As the High Holy Days recede into memory and Jewish communities return to a “normal” schedule, many congregational leaders become aware of impending deadlines for renegotiating and renewing the employment contracts of their spiritual leaders. Rabbis who had placed this task on the back burner during the holidays may now be experiencing anxiety over the imminent conversations. 

This is a task enjoyed by few and dreaded by many. Too often, a moment to reflect on shared purposes and mutual respect turns adversarial, and the relationships built by praying together side-by-side, building trust in moments of vulnerability and shared aspirations for their communities morph into uncomfortable, sometimes bitter contests over salary, benefits, job descriptions and mismatched expectations. What ought to be a sacred covenantal dialogue becomes a hard-nosed business transaction.

Dilok/Adobe Stock

It doesn’t have to be this way.

Instead of each party seeking the best deal for themselves, we can enter these conversations with a new paradigm: one of mutual investment. Rabbis are not employees in the usual sense, and congregations are not simply consumers. When either side views the other through a transactional lens, both lose out; but when negotiations are approached as a partnership in a shared mission, rooted in trust and transparency, the outcomes can be healthier, more sustainable and more reflective of Jewish values.

The current model: Transaction over relationship

Many congregational leaders, facing actual or anticipated declining revenue, walk into the conversation carrying a scarcity mindset and adopt a corporate approach: What are we getting for our money? Can we get more for less? The volunteers assigned to this task often come from corporate backgrounds and are trained to focus on the bottom line; or they are simply the people who were picked for the task and have no training or resources for the conversation.

Meanwhile, rabbis — whose professional security and social lives (and often those of their family members) hinge greatly on their place of employment — enter the conversation on the defensive: How do I protect myself and my family at a time of economic uncertainty for everyone? How do I avoid being undervalued? What will we do if they cut my health insurance? 

The very language we use to describe this process — bargaining, negotiation, leverage — eroding the spiritual nature of the relationship. This, in turn, often leads to suspicion, resentment, disillusionment and eventual burnout for both sides, but most devastatingly for the rabbi.

A better option: Judaism’s covenant model

The paradigmatic model for relationship in our tradition is a brit (covenant), not contract. This is true whether we are talking about the covenant between the Jewish People and God forged at Sinai or the britot we invoke at moments of transition and change. The covenant between parent and child is marked and celebrated at a baby-naming ceremony. The brit between lovers is made explicit in the signing of a ketubah and celebrated at a wedding ceremony. Brit is often invoked when a rabbi is first installed in a community, and the relationship is named as sacred.

While these covenants are not always between equal partners (a child-parent relationship and the God-Bnei Yisrael relationship could never aspire to equality), they are all marked by at least one side investing deeply in the growth and development of the other. In a relationship on a more equitable footing, each side brings different yet equally essential contributions and both commit to the well-being and future growth of the other in addition to their commitment to the relationship itself.

Ideally, the rabbi-congregational relationship begins and continues in the context of a covenant built on a shared vision, a commitment to each other’s continued growth and development and a mutual investment. There is no reason that contract negotiations can’t be rooted in that framework.

What mutual investment looks like

Mutual investment in contract negotiations means being invested in each other’s success and growth rather than the bottom line on your side of the table.

For congregations, this might involve asking about the rabbi’s long-term goals, as well as, to the extent possible, understanding the rabbi’s family’s needs in areas such as housing, healthcare, vacation and family leave. It could mean considering staff development over time and exploring what increased professional support for the rabbis could be made available. It might mean having a conversation about what you wish you could provide for your rabbi and creating a package that is expansive and aspirational, rather than starting at the bare minimum of what you can afford. It must include transparency and honesty about the synagogue’s finances to build trust. 

For rabbis, investment in the congregation’s future must also be the starting point for an honest discussion. Most rabbis understand that the institution’s growth and sustainability best serve their overall well-being. However, they may not fully understand the details of what that entails in a synagogue budget. The rabbi might take the time to understand the congregation’s financial realities and resources. Before the conversation begins, the rabbi might want to prioritize their requests by needs, wants and preferences, so they know their own boundaries and what they can comfortably let go of if necessary (or transfer to an aspirational goal in a future contract). 

