Michael Siegel, Senior Rabbi Anshe Emet Synagogue; David Steinhardt, Senior Rabbi B’nai Torah Congregation; and Julie Schonfeld, Rabbi and EVP of The Rabbinical Assembly of Conservative Rabbis

Background

	Janet Marder, Senior Rabbi Congregation Beth Am, with Jack Moline, Rabbi Agudas Achim Congregation
	Richard Agler, Senior Rabbi Congregation B’nai Israel, with Daniel Cohen, Senior Rabbi Congregation Agudah Sholom. All photos © Evanston Photographic Studios

Rabbis’ requests for a specialized Kellogg executive program led to the development of KJL.  As with all such requests for a “custom program,” Kellogg executive educators researched the marketplace.  We talked with diverse congregational rabbis and movement leaders, designed the overall program and on-campus session curriculum, and thoroughly vetted it.

KJL’s curriculum and overall program fills a vital marketplace need.  For the first National Conference on Continuing Rabbinic Education in September 2008, conference organizers commissioned JESNA research.  The results showed that rabbis “seek ways to address their lack of skills in business leadership and congregational management.”  In addition to “self-care/self-awareness tasks,” the areas rabbis identified most frequently as requiring additional growth and proficiency were:

• Leadership development/role clarification
• Positive relationship building/conflict management
• Program evaluation and fiscal/financial management.                   

KJL addresses these three skill sets. 

The conference’s steering committee concluded that continuing rabbinic education “can be an educational movement with the power to transform 21st century rabbis, the rabbinate, and Jewish communities.”