About the Center for Rabbinic Innovation

Fellowship for Rabbinic Innovation in progress

Our Mission

To elevate the ability of rabbinic and spiritual leaders to lead with vision and effectively meet the ever-evolving needs of the Jewish people.

Our Vision

Rabbis are innovators.

Most younger Jews do not see themselves as part of a denominational community, and increasingly seek new modes of Jewish communal expression. The notion that rabbis will serve existing synagogues and pulpits that will simply attract a next generation by continuing business as usual is becoming more tenuous.

To succeed in the 21st century Jewish community, rabbis and Jewish spiritual leaders need on-the-job skill-training to attract and engage people who do not flock to existing institutions. Seminary training strives to fit courses on Jewish textual, legal, and ritual knowledge, pastoral care, public speaking, and synagogue management into four or five years of education, and often presumes rabbis will lead community institutions filled with “members.” Clergy often find themselves trained to be “jacks of all trades, masters of none.”

The Center for Rabbinic Innovation is transforming and elevating the quality, impact and reach of rabbinic leadership through pluralistic, cohort-based training and support for contemporary Jewish spiritual leaders as they serve in the field.



Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein
Executive Director

Our Impact

The establishment of a generation of visionary, entrepreneurial and effective Jewish spiritual leaders who serve as models for what the role of a rabbi is and can be.

Learn more about Our Impact or get involved with our growing list of Program offerings.

Who We Serve

CRI supports those with seminary education who serve in clergy roles across denominations and in environments ranging from synagogues to schools to non-traditional settings with deep engagement for a small number of visionary leaders and broader training and tools for practitioners in the field.

Our Team

Learn more about the professional team behind the Center for Rabbinic Innovation. We are also proud to be supported by an expanding team of faculty, coaches, and guests, as well as our Strategic Advisory Board.