Overview

Kavana is currently seeking to expand its staff team to include a second rabbi who will report to the Founding Rabbi and Executive Director, Rachel Nussbaum.

Duties and Responsibilities:
At Kavana, our small-but-mighty staff team works in close collaboration to support, inspire, encourage and challenge our partners. Kavana’s informal tagline is “personalized Judaism in a community context,” which speaks to our desire to empower each Kavana partner to create a personally meaningful Jewish life within the framework of a welcoming, diverse, supportive community.

Specific duties and responsibilities will be worked out in conjunction with our new rabbi, in order to maximize this position based on their skill-sets and interests, as well as Kavana’s staffing needs. That said, this position will include some combination of the following elements:

General Rabbinic Functions:
– Build authentic personal relationships with Kavana partners and participants
– Provide pastoral care and facilitate conversations about Jewish identity for individuals and families from a wide range of backgrounds (LGBTQA+, multifaith families, varying levels of Jewish knowledge and observance)
– Officiate at lifecycle events (such as weddings, bris and baby naming ceremonies, b’nai mitzvah, funerals & shiva minyanim, etc.) for both partners and non-partners from a wide range of a backgrounds
– Work one-on-one with B’nai Mitzvah students and conversion candidates

Programmatic Responsibilities:
– Plan and lead worship services for Shabbat (1-2x/month) and for the High Holidays
– Lead holiday rituals/programs (e.g. Passover seder)
– Develop and teach Adult Ed courses throughout the year
– Plan, lead and teach Family and Children’s educational programs as needed
– Optional: Supervise Family and Children’s educational programs (For candidates with a MA degree in Jewish Education, we are open to the possibility of making this position a Rabbinic/Educator job and shifting some of the other duties outlined here to other staff members.)

Community Organizing Responsibilities:
– Work with a team of lay leaders to spearhead Kavana’s social justice initiatives and engage the community in this work
– Engage Kavana partners in volunteer roles to support community goals and co-create programming
– Identify and develop new programming to meet emerging community interests (creativity welcome!)
– Participate in partner intake and renewal conversations; assist with the on-boarding of new partners
– Support the growth of sub-communities within the broader Kavana community (e.g. Second Stagers, Young Adults, Baby/Toddler group, Arts & Culture group, etc.)

Organizational Responsibilities:
– Work closely and collaboratively with Rabbi Rachel Nussbaum and with our administrative and educational staff
– Participate in staff meetings
– Support fundraising efforts as needed

Community Description:

Kavana was co-founded in 2006 by rabbinic and lay leaders working in tandem, and quickly earned a national reputation for its innovative approach to building local Jewish community. Kavana’s cooperative model values empowerment, and our staff members work closely with our community members, called partners, to bring our vision to reality. 

Important aspects of our culture are: we are a hands-on, self-reliant community, creative and willing to take risks, and we place personal relationships at the heart of everything we do. Kavana embraces experimentation and is committed to ongoing evolution and reinvention. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Kavana adapted to provide multi-access services and programs; going forward, we expect programs, services, and work locations to evolve in a hybrid manner according to emerging needs. 

Kavana’s office is located in the Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. For more information about us, please see our website: www.kavana.org. Kavana is also one of the seven communities of the Jewish Emergent Network, http://www.jewishemergentnetwork.org.  

Work Remotely: no
Qualifications:

- Rabbinic ordination from an established rabbinical school. (As a pluralistic community, Kavana is open to hiring a rabbi from a wide range of denominational and non-denominational frameworks.)
- Minimum of 2 years experience doing full-time rabbinic work
- Deep knowledge of Jewish content and tradition, and your own personal Jewish practice
- Demonstrated ability to build relationships with a wide variety of people: adults and children, community members and interfaith partners, etc.
- Ability to work well both independently and as part of a team. We need someone who can take initiative and get things done, but we also want someone who can share tasks and responsibilities – you’ll be working creatively (and co-creatively) with many different people.
- Capable of functioning well in a casual and fluid work environment. (There is a Kavana office, but many staff members work from home at least part-time. The right candidate will see Kavana’s informality and flexibility as a plus.)
- Organized and able to set clear priorities.
- Clergy Confidentiality. Must be able to keep sensitive information 100% confidential in understanding of the sacred role of a rabbi.
- Possesses strong public speaking and teaching skills; musical abilities and/or ability to lead Jewish spirituality programming are a plus.
- Has a sense of humor and ability to go with the flow.

Position Start Date: Flexible start date, between February and July 2022
Benefits:

Pension contribution and health insurance stipend

Salary Range: $125-140K package (includes base salary/parsonage, pension contribution, health insurance stipend)
Send resumes and cover letter to:

info@kavana.org with the following materials, and put “Rabbi” in the subject line:

- A cover letter of introduction to our Hiring Committee. Be sure to include areas of strength, personal interests, and an explanation of how your experience makes you a strong candidate for this position.
- A resume or CV.
- One piece of work that shows your rabbinic voice; e.g. a d’var torah, article, curriculum, etc. (written, audio, or video format)
- Two professional references. (You will be notified before references are contacted.)

The application deadline is November 28, 2021.

About The Kavana Cooperative

The Kavana Cooperative is a pluralistic, non-denominational Jewish community non-profit in Seattle.  Kavana’s vision is “building an innovative, model community that empowers each of us to create a meaningful Jewish life and positive Jewish identity.”