The first graduating class of Rabbinic Management Institute’s Certificate Program in Nonprofit Management, including Rabbi Richard Plavin (back row, second from right) and Rabbi Julie Schonfeld (center), executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly. Photos courtesy of the American Jewish University.

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Rabbi Richard Plavin, spiritual leader of Temple Beth Sholom B’Nai Israel in Manchester, is among 14 Conservative rabbis who graduated on Feb. 1 from the Rabbinic Management Institute’s Certificate Program in Nonprofit Management at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles.
The graduates hail from Jewish communities all across North America.  They make up the first class of the program, which is geared towards providing rabbis with the business skills and management training necessary to run their synagogue more efficiently in the 21st century. The management program is a joint venture of the Rabbinical Assembly (RA), the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and the American Jewish University.
The 14 rabbis spent the year engaged in on-site seminars, mentorships and distance learning in the areas of: nonprofit management and leadership, marketing, fund raising, accounting and budgeting, strategic planning and program evaluation. It is the only such program for rabbis run by an institution that boasts both an accredited seminary and an accredited MBA program under the same roof.
According to Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly who spoke at the closing seminar, the program equips rabbis with business and management skills to address the myriad challenges facing religious institutions with creativity and foresight.
“In today’s economy,” she said, “it is more important than ever for rabbis to learn effective business models and management skills, ones guided by the deepest values of Judaism.”