Leading Through Communications: Conservative Rabbis in the 21st Century

“Presentation matters and public speaking and multimedia skills are becoming a bigger determinant of an individual’s success.  The substance of a presentation is important, but how you communicate the information is what really matters.”
(Wall Street Journal - January, 2015)

Faculty | Schedule

So much of our work as rabbis, no matter what the nature of our rabbinic position, is about communication. Rabbinic communication for the 21st century utilizes both new techniques and familiar ones that embrace new possibilities. Join the Rabbinical Assembly for an intensive, energizing, and supportive experience where we will acquire skills that will reinvigorate our teaching, speaking, leadership, and pastoral communications.

This comprehensive seminar will also address issues of communication in individual and group meetings to help us utilize every interaction to lead, inspire, comfort and engage. Our opening evening program will provide us with the opportunity to be in conversation with Leon Weiseltier, writer, critic, speaker on contemporary Jewish topics, and contributing editor at The Atlantic. Together with Rabbi Dr. Norman Cohen and Dr. Marjorie Lehman, we will study texts that will renew and deepen our commitment to enlightening and inspiring others with the wisdom of Torah.

Dan Broden and the team at Broden Communications will guide us towards new skills and methodologies that will enable us to draw on our own talents and instincts to maximize our ability to lead and inspire at every communication opportunity. He will also provide training that will better prepare us for those occasions when we are called upon by the media for comment.

In other sessions we will consider the use of social media in developing new strategies for sharing Torah and effectively responding to events as they arise. Most importantly, in our time together we will be able to offer each other support in reimagining how we can effectively impact the communities we serve.

There are significant costs in creating a conference like this, but thanks to a generous grant we are able to invite a wonderful faculty and provide comfortable surroundings at a significantly reduced cost (approximately 46% of the real costs per person). The conference will be limited to 40 participants, so reservations will be taken on a first come, first served basis up to the 40th reservation.

Dates: June 15-18, 2015
Location: Pearlstone Conference Center
Baltimore MD
Cost: $650 (Single supplement $150)

Register Now

Faculty

	Leon Weiseltier A Contributing Editor to The Atlantic and the Gruss Lecturer in Talmudic Law at Harvard Law School. Leon Weiseltier is the author of Kaddish, among other books. His essays on cultural, religious, political, and Jewish subjects have been widely published. From 1983 to 2014, he was the literary editor of the New Republic. In 2013, he was awarded the Dan David Prize.
	Dan Broden President and founder of Broden Communications, Dan Broden is a former national television anchor and reporter, as well as an attorney. Through media training, presentation skills coaching and job interview training, Dan has earned national acclaim for his counsel to clients on mastering the art of persuasive communication.
	Dr. Marjorie Lehman  Associate professor of Talmud and Rabbinics at The Jewish Theological Seminary. A dynamic, stimulating, and passionate teacher, Dr. Lehman is praised by her students for her thoughtful attention to pedagogy. She recently published The En Yaaqov: Jacob ibn Habib's Search for Faith in the Talmudic Corpus (Wayne State University Press, 2012) in which she argued that this foundational legal tract could also be seen as a theological document.
	Rabbi Dr. Norman Cohen  Professor Emeritus of Midrash at the New York campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Dr. Cohen has served as Interim President, Provost, and Dean of the New York campus of HUC-JIR. Ordained by HUC-JIR in 1971, and also received his Ph.D. in the field of Midrash. He lectures widely on the Modern Interpretation of the Bible. His publications include: Moses and the Journey to Leadership: Timeless Lessons of Effective Management from the Bible and Today's Leadership (2006)

Schedule