In places where there are concerns about the rabbi’s performance or doubts about keeping the rabbi employed, a separate process for evaluation and determination should be created and completed before negotiations on a new contract. Performance evaluation and improvement are essential.  They should be done at regular intervals and focused on identified goals.  They are most effective when they occur within stable, secure relationships. Starting an evaluation process in the months leading up to a contract renewal is too late. In such cases, the existing agreement may be extended for a specified period while the performance issues are addressed. Once a decision to enter negotiations has been made, all parties should approach the conversation with a good-faith effort to work through all contractual matters in a way that yields a positive outcome for all, rather than as an opportunity to raise concerns about the rabbi’s performance or the congregation’s expectations. 

In a healthy, mutually invested relationship, there should be no surprises when the parties sit down at the table.

Tools for healthy negotiation

With attention and care, the negotiation of a rabbi’s contract renewal should follow seamlessly from the other work of the congregation’s leadership and decision-making processes. It should start with a review of the values the congregation has identified as most important to its work. There is no reason a rabbinic contract negotiation should not reflect these values. 

Congregational leaders should communicate the outlines of the process to the larger community, explaining what information will be shared, what won’t and who will be making decisions. Confusion about who knows what and when can often lead to accusations of secrecy and a lack of transparency. Transparency does not mean everyone gets to know everything. It means everyone is told what information they should and should not expect to receive, who will be making those decisions and who to contact if they have any questions or concerns. 

All parties need to know who is on the negotiating team, what their roles are, who they report to and who the ultimate decision-makers may be. It is both frustrating and undermining to work through a challenging negotiation with one group of people only to learn later that what they agreed to now requires input and approval from the entire board before it can move forward; the parameters of what can be negotiated need to be agreed upon in advance. 

Everyone involved should understand any deadlines, whether required by an existing contract or laid out in the congregation’s bylaws. All parties should receive copies of contracts, bylaws, and other pertinent documents and be oriented to them. This might mean that time at a board meeting is devoted to reviewing these documents and understanding the process and deadlines. The rabbi should also be provided with this information and have an opportunity to ask questions about the timeline and process before negotiations begin. 

Before negotiations begin, it is helpful if both the rabbi and the congregational leadership share a clear understanding of the congregation’s plans and goals. For example, an anticipated building expansion or the imminent sabbatical of a member of the clergy team will significantly impact the institution’s cash flow and the demands placed on staff. If the congregation has developed a strategic plan or undergone a visioning process, all parties to the negotiations should be provided with copies of the relevant materials. (Presumably, any sitting rabbi would have had a role in creating these documents, but they are worth reviewing at this point.)

Congregational leaders will put together a team or committee to handle negotiations. The role and decision-making authority of this committee should be clearly communicated to all parties. It can be very frustrating to work through a negotiation with one group of people, reach an agreement and only then learn that what was decided now has to be reviewed and approved by another group. Sharing this information early on with all parties is crucial to avoiding mistakes.

Additionally, it is only fair that the clergy person be permitted to bring in an advisor or support person to this process. Whether or not that includes legal representation is an individual decision, but it should be understood that doing so does not indicate adversarial intent or an escalation of differences. Most rabbis have no training and little experience in negotiating contracts for themselves. Expecting them to engage in this process without support, especially when sitting across from a group of people tasked with determining so much of the clergy person’s future, can be intimidating and confusing for clergy. 

Both the rabbi and the congregational leadership should take time before negotiations begin to write down some notes on where they would like to see themselves and the congregation over the next 3 to 5 years. Rabbis would do well to also write down their hopes for themselves and their family members in the near future: What are they working towards, and where do they hope to be? This can inform their determinations of needs, wants and preferences and enable them to have a clearer understanding of their own goals before negotiations begin.

Every negotiating session should be treated as a step in a sacred process. Beginning with a blessing for engaging in communal work and ending with gratitude for all the participants bring to the table is a way to remind ourselves that even when the conversation gets tough, which it is bound to do along the way, everyone present is bringing their best selves to the table and is invested in the success of all parties. 

Contract negotiation is unavoidable. But how we approach it is a choice. When rabbis and congregational leaders act from a place of mutual investment — shared purpose, empathy and transparency — the process becomes not only easier, but holier. It becomes a sacred opportunity to reaffirm the relationship — the covenant — at the heart of the community.

Rabbi Elyse Wechterman, former CEO of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, is a clergy coach and consultant based in Abington, Penn.