Join the Team
We’re searching for visionary rabbis and leaders looking to be a part of a new model of Jewish life at home. This is an exciting, fast-paced, demanding, and rewarding career. Base and Moishe House invest in coaching, skill-building, and entrepreneurial training to build the best team who will transform how young people experience Jewish life.
Open Positions
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Based-In Rabbi
Location: Northern New Jersey
We’re looking for a rabbi or rabbinical student looking to level-up your career by launching a new part-time home in Northern New Jersey. Preference given to Hoboken or Jersey City.
What’s this work all about?
Base is the home of a rabbinic family. A home base for young adults and their friends. A Jewish, pluralistic, hospitable home of learning and service.
We know that people in their 20s and 30s are seeking a Jewish life of relevance, purpose, and meaning. That life of meaning is built first from personal relationships, not from products or programs.
We accomplish this sacred work by growing and strengthening an emerging group of rabbinic couples called to open their homes and lives to host, teach, serve, and guide their community. Our vision is a world fuelled by the joy of radical hospitality where young Jews feel closer to themselves, each other, Torah, and community – Jewish and beyond.
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Being a Base Rabbi is a dynamic role that takes many forms.
As a community builder and spiritual guide:
Build one-on-one relationships with at least 180 previously unengaged Jewish young adults over the course of a year.
Reach at least 500 unique individuals by offering them a variety of immersive Jewish experiences along the four Base pillars, including but not limited to: one-on-one conversations, teaching in small groups, Shabbat and holidays meals, community service opportunities, pastoral counseling.
Build connections with community members based on repeated, substantive, personal experiences, so that at least 40% of individuals return on a regular basis.
Plan retreats and immersive experiences for cohorts or other groups within the local Base community.
Identify the Jewish educational and pastoral needs of the young Jewish adults in your community. This will include working collaboratively with community members and communal organizations to develop stand-alone and ongoing learning groups and service initiatives to address existing and evolving needs.
Along with their partner, shop for groceries and other supplies for programming, while also cooking and preparing Shabbat and holiday meals.
As a Jewish educator:
Develop creative and meaningful Jewish learning opportunities.
Serve as a key educational resource for both Moishe House staff colleagues and Moishe House residents, helping to enrich their Jewish journeys and coaching them in becoming Jewish leaders in their own right.
Teach 3-6 cohort experiences over the course of the year.
As a community organizer:
Act as a community organizer in the local community, meeting other organizational leaders and finding ways to collaborate and connect young Jewish adults to each other and to other organizations.
Engage in monthly service initiatives in partnership with other local nonprofit organizations.
Lead and organize an annual grassroots fundraising campaign to raise 10-20% of the annual budget directly from the Base community.
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Here’s a snapshot of a potential week in the life of a Base rabbi:
Monday
Weekly planning, curriculum development, and confirming meetings
Coffee date with Basers
Follow up with new Shabbat visitors
2 pastoral meetings
Planning, preparation, and promotion for Tuesday night Class
Tracking past week’s work in CRM
Tuesday
Curriculum development and meetings with partners to discuss upcoming plans and events
Coffee date with new Basers
1 pastoral meeting with a Baser
Prepare for small group learning class
Teaching a weekly class in the evening
Wednesday
Personal time for learning
2 coffee dates with Basers or new visitors
1 pastoral meeting with Baser
Follow up emails with attendees of weekly classes and new visitors
Prep for small group learning
Shabbat invitations
Teach small group learning/meditation
Thursday
Shabbat invitations, purchase supplies for Shabbat
2-3 coffee dates with Base members
Plan out needs for next week’s classes and service projects
Friday/Shabbat
Base all-staff call
Prepare for Shabbat meals, cooking, set up
Follow up emails, thank yous to week’s Base attendees
Hosting Shabbat Dinner or lunch
Who’s a
Base rabbi?
While Base Rabbis are ordained by a wide variety of institutions, Base does not ascribe to any particular denomination. Base Rabbis are pluralistic Rabbis serving a wide variety of Jews and their friends and partners. We seek to hire a diverse set of teams that reflect a diversity of Jewish thought and practice.
