvisation, primarily by ear, so we may truly sing to God a new (modally-informed) song.

This class is suited to experienced daveners and students with a musical background and a working knowledge of Ashkenazi Shabbat nusah and liturgy

We invite you to join us for individual course modules, or to work towards the Certificate with four modules.

Module 4

Piyut and Practice

The final module of the certificate is a week-long intensive in late May/early June made up of the following components:

Shabbat Piyutim (3 sessions)

Enter the world of Medieval piyyutim from Edot haMizrah, Middle Eastern Jewish communities. We will study the poetry and the music of Shabbat piyyutim, taking our time to understand some thematic and structural principles of the music.

This class is suited to students with a musical background and strong Hebrew skills.

Masterclass in Tefillah (3 sessions)
Instructor:Jessica Kate Meyer

Each student will have the opportunity to workshop a prayer service and receive feedback and guidance in the moment. Students will support each other as ‘Jews in the pew’, and with constructive feedback.

This section of the course is particularly geared to students completing the certificate. It is the culmination of the program, giving students the opportunity to synthesize what they’ve learned throughout the year, and to practice and receive feedback on different skills.

In our program, we guide you through an educational journey to becoming a rabbi and give you the space to shape the program to your needs and interests.

Partnerships

Lehrhaus: A Jewish Tavern & House of Learning

Hebrew College is proud to partner with Lehrhaus, a hub of Jewish learning and living right here in Somerville, MA. Our faculty and students are among the many wonderful educators teaching classes and hosting events at Lehrhaus. You will also find Hebrew College students serving as rabbinic interns and supporting others in their learning in this innovative Jewish space. Hebrew College students and faculty also enjoy free membership to learn, work, and collaborate in Lehrhaus’ beautiful Beit Midrash during daytime hours.

Middlebury language schools

Hebrew College is joining in a new strategic partnership with Middlebury School of Hebrew, in summer 2024 which will provide a significant opportunity for incoming ordination students to enhance their Hebrew language skills. This collaboration will allow new rabbinical students to access an unparalleled immersive learning experience during the summer before they begin their studies in Newton. The School of Hebrew is a constituent of the Middlebury Language Schools, one of the foremost language learning programs in the United States. Learn more.

naropa university

Hebrew College’s Miller Center for Interreligious Learning & Leadership partners with Naropa University on programming and events. The birthplace of the modern mindfulness movement, Naropa University is challenging mainstream higher education by inviting the whole student—mind, body, and spirit—to show up in the classroom.  Learn more.

Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies

The Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem immerses students in the study of classical Jewish texts. Men and women of diverse religious backgrounds learn together in a rigorous, challenging and open-minded environment. Hebrew College and the Pardes Institute offer a two-year, pluralistic graduate degree program that leads to a Master of Jewish Education and Certificate in Jewish Day School Education from Hebrew College and a Certificate of Advanced Jewish Studies from the Pardes Institute.

> Read the press release

Boston Theological Interreligious (BTI) Consortium

Hebrew College is proud to be a member of the Boston Theological Interreligious (BTI) Consortium. Through this consortium, Hebrew College students have access to the resources of theological schools and seminaries throughout the greater Boston area and some of the world’s most prestigious educational institutions. You can learn more about the BTI and see a full list of course offerings. Students who choose can also receive a certificate in Interreligious Leadership while they pursue their rabbinic or cantorial students.

Beit T’Shuvah

We are grateful to partner with Beit T’shuvah to teach a course for Hebrew College rabbinical students on Jewish pastoral care for those struggling with addiction and recovery.

Moishe House/Base Movement

Hebrew College and Moishe House (which runs BASE), are partnering to provide opportunities for rabbinical students in the Boston area to train in BASE’s relational model of engagement. Through this partnership, students will have the opportunity to intern and live in Moishe House, and work for a BASE as they prepare for career opportunities as a BASE rabbi upon ordination.

SVARA

Hebrew College joins with SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva to transform how, where, and why rabbis teach Talmud. Hebrew College will offer a fellowship to current rabbinical students and alumni beginning in Academic Year 2021-22, helping them strengthen the ways in which they teach Torah in their communities. Fellows will participate in an intensive training module with Rabbi Lappe to turn their theoretical study of Talmud pedagogy into the skills of teaching, as well as a semester-long study of Talmud pedagogy with Rabbi Dr. Kanarek. Fellows will then teach Talmud classes under the supervision and guidance of Rabbi Lappe and Rabbi Dr. Kanarek, drawing on the pedagogies and skills they have gained in the program.

>> Read the press release

Pardes Educators Program

Students can apply to start their Rabbinical School experience by participating in the Pardes Educators Program, a two-year program in Jerusalem that combines intensive text study at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies with a Master of Jewish Education from Hebrew College. Participation in this program fulfills one year of rabbinical studies at Hebrew College and students then enter Hebrew College in Shanah Bet.

Graduates of Pardes Educators-Rabbinical School of Hebrew College joint program earn a Master of Jewish Education from Hebrew College’s Shoolman Graduate School of Jewish Education, a Certificate of Advanced Jewish Studies from the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, and a Masters of Jewish Studies and Rabbinic ordination from Hebrew College. Upon completion of rabbinical school, students who participated in PEP will then fulfill their requirement to work for at least three years in a Jewish day school in North America.

Applicants must be accepted by both Pardes and the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College to participate. Tuition for this program is subsidized.

Master of Jewish Education

Students can choose to do a Masters in Jewish Education through MaTaRoT: Hebrew College’s Center for Professional Learning & Leadership. Learn more here.

Part-Time Option

The Rabbinical School is generally a full-time program; however, students can choose to spend semesters or years taking classes part-time. While attending part-time will extend the length of time of the program, it is a useful option for students who need greater schedule flexibility.