The Barkai students are all ordained rabbis, aged 28 to 38, with the desire to be communal rabbis and to serve their communities as professionally as possible. When Barkai placed the initial student recruitment ads in local newsletters, they were overwhelmed by the response and had to quickly close the application process. They chose nineteen outstanding applicants from over a hundred. The varied group includes rabbis from all over the country, with differing approaches to Orthodoxy. What unites them is their commitment to serving Israeli communities as fully and professionally as possible. The rabbis’ wives, who also play an important role in the community, will be attending monthly workshops that focus on the acquisition of skills and knowledge to enhance their leadership abilities.