New Para-Rabbinic Program
Shalom!
Esynagogue is now going to offer a Para-Rabbinic Program. We recognized that there are people in many communities who do not have enough rabbis or cantors to serve the community. Some communities do not have any, and it is vital that we have lay people who are trained to assist.
Our program will offer any or all of the following training: conducting funerals, officiating in the Shiva house, how to make a hospital visit and say the correct prayers, conducting Ma’ariv, how to give a d’var Torah, how to conduct an unveiling or a tombstone dedication. You have access to Rabbis to answer questions in a wide variety of subjects anytime, show you how to learn any prayer or to chant any Torah or half-Torah portion, to recite the Birkat Hamazone and lead it, tips on conducting a Seder, how to officiate in the baby-naming, how to help a couple plan one, what is the non-medical aspect of a Brit Milah, how to conduct a Torah study, and how to do a small group organizing Havurot.
We will do this to a variety of ages that we produced on the internet, some special videos that will be available only to this group. You can find more details by looking at www.@esynagogue.org about the Para-Rabbinic program. At the end, you will get a certificate signed by the three members, three conservative rabbis, testifying that you have completed this course.
If there is a rabbi or a cantor you are working with, you need to clarify the exact role that you will have so not be to conduct conversions or do weddings, only to assist a clergy person. Or if you are in a community with no Jewish clergy, you step up their plate and help.
Let us know if you are interested. You can e-mail rabbi@esynagogue.org or you can look up the material at this website www.esynagogue.org. There are some other organizations that do this. We do not think any of them are quite as comprehensive as this and we hope that this will be a significant benefit to the American Jewish community.
There is an application process to make sure that you are eligible. We need to have a strong Jewish background before you enroll in this. If you do not, you can always take our introduction to Judaism on-line course that we have available too, based on my 400 videos, books, and readings.
There is only one book we are requiring for this, to get a manual of the Rabbinical Assembly for Rabbis. In any case, if you are interested and you think this would be something that you would be good at, be useful for you and your community, please inquire.
Shalom!
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