Job Opening: Rabbi/Director of Learning and Transformation, Chochmat HaLev (Berkeley, CA)

Status: Full-time or Part-time (negotiable)
Salary: $85,000-$105,000 for full time (prorated for part-time)
Location: Berkeley, CA; must be available to work in-person (not virtual or hybrid)
Reports to: Senior Rabbi/Spiritual Leader
Application Open: November 14, 2025
Anticipated Start Date: June 2026 (start date negotiable)
APPLY: Email your resume and short cover letter to [email protected]

About Chochmat HaLev

Chochmat HaLev is a thriving Jewish spiritual community in Berkeley, CA, known for our welcoming and inclusive approach, high-energy musical prayer services, deep mystical and contemplative offerings, transformative High Holy Days, and a rich year-round calendar of heart-opening gatherings and innovative programs that mine ancient wisdom for modern meaning. Our community has experienced extraordinary growth over the last three years, drawing hundreds of new members of all generations and backgrounds seeking meaningful Jewish connection and spirituality, inspired to make Chochmat HaLev their spiritual home and laboratory.  

Learn more about our “groundbreaking… close-knit spiritual community that’s also deeply embodied” in this Religion News Service profile, including our “dance-filled, ecstatic worship service drenched in Jewish mysticism.” As one of our members said, “I never would have imagined that I would want to spend my Friday nights at a Jewish event… It feels miraculous. I really look forward to coming here.” 

About the Role

We are seeking an engaging, entrepreneurial, and spiritually grounded clergy member to join our spiritual leadership team. The Rabbi/Director of Learning and Transformation will collaborate closely with our Senior Rabbi/Spiritual Director to support and strengthen the spiritual, educational, and ritual life of the community. The specific mix of responsibilities will be shaped by the candidate’s strengths and interests, as well as the evolving needs of our congregation. Current priorities are outlined below, with the understanding that the role may grow or shift over time. 

Though rabbinic ordination is preferred for this role, non-rabbinical clergy (such as Kohanot, chaplains, cantors, spiritual directors, and other clergy roles) and seasoned educators will be considered for this role.Key Areas of Responsibility 

Adult Learning, Conversion, and Rites of Passage (approximately 50%)

• Design and lead Chochmat HaLev’s new Conversion and Adult B’nai Mitzvah (rite of passage) programs, guiding participants on their personal and spiritual Jewish journeys.
• Teach and facilitate adult education offerings, including classes on Jewish fundamentals, spiritual practice, and lifelong learning opportunities.
  
  

Family and Youth Engagement (approximately 25%)

• Ensure that families with children feel connected, supported, and represented in congregational life.
• Direct family and youth programming, including holiday celebrations, Spacious Shabbat, teen engagement, and intergenerational events, together with Chochmat HaLev educators, musicians, and community leaders.
• Oversee youth and family education programs including Mitzvat HaLev (B’Mitzva), Torat HaLev (Hebrew School), and Chavurat HaLev (family groups) led by Chochmat HaLev educators.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive marketing and outreach strategy to expand visibility, participation, and impact of our youth and family programming.

Virtual Community Leadership (approximately 15%)

• Develop and nurture Chochmat HaLev’s online community, creating meaningful virtual experiences that foster connection across distance.
• Oversee online learning, ritual, and engagement offerings, ensuring high-quality, accessible virtual participation.

Additional Spiritual Leadership (approximately 10%) 

• Supporting spiritual leadership as needed, such as leading services or programs, representing Chochmat HaLev at community events, or responding to emergent community needs.
• Possible periodic leadership at Chochmat HaLev satellite communities or other regional programs.
• Serve as a compassionate and attentive spiritual presence within the community.

Qualifications

• Deep Jewish knowledge and content expertise, with the ability to teach Jewish texts, practice, and contemporary thought in engaging and accessible ways. Strong familiarity with Jewish Renewal approach to spirituality, including mysticism, non-dualism, mindfulness, and embodied practice.  
• Warm, inclusive presence, with openness to engaging a diverse, intergenerational community.
• Strong background in adult Jewish education, ideally including experience with conversion and adult rite-of-passage programs.
• Experience in youth and family engagement and program development.
• Data-driven and tech-savvy in order to drive tangible results for the community.
• Demonstrated skill in building online community, including virtual learning and ritual leadership.
• Excellent interpersonal, teaching, and communication skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively and flexibly within a creative and evolving environment.
• Entrepreneurial spirit and experience in designing and scaling new programs with minimal direction
• Experience managing other educators and contractors, as well as program budgets and operations.
• Prior experience in Jewish communal or spiritual leadership.
• Ordained rabbis and other clergy are encouraged to apply; outstanding Jewish educators and spiritual leaders without ordination will also be considered.

Compensation and Hours

This position may be structured as full-time or part-time, depending on the candidate’s skills, interests, and availability.
Compensation is commensurate with experience and hours, within a competitive range for Bay Area Jewish communal roles.

More About Chochmat HaLev

Learn more about our "boundary-smashing" community in this eJewish Philanthropy profile: “[Chochmat HaLev is] a space where people can deeply feel their emotions, the embodiment technologies of Judaism, of prayer, singing and dancing… having prayer services where you’re not just sitting there with a prayer book and mumbling the words, but you’re actually feeling it in your body, and you’re dancing, you feel that energy coursing through the room, and you leave that cerebral intellectual space, and enter a more somatic embodied space…  graying the line between what has historically been considered sacred and profane… a Judaism that is fun and joyful... [where] you can bring a levity and an irreverence and subversiveness to the practice… People say, ‘I don’t want to talk about God, or learn about God, I want to experience God’… And we have the technology to do that in Judaism.”