Ideal Base Rabbis will be within 0-5 years of receiving ordination (semikha). One of the most powerful elements of the Base model is giving young Jews an opportunity to form a relationship with a relatable Rabbi who can empathize with their life stage. We seek candidates who are eager to learn, grow, and envision a new way to build a rabbinate.
What’s it like Working at Moishe House?
As a Base Rabbi or Base Partner, you become part of the Moishe House family. Base Rabbis are full-time employees working most closely with the national Base team and reporting to the Base Program Director.
As a part of the wider Moishe House team, Base teams receive operational and marketing support, and as a part of the national Base team, they receive a wide variety of support including but not limited to: professional development, ongoing programmatic support, annual all-team in-person convening, bi-monthly virtual gatherings, and cohort development, ongoing training, annual evaluation and research, and spiritual growth support.
Who is the Base Partner and what’s their role?
Each full-time Base is built around a dynamic, committed couple who work together in partnership and are energized to open up their home in service of creating meaningful connections and community.
Base Partners come from a wide variety of backgrounds and professional fields, and most have another full-time job.
Base Partners are expected to be an enthusiastic co-host, helping with the planning and preparation of events and gatherings, and, to the extent they want to offer formal programming, we welcome their Jewish (and other) expertise!
Base Partners work on average 15 hours and also report to the Base Program Director.
How long is tenure?
Base teams are expected to complete at least a three-year term, with the option to renew for a second three-year term, contingent upon performance and available funding. We view the Base “job” as a premiere post-ordination (semikha) opportunity for real-world experience in an entrepreneurial rabbinate. Moishe House is an at-will employer and does not offer employment contracts.
What about compensation?
Full-time Base Rabbis are paid a competitive salary and benefits, and are provided with a significant housing stipend, a program budget, professional development, access to parsonage tax benefits, paid time off, and quarterly paid days for community service.
Partners of Full-Time Base rabbis receive compensation in the form of a $20,000 per year honorarium, but are not considered employees of Moishe House.
Some additional FAQs
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Base is staffed as a full-time program led by a rabbi and their partners out of a home they share together.
Based-In is staffed as a part-time program led by a rabbi or rabbinical student in addition to their other full-time commitments outside of Moishe House. Based-In enables rabbis with non-congregational full-time jobs (e.g. Day School educators, professors, chaplains, or nonprofit professionals), to invest up to 15 hours of work per week in service of local young adults.
The vision of Base and Based-In are identical: renewing belonging, purpose, and joy in the next generation of young Jews through pluralistic rabbis who open their homes to host, model, teach, serve, and guide their community.
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No, Base is a full-time job.
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Base Rabbis and their partners are expected to find their own housing and sign their own lease. Each Base team is provided with a housing stipend, allowing them to rent a home or apartment with enough space that can accommodate frequent hosting. These payments are taxed, but Rabbis are also able to declare parsonage on the entirety of their housing expenses.
Moishe House will provide information regarding employment and supplemental housing support. The national Base team will advise on the ideal area and neighborhoods, as well as requirements for hosting spaces (e.g. can seat 20-30 people, outdoor space, etc.)
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We love when Basers feel close enough to their Rabbi to ask them to serve in personal life transitions. In fact, we have a guide on the spectrum of services and recommend associated fees that Base Rabbis can use to assist in these conversations. Any life-cycle fee-for-service work administered for a Baser, is paid directly to Base.
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All new Bases have a national: local 50:50 funding model. Meaning, we at Moishe House, work to raise 50% of the funds from national funders, and 50% from local funders. Additionally, we believe that as entrepreneurial and communal Rabbis, Base Rabbis should be given the opportunity to learn the basics of fundraising.
With support, coaching, and operations assistance from the national Base team, Base Rabbis will learn how to execute an annual fundraising campaign for their community. Between life-cycle fee-for-service work, and this annual fundraising campaign, Base Rabbis will help secure at least $10,000 annually towards their program budget.
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While we deeply believe single Rabbis can and should do this type of work, Base at its core, is a partnership model, giving Basers the opportunity to reflect on what it takes to build a shared home and practice. Our Partners bring valuable alternative and complementary perspectives to every conversation, program, and experience, enriching the overall Base environment and modeling constructive disagreement and the natural and inevitable differences in spiritual or religious practice.