An Annual Conference for Conservative Rabbis Serving Small Congregations sponsored by the Coalition of Small Conservative Congregations and the Rabbinical Assembly.
March 28-30 (Monday, 3 PM - Wednesday, 1 PM) at Beth Hillel Congregation Bnai Emunah (3220 Big Tree Lane, Wilmette, Illinois 60091).
$150 (registration includes all meals)
It is open to all rabbis serving in ‘A’ & ‘B’-sized Conservative congregations. Deadline for registration is Friday, March 11.
Keynote Speakers:
Jonathan Lipnick, “Finding Value in intimate communities”
Sara Tauber, “Making prayer education a priority during tefillah”
In addition, Mona Fishbane will lead a session devoted to emotionally intelligent relationships in small communities and self regulation when stressed, Elliot Schoenberg will lead a session on Change Management, and Simeon Chavel will lead a limmud session on Psalms.
Finally, we will have sessions devoted to sharing curriculum resources for High school and relationship building programming.
All this, two days of amazing personal and professional growth in a friendly and supportive environment, for only $150 (includes meals)! Those who have attended in past years have returned to their congregations excited and re-energized, inspired both by new ideas and new friends.
Nearby hotels:
Extended Stay America
5211 Old Orchard Rd, Skokie Il, 60077 847-663-9031 extendedstayamerica.com
Hampton Inn
5201 Old Orchard Rd, Skokie Il, 60077 847-583-1111 hamptoninn.hilton.com
Speaker Information
- Jonathan Lipnick serves as the rabbi‐in‐residence of the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education. Rabbi Lipnick meets with students at the beginning of the academic year to map out a course of study, integrating one's own personal interests with the acquisition of religious skills that will be helpful in the workplace. The communities we serve expect teachers to know how to lead a service, give a d'var torah, and comfort the bereaved. Rabbi Lipnick serves as a counselor as well, and discuss issues such as faith, doubt, relationships, and loss with students. This year Rabbi Lipnick is teaching with Dr. Sarah Tauber, The Rhythms and Rituals of the Jewish Calendar for the Jewish Educator, a new and required course for all students in the graduate school of Jewish education. Avodat Lev (Prayer Lab) accompanies the course--a key component of experiential education. Students meet once a week to grow and apply their competencies in a communal setting. Ordained in 1992 at JTS, Rabbi Lipnick, received an M.S. Ed in Educational Leadership from Bank Street College of Education. He has worked for over 25 years in Jewish education. He serves on the boards of The Abraham Fund Initiatives and Kivunim.
- Sarah Tauber is Assistant Professor of Jewish Education at JTS where she directs the Jewish Educational Leadership Practicum for Davidson students (including dual degree rabbinic, cantorial and Davidson students). A graduate of Yale University, UC Berkeley and JTS, her recently published book, "Open Minds, Devoted Hearts: Portraits of Adult Religious Educators" explores the role and identity of congregational rabbis as adult educators. It blends biographies of rabbis with educational theory and practice. She and Rabbi Jonathan Lipnick, the Rabbi in Residence at the Davidson School of Jewish Education at JTS co-direct and co-teach the Liturgical Interpreters Project at Davidson, a program that blends prayer, spirituality, and Jewish educational practice for Jewish educators. They teach several courses together and host lunch and learns on the subject for students.
- Dr. Mona DeKoven Fishbane is Director of Couple Therapy Training at the Chicago Center for Family Health and a clinical psychologist in private practice. She lectures widely to professional and lay audiences, including at Limmud UK and Limmud NY. Mona is the author of numerous professional articles and book chapters on couples and couple therapy, intergenerational family relationships, interpersonal neurobiology, and Jewish values as they relate to family dynamics. Her book Loving with the Brain in Mind: Neurobiology & Couple Therapy is part of the Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology.
- Simeon Chavel, Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible, University of Chicago Dr. Chavel studies the literature of the Hebrew Bible, the religion of ancient Israel and Judea, and their relationship. His approach combines theory of literature, religious studies, the ancient historical and social context, and early interpretation. Last year Dr. Chavel released his first book, Oracular Law and Priestly Historiography in the Torah (Mohr Siebeck 2014). His second book, God in the Eyes of Israel: A History of the Religious Imagination in Ancient Israel & Judea, is well underway. Examples of his style are: "'Oracular Novellae' and Biblical Historiography — Through the Lens of Law and Narrative," Clio 39 (2009); "The Face of God and the Etiquette of Eye-Contact: Visitation, Pilgrimage, and Prophetic Vision in Ancient Israelite and Early Jewish Imagination," Jewish Studies Quarterly 19 (2012), and "Prophetic Imagination in the Light of Narratology and Disability Studies in Isaiah 40–48," Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 14 (2014).
Our conference steering committee is Michael Friedland, David Krishef, Catharine Clark, and Aaron Gaber.
Questions?
Feel free to contact the event chairs:
Michael Friedland (rabbi@sinaisynagogue.org)
David Krishef (rabbi@ahavasisraelgr.org)