Our Mission

To elevate the ability of rabbinic and spiritual leaders to lead with vision and effectively meet the ever-evolving needs of the Jewish people.

Our vision

“Rabbis are inherently innovators.

To succeed in the 21st century Jewish community, rabbis and Jewish spiritual leaders need and deserve support and continued skill training on-the-job to attract and engage people who do not flock to existing institutions. Seminary training strives to fit courses on Jewish textual, legal, and ritual knowledge, pastoral care, public speaking, and synagogue management into four or five years of education, and often presumes rabbis will lead community institutions filled with “members.” Clergy often find themselves trained to be “jacks of all trades, masters of none.”

Atra ensures that rabbis are able to be the effective spiritual leaders that the Jewish People need, at every stage of their career.”

Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein
Executive Director, Atra

 

Strategic Plan

We are pleased to present our 2022-2025 Strategic Plan, generously supported by the Jim Joseph Foundation and created in partnership with ALC Consulting.

Read Our Strategic Plan

Our Impact

The establishment of a generation of visionary, entrepreneurial and effective Jewish spiritual leaders who serve as models for what the role of a rabbi is and can be.

How we work

Some of our programs offer deep, cohort-based engagement and support for a small number of visionary leaders, while others provide broader training and tools for all practitioners in the field.

In addition to our program development, Atra conducts research and network weaving initiatives, supporting working clergy to constantly adapt their practice and be attuned to not only best practices and outcomes, but to the future, Torah, the Divine, and human needs. Atra provides guidance and leadership for the field as to what defines an excellent spiritual leader.

Who we serve

Atra supports those with seminary education who serve in clergy roles across denominations and in every place imaginable — from synagogues to schools to community centers, large organizations, and non-traditional settings.

“Rabbis are absolutely essential for the Jewish community of the future, central to its vitality and flourishing. Atra provides high level opportunities for professional development and skill building, and ensures that our rabbis in the field are supported in meeting the ever-evolving realities of our world and the changing needs of individual Jews and their families.”
Alisa Robbins Doctoroff
Atra Advisory Board

Atra is a project of OOI and is fiscally sponsored by Hillel International.