Interviews for congregations seeking to hire graduates from the rabbinical school of the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies will take place Monday, February 20^th - 8:30 AM through Thursday, February 23^rd - at 5 PM (EST). All interviews will occur at the offices of the Rabbinical Assembly, located at 3080 Broadway, New York, N Y, at the corner of W. 122nd Street and Broadway.

We will do our best to accommodate your preferences. Days will be assigned on a first come first served basis. Please register using the following form.

Registration for both E-Placement and Student Interview week must be completed by Friday, February 3rd at 10 AM EST. 

If you have any questions, please be in touch with Rabbi Elliot Salo Schoenberg (eschoenberg@rabbinicalassembly.org) 

Interview Week Rules: At the request of synagogues, we have two “blackout” periods in the placement process for graduating rabbis. These blackout periods afford search committees the time to consider candidates and include stakeholders in their communities without feeling that they must act immediately in order to avoid losing candidates. The blackout periods described below are designed in response to the feedback of congregations and are intended to make it easier for congregations to interview candidates in a thoughtful and reflective way, without feeling that decisions must be made on the first day or the first hour of the process.

1. After the initial meetings during Interview Week, congregations and candidates are not permitted to contact each other until the end of the Interview Week, Friday, February 24th, 10 AM (EST).  Starting Friday, February 24, congregations may begin to offer invitations to Graduating Rabbis for an on-site visit to the congregation. This is the first blackout period. (West Coast students will know to expect early morning phone calls).
2. Congregations may invite candidates to visit their community on a Shabbat. There are five Shabbatot during which candidates can visit congregations. These Shabbatot are: March 2/3, March 9/10, March 16/17, March 23/24 and March 30/31.  We request that you do not make, discuss or speculate upon any offers with the candidate during this time.
3. Monday, April 2nd, 10 AM (EDT) (Second blackout date): Starting on Monday, April 2nd, congregations may begin to offer positions to graduating rabbis. The choice of Monday morning was made based on feedback of previous congregations. This timing allows congregations to meet formally and finish their deliberations even if a candidate has been with the congregation over the previous weekend.
4. It is likely that a number of congregations will continue to interview after Shabbat March 31^st, but these guidelines provide some breathing room during the first exciting month following the initial Interview Week meetings.

We greatly appreciate your cooperation in adhering to these guidelines, as we want to create a level playing field for congregations seeking new rabbis. We have instituted this policy based on congregations’ feedback and rely on your honor in order to make it work. Should it come to light that a congregation or a student did not adhere to these guidelines, it would become a matter for review by the Joint Placement Commission. For those of you who have not been in the placement process before, please let us acknowledge that this is a time of great anticipation, or even anxiety, for all parties involved. We do our best to lower levels of anxiety. MAZAL TOV.  Welcome to Student Interview Week.