Spotlight on CLAL

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Clal Selects Inaugural Class for Its Ground-Breaking
Rabbis Without Borders Fellowship Program

Rabbis Without Borders (RWB), CLAL’s new initiative to help rabbis make Jewish wisdom accessible to the wider American public, selected its first group of fellows for its competitive rabbinic fellowship program. More than 80 applications were received for the 22 spots. See the list below.

"We are very excited by the amount of interest generated by this program," said Rabbi Rebecca W. Sirbu, RWB Director. "Clearly rabbis recognize the need to apply their skills in new ways to reach a wider audience, and make the teachings and tools from Jewish wisdom more accessible. This unique program offers that kind of support, helping rabbis to better communicate in both familiar and new venues, and to make Jewish thought and practice a real resource for the American public."

The program, launched this year, is designed to encourage rabbis to "think out of the box," and create a network of interdenominational religious leaders from across North America who can make Jewish wisdom more available to people for enriching their lives. As the key conveyers of Jewish wisdom, rabbis who can disseminate the insights more easily will not only nurture better teachers and community builders, but will create religious leaders with unique tools to offer the broader culture.

The Rabbinic Fellows will gather six times in New York City over the course of one year. Fellows will study with leading thinkers, authors, and influential people from a variety of fields. These experts will work with them to help spot the trends and identify the ways in which Americans make meaning in their lives. The first session, to be held on June 30, will host Prof. Barry Kosmin, the principal investigator of the 2001 American Religious Identification survey. Other experts will include: Steve Waldman, Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of Beliefnet, and Bill Donohue, President and CEO of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

The program is also developing a variety of resources to help rabbis enhance their skills for addressing a variety of audiences. From online learning to one-on-one conversations, participants will work with CLAL faculty to develop methodologies that draw on the texts and tradition in new ways. The goal is for these "spiritual innovators" to see their congregations as more than just members of their school, community or institution.

Since CLAL began in 1974, its mission has been to help prepare the Jewish people for the unprecedented freedom and openness of America. Started by Rabbi Irving "Yitz" Greenberg and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, CLAL formed a network of rabbis capable of translating Jewish wisdom and practice into useful idioms for contemporary life. RWB is the next phase of this work.

Alana Suskin, Gaithersburg, MD
Amy Small, Summit NJ
Carnie Rose, Creve Coeur, MO
Dan Ain, Brooklyn, NY
Darby Leigh, Englewood, NJ
Eliot Pearlson, Miami Beach, FL
Eric Solomon, Raleigh, NC
Geoffrey Mitelman, Chappaqua, NY
Helaine Ettinger, Millburn NJ
Hillel Norry, Atlanta, GA
Jason Herman, New York, NY
Jason Miller, Farmington Hills, MI
Marcia Prager, Philadelphia, PA
Michael Balinsky, Chicago, IL
Nahum Ward-Lev, Santa Fe, NM
Phil Lieberman, Englewood, NJ
Rachel Ain, Dewitt, NY
Rachel Gurevitz, Bridgeport, CT
Rachel Kahn Troster, Teaneck, NJ
Ruth Abusch-Magder, Evanston, IL
Tamara Miller, Washington, DC
Yonah Berman, Westmount, QC

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