For many clergy members, this can feel like an almost impossible time to be a faith leader – and possibly even more so a Jewish leader. While the American political fabric is pulled so tight it feels like it might rip open at any moment, the tension is even more intense in the American Jewish community, which is also holding the trauma and heartbreak of Oct. 7 and the ongoing and expanding war. Too often, we are seeing disconnect, discomfort and even open hostility between clergy and the people to whom they are working to bring comfort, guidance and spiritual sustenance. 

As rabbis and educators, we have been taking a hard look at how we got here and how rabbinical and cantorial education needs to continue to evolve. As part of the renewal of the rabbinical curriculum for Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), we spoke over the past year with more than 100 Jewish leaders within and beyond the Reform movement: thought leaders and practitioners, rabbis and cantors, lay leaders and movement leaders, as well as seminary and leadership experts. We were charged with identifying core leadership skills and spiritual preparation rabbis and cantors need to flourish, and we produced a report with recommendations. 

Stained glass window at the Sinagoga del Círculo Israelita de Santiago in Santiago, Chile. José Zalaquett/X.

During our conversations, we were inundated with stories and celebrations of courageous acts, pastoral excellence and beautiful moments of transmission of Jewish wisdom and values. We also heard that the moments of greatest leadership by clergy featured a depth of presence, strong relationships and the ability to hold loss, discomfort or division. 

One example came from the past president of a congregation, who beamed with gratitude and reverence when recounting the resourcefulness and spiritual depth of their rabbi:

“We had a large mass tragedy. We had a congregant who had been president before me who killed himself and his entire family. His kids were in the religious school. It impacted the entire congregation. At the memorial service there were 500 people. The rabbi [speaking] from the bima — the way he incorporated our purpose, the unknown, the tragedy, and pulled it all together — it was spiritually uplifting in a way it had never been before. From that point on there was a sense of the cohesiveness [between] the rabbi with the entire congregation.”

By contrast, in another conversation, we heard about the problems experienced by a colleague who took a public position related to a ceasefire in Gaza. While the position was not particularly provocative, the rabbi had not intuited the importance of giving a heads-up to the congregation, key lay leaders, staff and board members. Their rabbi had been their anchor and had traveled to Israel with members of the congregation; discovering his position felt like whiplash.

After the fallout, the rabbi attempted to regroup, organizing meetings and sending out communiques with additional background and nuance. But the disharmony and unease remained. Board members emphasized that they were not asking to approve the position, only not to be surprised by it. They wanted to be heard and not feel judged harshly if they disagreed about the conflict, and they were discouraged when the rabbi refused to take responsibility for having a role in the botched communication. All of these unintended missteps meant that previously strong relationships were greatly weakened, and community members were ultimately not prepared to back their rabbi.

Another small-town rabbi recounted how, when he was engaging his city council and experiencing tzurus (trouble) in his own community around an anti-Israel proclamation related to the war in Gaza, he reached out to over 30 of his rabbinic colleagues for guidance — and all of them reported struggling if not stumbling with similar situations. The task of navigating such treacherous waters is daunting for even the most skillful leader.

As we detail in our report, rabbis need deep Torah knowledge coupled with ongoing spiritual practice and reflection and strong leadership skills. At their best, our clergy need to be able to integrate a high level of textual facility and authenticity as translators of the sources of Judaism as part of their practical and applied spiritual leadership. We also learned that leadership and spiritual development, like other skills, can be taught and intentionally cultivated. HUC-JIR is strengthening the emphasis on integrating these three elements — Judaic knowledge, leadership development and spiritual formation — in curricular planning for its clergy programs. 

Additionally, the rabbis, cantors and thought and movement leaders we spoke with called for Judaic knowledge, professional development and religious life to be even more fully integrated within the HUC-JIR ecosystem. This necessitates a shift to seeing time in rabbinical school as a learning laboratory to test and reflect, experience top-tier mentorship and use time with classmates and faculty as well as in internships to refine and hone leadership skills and test spiritual capacities. 

We anticipate only greater challenges ahead for the Jewish community, but HUC-JIR is poised to cultivate and support the cantorial and rabbinical leaders the Jewish world so desperately needs to meet this moment and move us forward toward what we hope will be a brighter future.

Rabbi David Adelson is the dean of the New York campus of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.