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Jewish Life

JEWISH INNOVATION FELLOWSHIP

“Because every tradition began as an innovation.”

Mission

Embrace the American Jewish future. Develop creative and innovative thinking skills. Learn from groundbreaking leaders in the Jewish world and social good sector. Become the Rabbi the American Jewish community needs.

In the wake of the challenges of COVID, 92Y’s Jewish Innovation Fellowship has gone virtual. The Jewish Innovation Fellowship offers a select group of Rabbinical students a free, year-long curriculum focused on design thinking, innovation, and leadership. Seeing through the eyes of some of the best leaders in and beyond the Jewish world, Fellows will prepare themselves for the opportunities of a changing Jewish landscape in a radically altered world.

Taking advantage of 92Y’s resources and network, Fellows will learn from and work with professionals across a number of sectors. They will discover how to creatively develop and sustainably lead faith-driven programs and organizations. Through this Fellowship, Rabbinical students will acquire the skills necessary for a world where past assumptions can no longer be taken for granted, and will become a strengthening and enlivening force in the Jewish world.

This one-of-a-kind program will include three key components:

  1. Monthly virtual workshops or sessions with top industry leaders and Rabbis. Sessions will include a diverse range of topics that are often not built into the traditional rabbinical curriculum, such as social media, personal and organizational branding, the intersection of technology and religion, fundraising, and design thinking.
  2. Opportunities to shadow and meet one-on-one with leaders in some of the country’s most innovative synagogues and spiritual communities.
  3. Meetings with major innovators at 92Y and the chance to go behind the scenes and learn how 92Y programs are executed.

How to Apply

92Y’s Jewish Innovation Fellowship is open to current Rabbinical students from accredited seminaries around the country. To be considered for the Fellowship, candidates must be:

  • Currently enrolled at an accredited Rabbinical school on the East Coast or Midwest
  • Open to exploring new ideas and perspectives
  • Uncompromising in their professional advancement
  • Eager to learn new strategies to succeed
  • Willing to share their experiences and insights with the wider community of Fellows
  • Committed to participating in regular Fellowship events, workshops, and activities

**No prior experience is required for this Fellowship. It is our hope that each member of the cohort will bring diverse experiences and knowledge to the group, but a background in innovation or entrepreneurship is not necessary for acceptance.

Applications for the 5781 Jewish Innovation Fellowship are now open! Applications are due Monday, August 3.

Apply Now

Learn more about the 5780 fellows and curriculum below.

Video

5780 Fellows

Bria Cahana

Yeshivat Maharat

Bria, originally from Montreal, is a first year Maharat student with a Masters in Jewish Biblical studies …

Bria Cahana

Yeshivat Maharat

Bria, originally from Montreal, is a first year Maharat student with a Masters in Jewish Biblical studies and has experience teaching Tanakh in schools and at camp. In addition to her deep commitment to teaching and learning, she likes to use her hands for sofrut, gardening, and for assisting women in birth as a doula.

Myriam Ackerman

Yeshivat Maharat

Myriam Ackermann-Sommer, BA, MA, was born and raised in Southern France and has lived in Paris for four years with her husband …

Myriam Ackerman

Yeshivat Maharat

Myriam Ackermann-Sommer, BA, MA, was born and raised in Southern France and has lived in Paris for four years with her husband Emile before becoming a student at Yeshivat Maharat (NYC) while working on her PhD in Jewish American literature. In the course of her Master’s Degree in English literature at the Sorbonne and the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Myriam focused mainly on Jewish American authors and Jewish philosophy, writing essays on novelist I.B. Singer and Bernard Malamud. Her favourite subjects are gender representations and the challenge of egalitarianism in Orthodox Judaism, the exchange of ideas between Judaism and contemporary critical theory, and Jewish ethics. A dedicated musician and songwriter, Myriam has earned a diploma in transverse flute in 2015 and loves to enhance the spiritual dimension of Judaism by singing her heart out in prayer groups and Youtube videos.

Noah Marlowe

Yeshiva University - RIETS

Noah is a rabbinical student and masters candidate at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary …

Noah Marlowe

Yeshiva University - RIETS

Noah is a rabbinical student and masters candidate at Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, where he also received his B.A. in Psychology. He currently is finishing his undergraduate honors thesis on the homiletical method of Rabbi Norman Lamm. Noah believes in crafting intentional and meaningful religious spaces and communities and teaching a vibrant, relevant, and living Torah. Outside the classroom and Beit Midrash, he enjoys half-marathoning, psychology podcasts, and binge-watching The Office.

Ayelet Pearl

Academy of Jewish Religion

Ayelet Pearl is a rabbinic student at the Academy for Jewish Religion …

Ayelet Pearl

Academy of Jewish Religion

Ayelet Pearl is a rabbinic student at the Academy for Jewish Religion. She completed her undergraduate degree at Barnard College, after which she worked at a private New York art gallery for three years. She currently serves as director of MASKIT, the youth education program at Astoria Center of Israel, and brings her background in the arts to curriculum development and programming. She has a certificate in curating from University of the Arts London, studied as an apprentice under Sofer Neil Yerman, and is a member of Jewish Art Salon. She has also written numerous entries for the visual arts section of the Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception, and has curated and been featured in multiple exhibitions in the New York area.

