Reform Community Educator
Rutgers University Hillel
Role Overview
Now is the time to join Rutgers Hillel! Our passionate professional team is looking for a Reform Rabbi/Community Educator to help enrich the lives of students and shape the future of Jewish life on and off campus. Rutgers Hillel has a robust pluralistic community of engaged students. You’ll be great for this role if you embrace the nuances of being a strong Reform Jew and thrive in a pluralistic environment. You are excellent at community organizing and relationship building and will use both skills to build a robust, inclusive, and progressive community.
As an authentic Jewish educator, spiritual leader, and role model, you will provide leadership for the Rutgers Hillel community. You will develop and maintain relationships with students less engaged with Jewish life, increase the level of involvement and commitment of students in all aspects of Jewish life, and inspire students to make Judaism integral to their life choices and value system. You will make a difference in the lives of students on Rutgers’ five campuses through innovative programming, one-on-one engagement, and unique educational opportunities that will be crafted by you. You will supervise a cadre of Reform student fellows who will work directly with you in maximizing engagement.
What You’ll Do
Overall Engagement and Program
- Design, develop, and execute an engagement strategy that welcomes less engaged students and inspires them to connect with Jewish life.
- Develop and support vibrant Jewish experiences, one-on-one or small group learning, immersive experiences, and pilot creative, new initiatives.
- Partner with our Engagement Associate on the implementation of this engagement strategy and supervise to make sure it is being carried out effectively.
- Mentor and develop some members of the Hillel student board.
- Collaborate with other senior staff to shape and develop the engagement and educational vision.
- Organize and lead High Holiday services, holiday programming, and Passover seders as needed.
Reform Movement Experiences and Responsibilities:
- Provide vibrant ritual life for the Reform community on campus.
- Supervise and mentor Reform student fellows.
- Be a visible spokesperson for the Reform Jewish community through campus chaplaincies and the division of student life.
- Ensure that Reform Judaism enriches the free marketplace of Jewish ideas on campus and that Reform life at the college level is part of the overall continuum of Reform Jewish life.
- Enable Hillel to be a central address within the state of New Jersey for Reform rabbis and congregations as a vital source to educate their students and congregants on campus Jewish life and Reform ideology.
- Build relationships with rabbi colleagues through the NJ-West Hudson Valley Reform Association of Reform Rabbis.
- Additional supervision of staff is possible, commensurate with experience.
Day to Day work includes:
- Build one-to-one relationships with students across Rutgers's five New Brunswick/Piscataway-based campuses to help further connect them with Jewish life on campus or to provide pastoral care as needed.
- Recruit and supervise a cadre of Reform student Fellows, helping them to build one-to-one relationships with students across our local campuses
- Create learning opportunities for students to study Judaism from a Reform perspective, including the Jewish Learning Fellowship, a 10-week course that includes basic Jewish education and deep exploration of Jewish identity.
- Serve as a voice for social justice on campus, including staffing Hillel’s immersive community service experiences, partnering with the URJ’s Urban Mitzvah Corps, and other social service organizations, to promote Reform values of Tikkun Olam.
- Develop community organizing and engagement strategies that empower Reform students and encourage unaffiliated students to take a more active role in Jewish life.
- Train student leaders interested in learning to lead Shabbat services and rituals
What You’ll Bring to the Job
- Rabbinic ordination from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion and/or being a member of the CCAR is preferred. Other education credentials will be considered as long as there is a strong connection to the Reform movement.
- Creativity, flexibility, passion, a sense of humor, and excellent interpersonal, communication as well as leadership development skills.
- Ability to work both independently and as part of a team, prioritize, and handle multiple assignments and projects.
- Willingness to work in a pluralistic Jewish environment, with an appreciation for other denominational views.
- Experience doing youth work and/or informal Jewish education, either through camping, NFTY, or campus work. Demonstrated ability to strongly relate to college students and a love for working with this population.
- A love of the pastoral work that comes with caring for individuals and community.
- Experience in community organizing, Hillel, youth movements, camping, or experiential Jewish education
- Comfort and competency in leading services
- Proven success in community building and outreach, and previous experience in program visioning and implementation.
- Expertise in leading complex conversations about Judaism and Israel in a way that is approachable and meets students at various points in their personal Jewish journeys.
- A strong entrepreneurial spirit.
- Social media savvy and ability to utilize online technology as a means to engage students
What You’ll Receive
- .Competitive salary in the non-profit marketplace commensurate with experience. The salary range for this position is $75,000 - $105,000
- A comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, retirement plan, Life, AD&D, and Long Term Disability (LTD) insurances, Flexible Spending Plan, generous vacation/sick time, and parental leave.
- Great professional development, mentoring, and skill-building opportunities.
- Travel regionally and abroad, particularly to Israel.
About Rutgers Hillel
One of America's nine Colonial Colleges, chartered in 1766, Rutgers University has a unique history as a colonial college, a land-grant institution, and a state university. Rutgers-New Brunswick/Piscataway campus is home to some 36,039 undergraduates and 14,215 graduate students. With over 6,000 Jewish undergraduates and over 1,000 Jewish graduate students, Rutgers has the 2nd largest Jewish undergraduate population in the nation. Rutgers is ideally located within minutes of several major highways, less than an hour from Manhattan by car or train.
The Eva and Arie Halpern Hillel House on the Wilf Family Campus is located on the College Avenue Campus, in the heart of the New Brunswick-Piscataway campus. The growth of Rutgers Hillel in recent years, along with the recently completed new building, makes this an exciting and rewarding place to work.
Rutgers Hillel is affiliated with Hillel International. Hillel International enriches the lives of Jewish students so they may enrich the Jewish people and the world, and envisions a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel.
About Hillel International
In 1923, Rabbi Benjamin Frankel started Hillel with humble means, a noble mission and a breathtaking vision: to convey Jewish civilization to a new generation. Today, Hillel International continues to enrich the lives of Jewish students and is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world at more than 550 colleges and universities across North America and around the world. As Hillel evolves as an organization, the mission remains steadfast: to create lasting connections with every Jewish student that foster an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel and train them to become the next Jewish leaders.
Hillel is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an accepting and inclusive environment for all.
