- Purpose in wanting to become a hazzan.
- Sincerity, personal qualities, potential, abilities and knowledge.
Some of those who apply to the Program are beginners with only very basic musical or Jewish background. Others come with strong vocal training and strong Jewish backgrounds. Some are Jewish Renewal activists and others are in beginning phases of exploring renewal contexts. Some who have stronger Jewish backgrounds are already serving communities as leaders pf prayer and ceremony. We will work with you to craft different programs that take into account the particular knowledge and abilities of each student.
PLEASE SCHEDULE A PRELIMINARY INTERVIEW WITH THE DEAN OR CANTORIAL PROGRAM DIRECTOR PRIOR TO BEGINNING THE APPLICATION PROCESS. Email links are above.
Spiritual Autobiography
Each applicant is asked to write a comprehensive spiritual autobiography. This project should be undertaken as a deeply reflective spiritual exercise in which you give verbal expression to the unfolding of your own spiritual journey. While length is not an issue, the paper should be as long as you need to explore such issues as: how you understand your own spiritual life; the nature of your personal spiritual practice and how that practice has evolved; the evolution of your relationship with God, the All, the One, and what that means to you; the Jewish context and other contexts which have and still inform that unfolding relationship; your relationship to Jewish history and continuity, to Israel, to Jewish Renewal, to Reb Zalman as a teacher; your motivation for wanting to become a hazzan; what is the nature of your 'calling '-how do you feel moved to serve- etc. etc.
Please include a recent 'head-shot' photograph of yourself.
Prior Education
While not a hard requirement (there are special individuals with unique life-trajectories which have not included completing a BA) a recommended requisite for entrance into the ALEPH Cantorial Program is a liberal arts bachelor’s degree. Courses in Jewish Studies and comparative religion are also helpful. There are several reasons for this:
- We are human beings as well as Jews. The legacy of primal communities, the humanistic heritage of the West, and the spiritual heritage of the East all reveal key turning points and the follies of the human journey. Rabbis, hazzanim, pastors, chaplains and counselors today require this broader perspective on the spiritual and human quest toward meaning and divinity.
- The student of Jewish studies cannot really grasp the fullness of Jewish spirituality, culture and history, without knowing the broader contexts in which Jewish creativity took place
- Most of the people with whom hazzanim will be working will have a college background, and our hazzanim should be conversant with their world.
The ALEPH Cantorial Program also values courses and practica in counseling, counseling education, relationship and family therapy, group work, Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), Social Work etc. This kind of coursework is an ongoing requirement of the program.
It is presumed that applicants also have experience in the craft of pastoral counseling and compassionate listening by virtue of having themselves been in therapy as part of an ongoing commitment to working on personal and relationship issues, and personal growth.
Psychological Evaluation
The work of a rabbi, hazzan, or rabbinic pastor places many challenges and stresses before us which are amplified by the nature of our position as clergy, counsellors, teachers and spiritual mentors. Success in this work requires sensitivity and exceptional self-awareness, good emotional boundaries, clarity of discernment and the ability to work with many different kinds of people, including people with diverse personality impairments. It is essential that you have been in therapy yourself in order to work through unresolved issues of your own, and in order to be familiar with the therapeutic process. A psychological evaluation is required at some point in your application. The scheduling of this evaluation will be determined in consultation with your Program advisors.
The Board of Directors of Study (the Va'ad) endorses the ETHICS STATEMENT OF THE VAAD OF THE ALEPH ORDINATION PROGRAMS and requires teachers in our ordination programs to provide the Dean with
a STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE. Additionally, the Va'ad encourages all of our students to obtain a STATEMENT OF COMPLIANCE (downloadable in .pdf form) from each of their teachers who are not associated with our ordination programs.
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