One of the things I greatly value about the Institute for Jewish Spirituality is that we are a learning organization. We are constantly exploring how we can more skillfully nurture mindful leaders who can work with us to revitalize Jewish life. One way we do that is by evaluating our programs to investigate their effectiveness and challenge their assumptions.

As a result of this analysis, we are delighted to announce that our next clergy cohort, which will begin in January 2014, will be open to both cantors and rabbis. This brand new program will build on the foundation of previous rabbinic and cantorial cohorts, grounded in mindfulness practice and neo-Hasidic spirituality.

We will explore all five of the Institute’s core practices (prayer, Talmud Torah, mindfulness meditation, tikkun middot and embodied awareness through yoga,) with a special focus on prayer, both as a personal practice and as a practice of leading others. We will also consider how all these practices

can strengthen our leadership more generally within our communities.

At the Institute, we envision synagogues as sacred communities in which communal prayer and other aspects of traditional Jewish life are vibrant and spiritually engaging. We believe that Jewish leaders can lead with greater awareness, authenticity, courage and presence, with less burnout and greater satisfaction in their work. We have seen that spiritual practices can help leaders be more open and more resilient.

We are hopeful that this combined cohort will advance this vision by addressing the real needs of synagogues in creating more meaningful spiritual experiences, the changing role of the cantor in Jewish communal life and even the sometimes complicated relationships between clergy members. We are very excited to take this step in the ongoing evolution of the Institute as the pre-eminent venue for deep, transformative change in Jewish spiritual life.

Applications for the program will be available in the spring of 2013. For more information please contact Rabbi Jonathan Slater, at jonathan@jewishspirituality.org.

[February 2013 email newsletter]