Rabbinic Search FAQ
Questions
1. Which type of account should I sign up for - Congregation, Organization, or Freelance?
2. I want to post a position that is for a pulpit position at a congregation. How do I start?
3. I want to post a position that is for a non-pulpit position. How do I start?
4. I want to post a position for a High Holiday rabbi. How do I start?
5. I want to post a pulpit job at my congregation, but we are not a member of USCJ. Can we post?
6. What happens when a candidate applies?
7. What is the rough timeline for the search process?
8. What is a common start date for pulpit positions?
9. Can we reuse our job listing from a few years ago?
10. What if we are open to hiring either a cantor or a rabbi?
11. What should we list as a salary range? Do you have any recommendations?
13. What do the position statuses mean on the job board, and how do I update our status?
14. Do you have a sample rabbinic job description?
15. What are the different types of pulpit rabbis I can post for, and what do they mean?
Q: Which type of account should I sign up for - Congregation, Organization, or Freelance?
A: The RA has three separate job boards that are visible to our members: Pulpit/congregation, Organization/Institution, and Freelance/Short-Term
· The pulpit/congregation job board is for full time and part time clergy positions at USCJ congregations that are either permanent or at least one year long.
· The organization job board is for full-time, non-pulpit positions. They may be at congregations (such as Director of Education), but they do not include classical pulpit duties such as pastoral visits and sermonizing.
· The freelance job board is for shorter, temporary positions (for example, High Holidays contracts or sabbatical/family leave coverage).
Please be aware that separate accounts must be created for each job board, and each account must use a unique email address. A single congregation might need to post separate positions on different job boards (for example, when hiring a full-time assistant rabbi, an additional rabbi for High Holidays services, and a religious school director).
Q: I want to post a position that is for a pulpit position at a congregation. How do I start?
A: Note: if you have not done so, please review our overview of the job-posting process.
To get started, we highly recommend that you read Aliyah – A Congregation's Rabbinic Search Guide, our comprehensive guide that includes recommendations for every part of the search process, from forming a search committee to contract negotiations.
You will also find other important information and video tutorials on our Documents page, including a worksheet to brainstorm answers to the search questionnaire and results from our most recent salary survey.
Once you're ready to post your opening, follow the instructions on this page.
Q: I want to post a position that is for a non-pulpit position. How do I start?
A: Note: if you have not done so, please review our overview of the job-posting process.
We have a job board specifically for positions at organizations such as non-profits, Hillels, schools, hospitals, etc., and jobs at congregations that do not involve pulpit responsibilities, like Director of Education or Youth Engagement, etc. To post on this job board, first register for an organization/institution account. Once approved, you will upload the position by providing the Position Type (Full Time, Interim, Part Time, Other), Job Title, Start Date, Salary (base), Total Compensation, including the value of benefits, Job Description in Microsoft Word or PDF format
Please watch this quick video explaining the process.
Q: I want to post a position for a High Holiday rabbi. How do I start?
A: We have a job board where you can post these short-term positions. First, use this link to register for a freelance account. Please note, you will need to use a different email address than the one you use for any other type of RA account you may already have. Once approved, you will fill in a short, 10-question webform about the position. Please watch this quick video explaining the process.
Q: I want to post a pulpit job at my congregation, but we are not a member of USCJ. Can we post?
A: You may post on our job board beginning on February 1, our universal waiver date for the year, until our next season begins on Labor Day. First use this link to register for an account. We will approve that registration on Feb. 1.
You would then fill out the questionnaire, which is a webform on our site. If you prefer to work on it in advance, you can find the worksheet with all of the questions here, but you will need to copy and paste your answers into the site when you post it. Please be aware of the character limits noted on the worksheet!
Q: What happens when a candidate applies?
A. When a rabbinic candidate applies to your job posting, you will receive an email to the email address you used when you created your account. Attached to that email, you will find the candidate’s resume and Skills Assessment. When a candidate applies, please acknowledge receipt of their application both to the Career Center and directly to the candidate.
Q: What is the rough timeline for the search process?
A: Your search timeline will vary depending on your needs, but we generally recommend posting a pulpit job after the High Holidays, during November or earlier, and by early December at the latest. We have a sample timeline that will be available soon
In an ideal world, congregations spend 4-6 months preparing their questionnaire and refining their process. They post a position in October or November and typically make an offer to a rabbi before Pesach. The interview process often takes a few months, and the offer stage and contract negotiations usually take place in the spring. However, there is often a “second season” of the process and some congregations don’t conclude until May or June.
Q: What is a common start date for pulpit positions?
A: Almost all pulpit positions begin on July 1st.
Q: Can we reuse our job listing from a few years ago?
A: Yes, if it was posted in Fall of 2021 or later. Contact the Career Center and someone will clone your old job listing and save it as a new draft and so you can log into your account and make minor changes to your previous answers to the questions without inputting it all again. You can submit the new version when ready.
Q: What if we're open to hiring either a cantor or a rabbi?
A: We suggest creating a listing on our job board while undergoing a parallel search for a cantor. You should think of these as two separate job openings, only one of which you intend to fill. Your listing on the RA job board should clearly state that you also intend to interview cantors. You can find more information about the cantorial search process through the Cantor’s Assembly.
