Overview
Kol Sasson, a halakhic partnership-minyan, is hiring a part-time clergy person.
This is a half-time position, which we expect will involve an average of 80 hours per month. Responsibilities will include presence at 2-3 shabbatot per month and at relevant holidays, giving drashot, participating in Torah reading and sometimes acting as Sh’lichat/Shaliach Tsibbur. The clergy person* will be available for pastoral and halachic counseling for the Congregation as a whole and for individual members throughout the week as well as for life cycle events. They will help spark and organize lay leadership and teaching in a variety of areas, including ritual and Jewish learning as well as social justice work. They will provide support and oversight of youth programming, adult education and our family learning programs. They will also facilitate representation of our shul to the Greater Chicago Jewish community. We are committed to a schedule that is truly part time. During this period of transition the Board of Directors is focused on growing the funding for our shul, meaning the position could grow in scope and salary in coming years. We are looking for a clergy person to share responsibility for, and nurture, all of these facets of our dynamic, historically lay-led community.
*We are open to applications from Maharats, Rabbis, Rabahs, and others with a wide variety of educational and experiential credentials.
Kol Sasson Congregation in Skokie, Illinois is one of the most established partnership minyanim in the world. Our lay-led community was founded in December, 2003 in order to bring the spirituality and enthusiasm of Yerushalyim’s Shira Hadashah to the Midwest. Initially meeting only on Friday nights in private homes, we rapidly expanded; for the past 16 years we have met every Shabbat in some capacity, and we have offered services Shabbat mornings and every Jewish holiday for more than a decade.
In addition to regular tefillah, we have demonstrated a deep commitment to Jewish learning and social justice initiatives. Three years ago, after outgrowing our rental space at Temple Beth Israel, we were fortunate to move into our current home, Israel Hall at Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob, where we have partnered with SVAJ’s growing community in a variety of valuable ways, including youth services and adult educational programming.
Why We Do What We Do: From the beginning, our mission, vision, and goals have remained constant. We strive to be a vibrant, inclusive, thoughtful, observant, and generous community with joyful tefillah. We use critical inquiry in approaching Jewish life within the traditional framework of halachah; we encourage men and women to participate in ritual and leadership roles; we cultivate high-quality family and intergenerational experiences; we support and nurture our community; and we bring beauty and kavanah to our tefillah. In doing so, we hope to support, encourage, inspire, and transform Jewish lives.
Our individual and collective connections to Judaism have grown organically as we have inspired each other, but as our numbers increase, we are hoping to find rabbinic leadership that will lead us further in our Jewish journey.
What We’re Seeking. Over the course of our history, we have benefited from the halachic guidance of many gifted and dedicated rabbinic leaders, including, most recently, Rabbi Dr. Martin Lockshin. Currently, our unique and energized community is embarking on our first search for a local rabbinic leader to help us continue to meet our mission and vision. We seek candidates who will inspire our spiritual growth while providing a gravitational center for our welcoming community of almost 70 families. This is an extraordinary and unique opportunity for someone passionate about the values of partnership minyanim.
You must be committed to and educated in halakhic Judaism. You prefer davening in a partnership minyan, and you enjoy joyous singing in communal tefillah. You have enjoyed working with Jews of all backgrounds and have also worked in the Jewish community at large, working with a variety of Jewish institutions. You have experience programming for and developing Jewish communities.
Why You Do What You Do:
You love people of all ages, being around them, inspiring them, and counseling them. You love creating opportunities for them to be with each other and learn from each other.
You value Judaism in all its forms. You love learning about Judaism, teaching about Judaism, and living a Jewish life.
You are deeply committed to making a real difference in your community through social justice activities.
You are an entrepreneur at heart; you like innovating and leading by consensus, and you like the challenge of growing communities.
What You’re Seeking:
- A committed, courageous, multigenerational community
- filled with Jewish leaders from diverse backgrounds
- committed to individual and communal Jewish spiritual growth
- dedicated to critical inquiry in all its endeavors
A leadership position that requires
- creativity
- independence
- diplomacy
- thoughtfulness
A leadership position that allows you to
- develop relationships with Jewish leaders from the surrounding, vibrant Chicago community
- fully express your passion for the partnership minyan model and modern expressions of halachic Judaism
- work and pray with interesting, dedicated Jewish individuals who are vested in the future of American Jewry
- express your commitment to social action in an impactful way
- flex your intellectual muscles through diverse formal and informal educational events
- be an inclusive, respectful and enthusiastic ambassador on behalf of halakhic Judaism
rabbi_search@kolsasson.org
About Kol Sasson
We are a community of about 70 member-households. We have many members with young children, but our membership spans all age groups. We are located in Skokie, IL, an area with many Jewish schools, synagogues, communal organizations and services. Please visit our website to see more.
