הַנְהָגָה Women's Pastoral Care & Leadership
Spiritual leadership for the women who hold communities together.
An 18-month professional program that pairs deep halachic literacy with clinical pastoral education and a Jerusalem residency — preparing Orthodox women to serve with skill and authority as chaplains, educators, and communal leaders.
חֶסֶדWhat This Program Is
Care that's trained. Leadership that's recognized.
In every community, women are already on the front lines of spiritual care — guiding kallahs, teaching, sitting with families through illness and loss, and answering the questions that never make it to anyone else. This program gives that work what it has too often lacked: rigorous training and a credential that's recognized.
Over eighteen months you build genuine halachic literacy, learn the clinical frameworks of professional pastoral care, study intensively in Jerusalem, and practice under supervision — emerging certified, confident, and ready to be placed.
The 18-Month Path
From called to credentialed.
Halachic & Pastoral Foundations
Begin online with core halachic literacy and an introduction to the principles of pastoral care — the textual grounding and the human posture you'll build everything else on, studied flexibly from wherever you are.
Clinical Pastoral Education
Train in the clinical frameworks professional chaplains use — presence, listening, and accompaniment — within a Torah lens, with structured reflection on real encounters.
The Jerusalem Residency
A dedicated, in-person intensive at our Jerusalem study center: deep text study, learning from senior educators, and the formation that only happens face to face.
Mentored Practicum
You're paired with an experienced mentor and carry real pastoral and communal responsibilities — with supervision, reflection, and feedback at every step.
Certification & Placement
Earn a professional certification backed by a recognized American Orthodox rabbinic body, and enter our placement network — synagogues, schools, and campus organizations.
What You'll Study
Halachic depth meets pastoral skill.
Six areas that braid textual mastery together with the human craft of care — so you can answer the question and hold the person asking it.
Family purity and the intimate guidance women so often need a trusted, trained voice for.
Practical halachic literacy across kashrus, Shabbos, and the everyday rhythms of a Jewish home.
The clinical pastoral skills of presence, listening, and walking beside someone through hard places.
Crisis, illness, and bereavement — comforting the suffering with both halachic precision and human warmth.
Teaching, women's learning, and the design of communal programming that actually reaches people.
Guiding women and families through marriage, birth, parenting, and loss with sensitivity and skill.
לִוּוּי רוּחָנִי
Pastoral care you can be trusted with.
Comfort shouldn't be improvised. This program is built on Clinical Pastoral Education — the same supervised, reflective model hospital chaplains train in — practiced within a Torah framework, so you learn to be genuinely present in the hardest moments.
Where This Leads
The leadership communities are searching for.
Because the program is built with a recognized American Orthodox rabbinic body, graduates finish with active placement support across the institutions that need them most.
Admissions
Is this path right for you?
This program is built for you if…
- You're already the person families turn to — and you want real training behind it.
- You aspire to chaplaincy, communal education, or women's spiritual leadership.
- You're an Orthodox woman ready for a serious, 18-month commitment.
- You want a credential institutions recognize, not only lived experience.
What we look for
- A strong Jewish educational background and comfort learning Hebrew texts.
- Readiness to complete the in-person Jerusalem residency.
- A genuine heart for pastoral and communal work.
- Two references and an admissions interview with our faculty.
Tuition
Invest in your calling.
Pastoral Care & Leadership
18-month program · for Orthodox women in spiritual, chaplaincy, and communal roles.
- