Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus
Orthodox Rabbi/Educator
To apply for JLIC educator positions, please send a cover letter and resume to haberi@ou.org. We offer a competitive salary plus benefits.
JLIC Positions: We are currently looking for Orthodox couples (including both male and female educators) for campuses in which we are experiencing turnover of our current educators, as well as potentially for new campuses.
Overview:
The Jewish Learning Initiative on Campus (JLIC), a collaborative effort of the Orthodox Union and Hillel, helps Orthodox students navigate the college environment and balance their Jewish commitments with their desire to engage the secular world. In addition, JLIC provides avenues to spiritual development and exploration for Jewish students from varied backgrounds, presenting a positive, sophisticated and welcoming face for Orthodox Judaism on campus.
JLIC places Orthodox Rabbinic couples to serve as Torah educators within the Hillels on local college campuses. Now on fifteen campuses in North America, the JLIC educators strive to enhance the learning opportunities available to students, and also to bolster an infrastructure for Orthodox life to flourish. The educators offer weekly Shiurim and classes, bring guest speakers and events to campus, and make key Orthodox necessities, such as Kashrut, Chagim and Shabbat, easier to observe and more meaningful.
However, instead of taking only a generalized approach, they also strive for a more individualized touch. Students grace their Shabbat tables as regular guests, interact with them in informal settings such as the cafeteria, and learn with them Bndependence and empowerment of students to plan for and provide their own programming and community development. JLIC strives to engage naturally in this environment by working collaboratively with students rather than simply providing top-down programming. Students are often involved in planning and implementing JLIC educational experiences. The balance of proactivity on the part of JLIC educators with student initiative and involvement is very much an art rather than a science, but one that is crucial to the success of the program on campus. In addition, student empowerment is often a key factor in developing the leadership qualities and the sense of communal responsibility among students, thus bearing important educational value in its own right.