2024 RA-USCJ Pulpit Rabbinic Search Worksheet
This questionnaire is used for pulpit positions, and it is your first contact with potential candidates and the foremost source of facts about a congregation. It presents your synagogue’s story and strengths to interested candidates. The form is now completely online. You can use this worksheet as a draft, but it will all need to be transferred before posting. If you prefer to complete it online from the start, you can work on it slowly and save it as draft until it is complete, then click submit.
PLEASE NOTE: there are now character limits. If you wish to use the worksheet, please double check your characters so you will not be cut off when transferring it to the online form. Characters include spaces and punctuation.
Below is a video tutorial to walk you through the entire process, and a short video about identifying your congregation’s priorities in Section 2.
Eligibility for Congregational Rabbinic Search
The goal of the RA/USCJ search process is to help rabbinical students, rabbis, and congregations find their best match through a system that is equitable, professional, supportive, and kind. By registering and posting a job on the job board, you are agreeing to abide by the conditions in this document.
Diversity and Inclusive Hiring Statement
The modern Conservative rabbinate comes from diverse backgrounds. Graduates of our seminaries are various ages, sexes, gender identities and expressions, and races. The Career Center believes strongly that congregations do themselves a disservice if they insist that their next religious leader fulfill an antiquated stereotype. While the Career Center does not expect your congregation to engage a particular candidate solely for the sake of diversity, you should expand and broaden your search as you seek the right candidate, not narrow it. It is the policy of the Career Center that a congregation cannot refuse to interview a rabbi on the basis of their sex, gender identity or expression, or other extraneous factors. There is an expectation that congregations will elect rabbis to serve them exclusively on the basis of their qualifications and experience.
Aliyah - A Congregation's Rabbinic Search Guide
This complete guide to the search process is intended to make the process as anxiety-free and as efficient as possible. Each situation is unique, yet we recommend a careful reading of this guide to ease the experience for the committee, the community and the rabbi. This guide is based on the accumulated experience of many congregations and employers and reflects the wisdom and guidance of both laity and rabbis. We hope this manual will elevate your confidence in the process. The appendix includes helpful exercises such as The Role of the Rabbi, as well as guides for focus groups and sample interview questions. This was written in 2018 and revised in 2022.
Model Contract Template
The Model Engagement Agreement summarizes the mutually accepted standard contract advocated by both the USCJ and the Rabbinical Assembly since 1991. Most congregations choose to adopt this document in full, while some others use a few of the clauses and add their own.
Salary Survey
Within the Rabbinical Assembly, the RA Career Center supports rabbis across all stages of their careers, from their first jobs out of school through retirement. One of the RA’s principal responsibilities is caring for the welfare and well-being of its members, and one crucial piece of this mission is to ensure fair, equitable compensation that is in line with market norms. In the changing landscape of rabbinic work and employment in general, having the tools and resources to help advocate for good pay is more important than ever. We are pleased to present you with the 2023-2024 salary survey containing information from pulpit and retired rabbis in the United States and Canada.