In October of 2018, InterfaithFamily announced they were looking to form a pilot cohort for the Rukin Rabbinic Fellowship, a first-of-its-kind two-year stipended fellowship. The Rukin Fellowship, which grew out of a strategic planning process the prior year, will provide rabbis with the tools, resources and experience to better serve interfaith couples in their local communities, thereby expanding InterfaithFamily’s national reach.

InterfaithFamily received three applications for each slot available.

The first cohort Rukin Fellows are:

• Steven Abraham (Omaha, NE – Conservative)
• Karen Bogard (St. Louis, MO – Reform)
• Max Chaiken (Los Angeles, CA – Reform)
• Elyssa Cherney (Philadelphia, PA – Reconstructionist)
• Braham David (Boston, MA – Conservative)
• Boris Dolin (Montreal, Quebec – Reconstructionist)
• Scott Hausman-Weiss (Houston, TX – Reform)
• Cheryl Jacobs (Plantation, FL – Conservative)
• Cookie Olshein (West Palm Beach, FL – Reform)
• Laura Rumpf (San Francisco, CA – Reform)
• Daniel Wiener (Seattle, WA – Reform)

The Rukin Fellows will be part of a unique community of practice which will help them hone their skills working with interfaith couples. They will participate in professional development provided by InterfaithFamily, including immersive retreats in March 2019 and March 2020, regular webinars and one-on-one mentoring. The fellows will each offer InterfaithFamily’s codified workshops and programs for interfaith couples in their own communities. They will also respond to questions from couples seeking a rabbi to officiate a lifecycle event through InterfaithFamily’s referral service and work individually with couples, connecting them to existing inclusive resources and organizations.

At scale there will be up to 45 active Rukin Fellows per year, with an alumni network for continued support and engagement.

To learn more about the fellowship and the 11 fellows, visit: www.interfaithfamily.com/about_us_advocacy/interfaithfamilys-rukin-rabbinic-fellowship/