For the first time in Israel, a rabbinate comprising a diverse, multi-denominational group of religious and secular men and women has been ordained. The Beit Midrash for Israeli Rabbis, a project of the Shalom Hartman Institute and HaMidrasha at Oranim, ordained its first cohort of 16 rabbis at a gala ceremony and celebration at the Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.

The Beit Midrash for Israeli Rabbis is the only one of its kind, an egalitarian program for training pluralistic Israeli spiritual community leaders, whose inclusive vision will catalyze a process of spiritual rejuvenation for the Israeli public sphere and its emerging Jewish communities.

The Beit Midrash, which was established two years ago, brings together voices representing the diversity of Israeli-Jewish experience to define a new Israeli rabbinical leadership model. Participants and faculty alike believe that Israeli Judaism should be open and inclusive, and that Jewish leaders must be representative of that awareness.

For more on the Beit Midrash, see Israeli Rabbinic Beit Midrash visualizes a more open, pluralistic Rabbinate in Israel’s future (eJP, July 2016).