Sasha Baken

HUC

Sasha Baken was born in New York, NY and raised in Scarsdale, NY …

Sasha Baken

HUC

Sasha Baken was born in New York, NY and raised in Scarsdale, NY. Growing up, Sasha realized the value of community and her love for Jewish History. Her evolving curiosity and enthusiasm guided her as she received her B.A. in Jewish Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Sasha enhanced her academic studies by working at local synagogues and engaging with Jewish groups on campus. Her participation in these endeavors incited a fascination for the Jewish-American experience across denominational boundaries. Sasha’s involvement with diverse Jewish populations fueled her interests in inter-denominational work and conflict resolution. As Sasha’s pursuit of conflict resolution developed, so did her sensitivity to social inclusion. Before beginning rabbinical school in 2017, Sasha worked with a Jewish organization entitled “Matan,” devoted to creating environments supportive of children and adults with disabilities. As a high school student, Sasha’s father introduced her to methods of self-care through a Jewish practice called “Mussar.” Sasha loves this resource and hopes to reintroduce them to modern Jewish spaces. Sasha is now a third year rabbinical student and Tisch Fellow at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City.

Andrew Mandel

HUC

Andrew K. Mandel is a second-year rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College …

Andrew Mandel

HUC

Andrew K. Mandel is a second-year rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College. Blessed to have begun his career teaching seventh graders in South Texas, Andrew has since led the design of the national leadership development programming at Teach For America, earned a doctorate in adult learning and leadership at Teachers College, and founded a community organizing and advocacy organization in his hometown school district of East Ramapo, NY. He is currently working with an international team to develop a new holiday, Yom HaTzedek, focused on recommitting each year to the Jewish call for justice. He lives in Long Island City with his partner, Mozart.

Yair Lichtman

Yeshiva University

Yair Lichtman is a Rabbinical student at RIETS, and is pursuing graduate degrees in Bible and Jewish Education through Yeshiva University …

Yair Lichtman

Yeshiva University

Yair Lichtman is a Rabbinical student at RIETS, and is pursuing graduate degrees in Bible and Jewish Education through Yeshiva University. He has taught in various informal educational settings, including summer camps, youth groups, and synagogues across the United States, and aspires to a career in Jewish educational administration. When not studying Torah, Yair enjoys sightseeing, long hikes in the mountains, and puzzles.

Loren Berman

Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

Loren Berman is a fourth-year as a student at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah …

Loren Berman

Yeshivat Chovevei Torah

Loren Berman is a fourth-year as a student at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah. Originally from Los Angeles (where he was a teenage actor), Loren is the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic Regional Jewish Educator for Moishe House, the supervisor of High Holidays programming at Riker's Island Correctional Facility, and a former teacher of Torah in a rural Jewish village in Ghana. His education has taken him to Columbia University, Pardes, Drisha, and Yeshivat Har Etzion.

Jenna Mark

HUC

Jenna is a third year cantorial student at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music …

Jenna Mark

HUC

Jenna is a third year cantorial student at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music. Prior to HUC-JIR, Jenna spent time as a full-time educator at Central Synagogue, where she specialized in Shabbat, music, and t’filah for grades K-6. Originally from Houston, Texas, Jenna earned a BFA in Theatre Performance from Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is currently an iCenter iFellow, is a URJ Greene Family Camp and Kutz Camp alum, and the Cantorial Intern at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills, New Jersey.

5779 Fellows 5778 Fellows and Mentors

5780 Program

Please note that the program is subject to change from year to year. While some sessions may be repeated, we are always responding to feedback and new opportunities.

Session 1 | Introductory Meeting - Cohort Building
Fellows connect and engage in a team building workshop with Kippy Joseph and 92Y Rabbis, Rabbi Samantha Frank, Rabbi Scott Perlo, and Rabbi Peter Rubinstein.

Session 2 | Collaboration and Creativity
Fellows do an interactive and fun training exercise utilizing their Neethling Brain Inventory (NBI) assessment to gain key insights into how they, their teams, and their supervisor prefer to make decisions and communicate with Yaron Prywes, Ph.D.

Session 3 | Design Thinking
Fellows engage in a design thinking workshop with David Dabscheck, founder and CEO of GIANT Innovation, an organization which transforms the way organizations and people think and act in order to become world-class innovators.

Session 4 | Authenticity in the Rabbinate
Fellows deepen their connection in finding authenticity in the Rabbinate with Rabbi Lizzie Hydemann and Rabbi Sara Luria.

Session 5 | Jewish Media and Social Media
Fellows learn some of the best practices of utilizing the landscape of Jewish media with Jane Eisner of The Forward, and finding a voice on social media with Rabbi Samantha Frank (5779 Fellow) of Instagram’s Modern Ritual.

Session 6 | Welcoming Community
Fellows learn helpful and creative ways to welcome in the community with Meg Sullivan of JCC Harlem.

Session 7 | Branding and Crowdsourcing
Fellows meet with Archie Gottesman, founder of JewBelong, to discuss successful marketing techniques and personal and professional branding.

Session 8 | Leadership
Rabbi Rubinstein delivers a breakdown of principles to send off the fellows in a closing session.

Please note that all 92Y regularly scheduled in-person programs are suspended.