Director of Educator/Orthodox Rabbi Position

MIT Hillel

Job Description

MIT Hillel seeks a dynamic Director of Education/Orthodox Rabbi to work with individuals and groups of undergraduate and graduate students, teaching, inspiring, and connecting the students to appropriate Jewish learning opportunities. S/he will oversee the creation and coordination of meaningful Jewish education across our diverse and pluralistic Jewish student populations, working with the rest of the Hillel program staff team – themselves educators, innovators, and experience designers -- to ensure learning opportunities are being provided around a broad range of topics and skill levels, in various modalities and times throughout the year. Bringing a deep reservoir of Jewish knowledge and an authentic commitment to Jewish life, the Director of Education has the opportunity to deeply impact MIT students’ personal journeys.

What You’ll Do

• Pursue the mission, goals, and vision of MIT Hillel as an active member of Hillel’s program team. 
• Develop and support vibrant educational experiences, whether one-on-one or small group learning, and educational programs, including targeted weekly classes and cohort learning communities.
• Help deepen the impact of key Jewish holidays. 
• Act as a knowledgeable role model and teacher to the student community.
• Inspire: Encourage, empower, and motivate students to explore, interpret, and express Jewish ideas, values, and commitments.
• Build personal relationships with students from diverse backgrounds and help each student deepen his/her commitment to Jewish life.
• Function as a key educational and organizational resource to students and staff for formal and informal learning experiences
• Serve as a halakhic and hashkafic guide to our Orthodox students, as necessary.

On a day to day basis you will

•   Teach. Create and/or oversee formal classes and informal educational experiences for students of a range of backgrounds and skill levels, from those returning from a shana bet in Israel to those just beginning to explore their Jewish roots.

•   Vision and implement. Work collaboratively with the Hillel staff to help envision and execute an overarching educational program for MIT’s Jewish undergraduate and graduate students.
•   Be a role model. Reflect Orthodox Jewish commitment, engagement, activism, and professionalism, lived in the wider modern, secular world and the pluralistic community of a Hillel.
•   Enhance community. Help the Orthodox Jewish student leadership to activate and empower students in creating vibrant Orthodox community within a pluralistic university community. A candidate will be present with the community every-other Shabbat when school is in session.
•   Be present. Implement a work schedule so as to be available to students to a large extent during the peak hours of campus extracurricular activities, including up to two non-Shabbat evenings a week.
•   Drink coffee! Build meaningful personal relationships with students, meeting them where they live, work, and study. Be a welcoming, non-judgmental presence to these emerging adults.

What You’ve Accomplished

•   Have Orthodox rabbinic ordination or an advanced degree in a related field.
•   Proven success in teaching.
•   Demonstrated ability to lead a team, including managing others through the design and implementation of projects.
•   Experience in engagement and building meaningful relationships, and previous experience in program visioning and implementation.
•   Relevant work experience in grassroots community organizing, Hillel, youth movements, camping, or experiential Jewish education with Orthodox communities.

What You’ll Bring to the Job

•   A strong knowledge base of Jewish content, ranging from traditional Jewish texts to contemporary Jewish wisdom, culture, and unconventional Jewish sources. An ability to transfer knowledge of these texts through engaging teaching.
•   Expertise in leading complex conversations and creating classes about Judaism in a way that is approachable and meets students at various points in their personal Jewish journeys. 
•   A warm, engaging, approachable personality with a commitment to creating an inclusive, warm, and welcoming Orthodox community that falls within a vibrant, pluralistic Hillel community.
•   A commitment to and passion for creating Jewish community, with an appreciation for—and experience navigating—pluralism and diversity within Jewish life.
•   Confidence in initiating and running programs, intrinsic motivation; a willingness to admit what you don’t know, and excitement to learn in those areas.
•   Creative problem-solving, proactive communication, and collaboration. An ability to collaborate and communicate across teams both inside and outside of Hillel.
•   Curiosity about… everything. You are hungry to learn, and ask insightful questions before offering solutions. You are just as much a learner as you are an educator.
•   Inability to get off an airplane without making a new friend.

What You’ll Receive

•   Competitive salary range of $95,000-$105,000.
•   A comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, Group Supplemental Retirement Annuity (GSRA), pension plan, life insurance, Long Term Disability (LTD), Flexible Spending Plan, generous personal/sick time, and parental leave.
•   Great professional development, mentoring, and skill building opportunities.
•   Plenty of Hillel and university schwag.

About MIT Hillel

MIT Hillel, located on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ensures a vibrant Jewish life at MIT for students and our extended community. Our Hillel and our staff members have won numerous Excellence awards from International Hillel, including “A Great Place to Work” Award, “Award for Strengthening the Global Hillel Movement”, The Phillip H. and Susan Rudd Cohen Outstanding Campus Award, and the “Innovation in Fundraising Award.” The MIT campus, in Cambridge, MA, is part of greater Boston’s large and exciting university community.

The MIT Jewish community has about 250 Jewish undergraduate students and about 420 Jewish graduate students. We estimate that about 10% of the undergraduate student Jewish population identifies as Orthodox/traditional; there is a daily Orthodox morning minyan and three Orthodox services on Shabbat.

Characteristic of the fact that MIT students are not afraid to challenge generally accepted ideas, any stereotype of the typical MIT student will not hold up to scrutiny. For example, 50% of MIT undergraduates are involved in Greek life and MIT has the highest percentage of students involved in athletics of any university. One can, however, generalize that MIT students are high energy, entrepreneurial, and bright.