Campus Rabbi

Syracuse Hillel

Role Overview

Join Syracuse Hillel as the Campus Rabbi to help enrich the lives of students and shape the future of Jewish life at Syracuse University. As an authentic Jewish teacher, you will provide leadership for the Hillel community through grassroots community organizing, spiritual connection, and community engagement.  As a gregarious community organizer, you’ll reach out, identify, develop and maintain relationships with students both engaged and less engaged with Jewish life. You will increase the level of involvement and commitment of students in all aspects of Jewish life on campus. You’ll use your magnetic personality to inspire students to make Judaism integral to their life choices and expressed Jewish values.

Our students are highly social and have a drive to personal excellence. They enjoy school sports (especially basketball and football), are involved leaders in many areas on campus including clubs, greek organizations, and academic programs, and are consistently building career oriented skills. Syracuse University shares campus and community space with SUNY ESF, and Hillel pros get the opportunity to engage with these creative and vibrant students, too. Our students truly bleed orange and are awesome (we’re genuinely wowed by them daily).

What You’ll Do

• Be part of a team of professionals dedicated to creating an excellent Hillel to provide for the needs of Syracuse University’s 2500 Jewish students. Using design thinking methodology, collaborate with other staff on programming, engagement, and student mentorship.
• Utilize strong engagement practices to build personal relationships with at least 180 - 200 students per year from a variety of backgrounds through meaningful conversations, creating connections to opportunities in Jewish life on campus and general presence at Hillel and other events. Meet with students 1:1 with a goal of 6-8 “coffee conversations” per week that focus on new and developing relationships.
• Develop and support a clear Jewish educational vision employing Jewish experiences, one-on-one or small group learning, and educational programs to fulfill the vision as part of Syracuse Hillel’s overall engagement strategy. Pilot creative, new educational approaches and initiatives on campus, as well as manage a robust array of current cohort fellowship learning opportunities.
•  Identify the needs of different segments of the Jewish community on campus that are underserved and develop strategies for meeting these needs with proven community organizing and engagement methods.
• Work with students to co-create and build innovative, pluralistic approaches to Shabbat, holidays, and rituals. Organize and lead egalitarian High Holiday services, holiday programming and Passover Seders, and train students to lead meaningful services for their peers.
• Continue to strengthen excellent strategic relationships with different organizations and departments on campus, especially with Greek Life and cultural centers, as well as in the local community. 
• Serve as the Jewish Chaplain at Syracuse University, developing key partners in Hendricks Chapel, the interfaith center on campus. Represent the Jewish campus community in chaplaincy efforts by taking an active role in participation in interfaith events and weekly chaplain meetings. Interface regularly with the Dean and collaborate with university chaplains and administrators to develop high-level experiences for the campus community around religious and spiritual life.
• Provide pastoral care services for students, faculty, and staff.
• Participate in the Syracuse Rabbinic Council activities as a representative of Syracuse Hillel.
• Interface with parents, alumni, university professionals, board members, and other stakeholders as appropriate.

What You’ve Accomplished

• Rabbinic ordination from an accredited institution.
• Relevant work experience. Experience in Hillel, youth movements, camping, or experiential Jewish education is helpful.
• Proven success in student engagement, community building, and previous experience in program visioning and implementation.
• Training and experience in counseling, administration, development/fundraising is desirable.

What You’ll Bring to the Job

• Ability and enthusiasm to collaborate across teams both inside and outside of Hillel.
• A strong knowledge base of Jewish content, ranging from traditional Jewish texts to contemporary Jewish wisdom, culture, and unconventional Jewish sources.
• Expertise in leading complex conversations about Judaism and Israel in a way that is approachable and meets students at various points in their personal Jewish journeys.
• A commitment to creating an inclusive, vibrant, and pluralistic Jewish community.
• A passion for engaging students through all aspects of Jewish secular, cultural, learning and religious practice and an ability to foster intellectual, spiritual, and ethical curiosity and exploration.
• Confidence in initiating and running programs, and comfort in asking questions.
• Creative problem-solving, proactive communication, and collaboration.
• Engagement and grassroots community organizing experience.

What You’ll Receive

• Competitive salary in the non-profit marketplace. The salary range for this role is $100,000 - $120,000.
• A comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, retirement plan, Life, AD&D and Long Term Disability (LTD) insurances, Flexible Spending accounts, generous vacation/sick time, and parental leave.
• Great professional development, mentoring, and skill-building opportunities.
• Travel regionally and abroad, particularly to Israel.

About Syracuse Hillel

Syracuse Hillel empowers students to become the next generation of Jewish leaders as they nurture and strengthen their Jewish identity, connection to the Jewish people, and Israel. Hillel cultivates the potential within students to live a meaningful and productive life guided by Jewish values and wisdom. Syracuse Hillel has gone through unprecedented growth over the past several years. The partnerships with Syracuse University stem from the highest levels of support from the Chancellor, Dean of Hendricks Chapel, and administration to ensure Hillel’s success. Syracuse Hillel also benefits from strong partnership with the Jewish Federation of Central New York and with Hillel International, who provides resources and leadership to help Syracuse Hillel achieve excellence. Syracuse Hillel engages between 70-80% of the 2,500 Jewish undergraduate students at Syracuse University each year. As the Campus Rabbi, you will strengthen Hillel’s ability to meet the needs of Jewish students and create vibrant Jewish life on campus. You’ll also join a stellar team of energized staff who focus on excellence, collaboration, professional development, and a thirst for knowledge. 

Syracuse has an accessible and engaged Jewish community which supports a Jewish day school, JCC, Jewish Home, Reform temple, two Conservative synagogues, and an Orthodox synagogue. There is kosher food sold at multiple supermarkets.

Syracuse experiences all four seasons and there may be snow on the ground any time between November and May. Fall is filled with beautiful trees, apple picking, and crisp nature walks. Winter is skiing, snowboarding, and other outdoor winter sports. Spring time is farmer’s markets, blooming flowers, and hikes. Summer is lakes, waterfalls, and festivals (including the NYS Fair!). These are just some of the benefits of living in the gorgeous Finger Lakes region.

Syracuse Hillel is affiliated with Hillel International. Hillel International enriches the lives of Jewish students so they may enrich the Jewish people and the world, and envisions a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning and Israel.