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Because of my training with Barkai, congregants turn to me for guidance in personal issues. From a divorcing couple who asked for help in keeping the divorce amicable, to working with social services to help a man with manic-depression get the help he needed. -- Rav David
Testimonials

BARKAI builds strong Jewish communities by training communal rabbis.

Barkai trains and certifies Israeli rabbis in counseling, abuse recognition, sensitivity training, mediation and more. Armed with these pastoral skills, rabbis are better equipped to support, sustain, and provide for their community’s spiritual and familial health.

BARKAI builds strong Jewish communities by training communal rabbis.

Testimonials

Rabbinic Program

Our two year program teaches rabbis the skills they need to lead a healthy community. Barkai rabbis are better equipped to support and sustain their community’s spiritual and emotional wellbeing. Individuals and families with a support network show greater resilience, mental stability, and communal health.

Rabbaniot Program

Women often prefer to speak to other women. Thus, Barkai provides monthly workshops for the wives and partners of our rabbis. Training in counseling, active listening, coaching, communal work and mediation enables them to be a source of support, comfort, role modeling and information for other women and girls.

Pulpit Rabbis Exchange Program

Sharing their expertise and learning from each other, six RCA and six Barkai Rabbis will embark on a special rabbinic program spending time in their paired community fine tuning their chaplaincy and community building skills while bringing Israeli and Diaspora communities closer together.

Lay Leadership Development

A synagogue depends on its lay leadership for programming, communication, oversight and operations. Lay leadership builds strong bonds within the community and with the rabbi and rabbanit. Barkai guides and supports the creation of lay leadership with conferences and support throughout the year.

Rabbinic Program

Rabbaniot Program

Women prefer to speak to other women about certain matters. Thus, Barkai provides monthly workshops for the wives and partners of our rabbis. Training in counseling, active listening, coaching, communal work and mediation enables them to be a source of support, comfort, role modeling and information for the women and girls of the community.

Pulpit Rabbis Exchange Program

Lay Leadership Development

BARKAI in Numbers

Hours of Training

Synagogues

Congregants

The Barkai Center for Practical Rabbinics aims to improve the fabric of Israeli society by intensively training Israeli rabbis in all aspects of communal rabbinics so that they can lead their communities to a more meaningful connection with Judaism and act as a unifying force in Israeli society.

Support Our Vital Work

BARKAI Partners

Barkai rabbis are part of an extensive network of professional organizations and individuals available to assist one another at any time. This shared network means better, faster assistance for those in need.