Q: What should we list as a salary range? Do you have any recommendations?
A: You can find our most recent Salary Survey here linked at the bottom of the page. The data was collected in Fall 2023 and compiled and released in March 2024. You will find range and mean data for various sizes of congregational pulpit work.
The question of state-specific compensation data comes up often. Unfortunately, one of our biggest limitations for salary surveys is our small sample size. When trying to find usable data, most rules and best practices require at least 5 data points to consider the data to be statistically significant. In our case, when we start to parse data by size, job title, state, etc., those sample sizes become far too small to be usable. Instead, what we do is try to create national averages that are statistically significant, and then we advise to adjust up or down from the data based on their own specific circumstances.
We suggest you adjust based on the cost of living where you are located, versus the national average. There are a few calculators online that can help you with this. Here’s an example: https://www.payscale.com/cost-of-living-calculator
https://www.payscale.com/cost-of-living-calculator/California-Los-Angeles
We understand that some congregations are open to rabbis with different levels of experience and therefore may wish to advertise a large compensation range. However, rabbinic candidates depend on the listed salary to decide whether a job will fit the needs of their lifestyle and family budget. Therefore, we suggest a range of no more than $20,000. This will allow for a range based on experience, while also creating realistic expectations of what a candidate will receive in their initial offer, reduce surprises, and hopefully commence a successful negotiation process.
A: “Salary” is meant to denote base, pre-tax monetary payment, including the amount a rabbi may designate as parsonage/living expenses, but without the value of any benefits. Total compensation is salary PLUS the value of the benefits package. To estimate the value of the benefits, add all the benefits you are providing to a rabbi for a year (value of insurances, amount of RA dues, retirement contribution, etc.), and then add that to the base salary, which equals the “total compensation.”
Q: What do the position statuses mean on the job board, and how do I update our status?
A. There are four possible statuses for a position on the Career Center job boards: Open, In Review, In Discussion, and Closed. A congregation “in review” is no longer accepting new resumes but has not yet made any decisions about candidates. Once a congregation is “in review,” it will not receive any more resumes. When a congregation has made an offer to a rabbi and the rabbi has accepted, it should be listed as “in discussion” to indicate that contract negotiations are under way. Again, a congregation listed as “in discussion” will not receive more resumes through the website. A congregation will remain listed as “open” until you inform the Career Center that your status has changed.
Q: Do you have a sample rabbinic job description?
A. We do not. In fact, we suggest that pulpit rabbis do not have specific job description, but rather, specific priorities, roles and goals. A detailed “job description” for a rabbi is often unhelpful. First, there are too many variables in the congregational rabbinate, so a general job description is inaccurate. The tasks of the rabbi vary by congregational size, history and location and by interest and background of the rabbi. The RA Career Center suggests that a congregation identify and prioritize three or four general rabbinic roles, rather than to try and detail specific tasks. A "role" is the general function that a rabbi will provide for the congregation. The Career Center has published a list of rabbinic roles and explanations to help congregations prioritize and organize. By identifying roles that are key to your synagogue’s future, you can assess candidates considering those roles and your path will become clearer and focused.
A successful rabbi is expected to be a leader. The role of the rabbi is to make a difference in the life of the congregation and the lives of individual members. Specifying a set of tasks the rabbi must fulfill tends to put the rabbi inside a box that limits creativity, initiative and statesmanship. Reflecting on different rabbinic roles allows the congregation and the rabbi to see the religious leader as a whole. Setting role priorities provides the opportunity for a big picture view.
Q: What are the different types of pulpit rabbis I can post for, and what do they mean?
A. There are four possible rabbinic types when posting your questionnaire: Senior/Solo/Co, Assistant/Associate, Interim, or Part Time.
- Senior/Solo/Co (mara d'atra) – This rabbi is the lead, co-lead, or only clergy in the congregation. They are the primary source of halakhic guidance and authority for their community.
- Assistant/Associate – This rabbi works within a larger clergy structure and is supervised by another rabbi or reports to a more senior member of the clergy team. They are not the mara d’atra.
- Interim – This rabbi fills a gap between longer-term clergy, and often helps a congregation consult through a transition and strategically plan for their next chapter. They may serve a term up to two years. Congregations often seek an interim rabbi after a rabbi of many years retires, when they are coming out of a major conflict, or when they have suffered some kind of traumatic experience. Interim rabbis may not apply for the longer-term pulpit position. The interim search season generally begins later than the long-term rabbinic search season, with questionnaires posted in March or April. The interview process for this position is generally less intensive.
- Part-Time – This rabbi works for a defined number of hours or days each week or month; it is understood that the rabbi will not be available for all leadership or pastoral needs of the congregation.
Rabbinic titles can mean different things in different congregations, and a title may be part of a negotiation. Please be specific in your questionnaire answers to ensure candidates understand the required responsibilities of the position.
A: Yes, you may post for both at the same time. However, they have different functions (see definitions above). Interim rabbis may now serve up to 2 years. We suggest creating two (mostly identical) job listings. If you already have a rabbinic position posted and would like the Career Center to clone the posting so your committee can make minor changes to the answers of the questions without inputting it again, please contact us. We can do this quickly and keep the second position in draft status so you may edit and submit it when ready.