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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.

92Y’s Jewish Innovation Fellowship offers a select group of Fellows—all current rabbinical students in or near New York City—a free, semester-long curriculum focused on design thinking, innovation and leadership to prepare them for the opportunities of a changing Jewish landscape.

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 lead sustainable value and faith-driven programs and organizations. Through this Fellowship, rabbinical students will acquire the skills necessary in 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 includes three key components:

  1. Monthly workshops or sessions with top industry leaders and Rabbis in New York City. 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 in New York City. To be considered for the Fellowship, candidates must meet the following criteria:

  • Currently be enrolled at one of the rabbinical schools in the New York City area, or be willing to commute to New York by car or train for sessions
  • Open to exploring new ideas and perspectives
  • Uncompromising in his/her professional advancement
  • Eager to learn new strategies to succeed
  • Willing to share his/her experiences and insights with the wider community of Fellows
  • Committed to participating in regular Fellowship events, workshops, and activities and to completing the project associated with the Fellowship

**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 5780 class are now open! (Deadline for all application is Thursday, August 15)

Apply Now

In the meantime, please feel free to email us with any questions.

Learn more about the 5779 fellows, mentors 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

I am looking to expand my network of connections to new ideas, colleagues, friends, philosophies, and projects …

Ayelet Pearl

Academy of Jewish Religion

Why do you want to be considered for the 92Y Jewish Innovation Fellowship?

I am looking to expand my network of connections to new ideas, colleagues, friends, philosophies, and projects. Having grown up in a rabbinic household and now, having just completed my first year of rabbinical school, I am well acquainted with the many different forms that Jewish community can take. In particular, I am actively seeking a space where I can explore my developing ideas about Judaism and its future, my perspectives on identity and how to share that with the next generation, and the possibilities for changing the universal narrative on the various Jewish lived experiences. The Jewish Innovation Fellowship is unique in that it provides both a cohort of other rabbinical students, as well as the opportunity to learn together from experts in a diverse array of fields that will touch upon the more tangible aspects of the Jewish clergy experience. In my involvement with my synagogue, I’ve engaged in the modern hands on work like social media, graphic design, and the role of technology in education, and firmly believe that bringing these new realities into the conversation will benefit the Jewish community on a large scale. Participation in the fellowship will also give me a community of students in similar life stages, which, coupled with my rabbinic program that includes students of all ages and life experiences, will truly provide me with the opportunity to navigate multiple communities, bringing experiences from one to the other, and enrich my learning and growth over the next year.

Sasha Baken

HUC

I received a B.A. in Jewish Studies and am now a rabbinical student at HUC-JIR …

Sasha Baken

HUC

Why do you want to be considered for the 92Y Jewish Innovation Fellowship?

I received a B.A. in Jewish Studies and am now a rabbinical student at HUC-JIR. Clearly, I love the topic at hand. But I don’t just love Judaism for my own sake. I am impassioned by it because I feel that it has so much wisdom to bestow. When I was growing up, I always felt like an outcast for loving Jewish studies. People would tell me that I am “too Jewish.” Yet, when I would share insights I read about Judaism, my friends always seemed incredibly interested in what I had to say. This could just be because they’re supportive friends. However, I also think there was a shred of interest on their part. When I heard of this application, I was so excited. For a long time now, I have been craving to introduce a Judaism that is more accessible and entertaining to secular-minded Jews. Meaning, I wanted to show how Judaism is genuinely relevant to our lives today. In rabbinical school, we spend most of our time learning about Jewish history and texts or preparing for synagogue life. We don’t do much research on what Jewish Americans actually want out of their Judaism. The reality is that Jewish synagogue life is rapidly declining. It would be a shame to spend my training only learning the past and not focusing on the future. I want to prepare myself for Jews that need me now, not only those that needed leaders years ago.

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

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