Start anytime, anywhere,
at your convenience.
Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary has three components:
- Cohort Learning (sixteen live and interactive courses with other students)
- Innovation Program (six masterclasses plus mentorship)
- Electives (eighteen courses of your choice at your pace)
Students begin by enrolling at any time. Students can take any number of electives and innovation program courses at their discretion between their enrollment date and the beginning of the academic calendar in January. Enrollment is only $500 and students do not have to commit to joining a January cohort until they are ready.
This cohort is group of students learns together live, in addition to their asynchronous innovation and electives courses they may have previously started. All students in a cohort graduate at the same time and receive smicha at the multi-day smicha retreat together (held in New York).
Cohort Learning
- Classical and Modern Hebrew
- Rabbinic Literature I and II
- Tanakh I and II
- Talmud and Practical Halachah
- Theology and Jewish Thought
- Jewish History I and II
- Liturgy: Weekday, Shabbat and Holidays
- Practical Rabbinics, Pastoral Care and Homiletics
These courses are delivered through live streaming (similar to Zoom) and through our online bulletin board and chat system, Slack.
Electives
Students choose from what interests them, including:
- Advanced courses on Hebrew, text, history, thought and practice to expand on Cohort Learning
- Contemporary Jewish issues (race, LGBTQ, ethics, etc.)
- Certifications in areas such as trauma-informed care, mandated reporter training and Prepare-Enrich
- Education theory, curriculum design and education administration
- Independent study courses designed by students based on their own interests and experiences
Innovation Program
These courses include management, technology, marketing, strategy and more. They are designed to help students create their own Jewish projects which act as their capstone for rabbinical smicha and what they will begin their rabbinate with. Students are building projects as diverse as Jewish non-profits, consulting firms and corporate chaplaincy, Jewish social media companies and more.
All courses at PRS are pass/fail. Educators do not assign letter grades or points. Instead, students are given feedback on their work and encouraged not to compete against their fellow students, but to compete against themselves and show improvement over time in our program.
One On One Mentorship is your guide though the learning process. Your mentor will help you, by listening to your needs, and by coaching you through your time at Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary. This relationship will explore everything from academic to spiritual advancement, personal growth and development, and your plans for the future. Each student receives two mentors: one for their academic learning, and the other with the innovation program.