• Residential Sessions
• Faculty and Peer Coaches

Residential Sessions

The Boot Camp involves residential sessions, peer coaching, and coaching by Eitzah Center faculty. In the residential sessions, participants are exposed to the principles of leadership generally (through presentations, case discussions, and dialogue) and given structured opportunities to practice the skills necessary to be successful as congregational and spiritual leaders (through self-assessments, role-plays, and interactive exercises). Participants are exposed to the various leadership challenges they will face in the real world of synagogue life. These include working effectively with other clergy and lay leaders, building a staff team, balancing work and family, retaining a personal spiritual life as a congregational rabbi, and learning to manage religious institutions. Rabbinic students leave the residential session with a set of insights, tools, competencies, and behaviors that will enable them to effectively meet those challenges.

Faculty and Peer Coaches

As with each Eitzah Center program, the Boot Camp includes two primary sources of support for its participants. First, Eitzah Center faculty members provide individual coaching. During the residential session, faculty members help participants diagnose particular areas of concern or about which they wish to remain particularly aware as they enter pulpits. They also offer support and guidance for the year after the residential session as participants put into practice what they learned during the session. Second, each participant is matched with a peer coach—a fellow Boot Camp member from a different geographical area. who gives and receives support throughout the process of entering the pulpit. Together, these two types of support offer Boot Camp participants a valuable source of help as they move into their new leadership roles.