Building Strong Communities By
Training Strong Communal Rabbis
barkai trains rabbis

Barkai certifies Israeli rabbis in counseling, abuse recognition, sensitivity training,
mediation and more. Armed with these pastoral skills, rabbis are better equipped to
support, sustain, and provide for their community’s spiritual and familial health.

Building Strong Communities By Training Strong Communal Rabbis
barkai trains rabbis

Barkai certifies Israeli rabbis in counseling, abuse recognition, sensitivity training, mediation and more. Armed with these pastoral skills, rabbis are better equipped to support, sustain, and provide for their community’s spiritual and familial health.

Rabbinic Program
Our two year program teaches rabbis the skills they need to lead a healthy community. Barkai rabbis are better equipped to support and sustain their community’s spiritual and emotional wellbeing. Individuals and families with a support network show greater resilience, mental stability, and communal health.
Rabbaniot Program
Women often prefer to speak to other women. Thus, Barkai provides monthly workshops for the wives and partners of our rabbis. Training in counseling, active listening, coaching, communal work and mediation enables them to be a source of support, comfort, role modeling and information for other women and girls.
Pulpit Rabbis Exchange Program
Sharing their expertise and learning from each other, six RCA and six Barkai Rabbis will embark on a special rabbinic program spending time in their paired community fine tuning their chaplaincy and community building skills while bringing Israeli and Diaspora communities closer together.
Lay Leadership Development
A synagogue depends on its lay leadership for programming, communication, oversight and operations. Lay leadership builds strong bonds within the community and with the rabbi and rabbanit. Barkai guides and supports the creation of lay leadership with conferences and support throughout the year.
Rabbinic Program
Our two year program teaches rabbis the skills they need to lead a healthy community. Barkai rabbis are better equipped to support and sustain their community’s spiritual and emotional wellbeing. Individuals and families with a support network show greater resilience, mental stability, and communal health.
Rabbaniot Program
Women prefer to speak to other women about certain matters. Thus, Barkai provides monthly workshops for the wives and partners of our rabbis. Training in counseling, active listening, coaching, communal work and mediation enables them to be a source of support, comfort, role modeling and information for the women and girls of the community.
Pulpit Rabbis Exchange Program
Sharing their expertise and learning from each other, six RCA and six Barkai Rabbis will embark on a special rabbinic program spending time in their paired community fine tuning their chaplaincy and community building skills while bringing Israeli and Diaspora communities closer together.
Lay Leadership Development
A synagogue depends on its lay leadership for programming, communication, oversight and operations. Lay leadership builds strong bonds within the community and with the rabbi and rabbanit. Barkai guides and supports the creation of lay leadership with conferences and support throughout the year.

BARKAI in Numbers
barkai trains rabbis

Synagogues

Rabbis

Congregants

Rabbaniot

Hours of Training

How to Apply:

Applications will be accepted until Sunday June 14, 2020 (Sivan 22) at 12:00 noon and should be sent to office@israelrabbis.org. In the topic line of the email please indicate the category.

Each application should include the name of the candidate or the community, a detailed description of why the candidate is worthy for the prize based on the criteria below, the names of 2 references including contact information and the name of contact person.

Rabbinic Achievement Award:

  • Has served as a synagogue community rabbi for at least 5 years
  • Ordained as a rabbi by the Chief Rabbinate of the State of Israel
  • Is regularly available to and in contact with his congregants
  • Teaches shiurim to a wide array of audiences
  • Works to make the synagogue accessible to all populations including the secular
  • Works to make the synagogue accessible to people with disabilities
  • Counsels and is available to congregants for personal issues and in times of crisis
  • A beloved person who inspires his community
  • A figure who unifies and instills peace in the community

Community Excellence Award:

  • Community has been in existence for a minimum of years
  • Synagogue employs a rabbi
  • Synagogue conducts Tefilla and Shiurim on Shabbat and during the week
  • Synagogue community engages in acts of chesed internally (births, mourning etc.)
  • Synagogue community engages in wider chesed activities
  • Synagogue actively opens its doors to all segments of the community and attempts to be inclusive in all its activities
  • Synagogue works to be accessible and inclusive of people with disabilities
  • Synagogue works to improve the larger community in which it is located

Distinguished Synagogue President/Gabbai Award

  • Has worked on behalf of the synagogue community for at least 5 years
  • Has developed synagogue community financially
  • Is beloved by his community and works in an inclusive and participatory manner
  • Has a unique story
  • Dedicates time to the synagogue on a weekly basis

The Barkai Center for Practical Rabbinics aims to improve the fabric of Israeli society by intensively training Israeli rabbis in all aspects of communal rabbinics so that they can lead their communities to a more meaningful connection with Judaism and act as a unifying force in Israeli society.

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