The Rabbi Balfour Brickner Rabbinic Seminar and Fellowship is designed exclusively to help rabbis with their social action and social justice work. This seminar will offer participants intensive opportunities for text study. The program will also offer exposure to both the range of substantive issues that require our attention and to the skills that are required for dealing effectively with those issues.
Many rabbis have indicated that they are fully committed to the work of tikkun olam, but are unsure as to how that commitment can be most effectively translated into the life of their congregation. This seminar is designed to provide the foundation and skills to make rabbis more effective social justice advocates.
This is an opportunity for rabbis from all streams of Judaism to learn about current social justice issues and engage some of the same texts that motivated and inspired Rabbi Brickner. Participants also will receive training to help them effectively guide their communities in the work of repairing and rebuilding our world.
Past RAC Rabbinic leadership seminars have helped rabbis in as many ways as there are reasons that rabbis attend. Rabbis committed to the work of tikkun olam report that before attending the seminars, they felt unsure about integrating their commitment into the life of their community. Rabbis need help in ensuring that social justice initiatives do not become the domain of a small group of individuals with little impact on non-activist members and that popular “Mitzvah Day” programs capitalize on the enthusiasm of volunteers to sustain a deep and lasting commitment to the needy. Some rabbis report pressure to mobilize their congregants on a particular issue or to become involved themselves, but they are not sure how to respond effectively. Rabbis in smaller or more isolated communities often are the first, most visible, and sometimes only, Jewish communal leaders to whom the media and inter-religious groups turn in times of crisis and upheaval. Rabbis who have participated in the RAC’s seminars are strengthened by learning from experts and learning from each other.
We are pleased to be able to significantly subsidize the program. The registration fee of $36 includes hotel accommodations, local transportation, all meals, speaker fees and program materials. Registration is currently closed.
This program made possible through the generosity of the Engelberg Foundation.
