Overview

Clergy Educator 

We are a vibrant, inclusive Reform Jewish 300-family congregation on the Connecticut shoreline looking for a dynamic, innovative, and collaborative Clergy Educator with strong interpersonal, administrative and organizational skills. The Clergy Educator will serve as director of the K-12 religious school and the B’nai Mitzvah program, lead congregation-wide education programs, and partner with our Rabbi as a member of the clergy team. Applicants may be either Rabbis or Cantors.

Responsibilities

1. Direct the religious school for our students in K-12 (approximately 80), including:

  • Recruiting, hiring, managing, and guiding all religious school staff;
  • Planning curriculum, calendar, schedules, field trips, and special events;
  • Coordinating parent-teacher meetings and communicating with parents;
  • Working with parents and teachers to find solutions for students with special needs;
  • Ensuring a safe learning environment;
  • Teaching special classes such as the Tikkun program for 8-9th grade;
  • Preparing the annual religious school budget; monitoring expenses;
  • Working closely with the Education Committee

2. Oversee the B’nai Mitzvah program:

  • Coordinating the B’nai Mitzvah calendar and student assignments;
  • Meeting with parents;
  • Tutoring students in Torah and Haftarah and/or assigning tutors (10 B’nai Mitzvah students are expected for 2022-23);
  • Evaluating student progress.

3. Serve as a member of the clergy team (if applicable):

A Rabbi Educator will serve as junior Rabbi and work in close collaboration with Rabbi Danny Moss on all aspects of Jewish life at TBT and in accordance with the candidate’s interests, including:

  • Shabbat, High Holiday, and other services and events;
  • Officiate at life-cycle events and community interfaith events;
  • Provide pastoral functions as requested;
  • Enhance the engagement of the congregation and provide educational programming to empower lay leadership.

A Cantor Educator will:

  • Arrange, prepare, and lead the music for services (Shabbat, High Holiday and other holiday or special programs);
  • Chant Torah and teach and empower congregants to chant Torah;
  • Officiate at life-cycle events and community interfaith events;
  • Provide pastoral functions as requested;
  • Provide oversight and guidance to the adult choir;
  • Enhance the liturgical and musical skills of the congregation, encouraging participation in worship services and providing educational programs to empower lay leadership;
  • Collaborate with an esteemed Jewish musical artist (TBD) as part of our Silidker Music Weekend.

 

Tagged as: educator

Community Description:

There is an abundance of world-class music, theater, art, museums, and collegiate sports at nearby Yale University – far too much to list! In addition, the area boasts the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, the New Haven Chorale, the Guilford Performing Arts Festival, many chamber music series and community theaters, the Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, the Elm Shakespeare Company, the International Festival of Arts and Ideas, the Neighborhood Music School, Long Wharf Theater, the Goodspeed Opera House, the Ivoryton Playhouse, the Shubert Theater….and more.

Work Remotely: yes
Qualifications:
  • Clergy (Rabbi and/or Cantor)
  • Graduate from Rabbinic or Cantorial school (students who are nearing completion of their studies are encouraged to apply
Position Start Date: July 1, 2022
Benefits:

Negotiable

Salary Range: $105-120,000 (salary & benefits)
Send resumes and cover letter to:

Jodie M. Ambrosino: drjoambrosino@gmail.com (Chair, Search Committee)
Leslie Powell: 40moose@gmail.com (Co-Chair, Search Committee)

About Temple Beth Tikvah (shoreline CT)

Temple Beth Tikvah is a vibrant, inclusive Reform Jewish community, guided by Torah and interconnected through our traditions and values of tikkun hanefesh (enriching our lives) and tikkun olam (improving the world). We are committed to: (1) inclusion and diversity, (2) worship and education, and (3) meaningful social justice activities.

Our size as a roughly 300-family congregation creates a warm environment in which congregants know each other well. We have a robust volunteer culture and active lay leadership. Our proximity to and many of our congregants’ ties to Yale University provide us with rich intellectual and cultural resources. It is important to the families in our congregation that our children graduate from Religious School with a deep understanding of their Judaism and the motivation to continue learning into adulthood.

Our Religious School is academically rigorous with concentrations in both Hebrew and Judaica. Currently, we have about 80 students enrolled. Learning at the B’nai Mitzvah level takes place in pods, which encourages collaboration and camaraderie. We focus on learning trope to chant Torah, beginning as early as fifth grade, which equips students to participate in Torah services beyond B’nai Mitzvah and throughout their lives. Our religious school enlists the help of special education professionals for students who require additional academic support. Students often become madrichim in our religious school, substituting in classes, and teaching religious school while in college. Our teachers are often congregants with deep investment in our community and in the future of the Jewish people. Our teachers’ commitment and diversity are one of our great strengths.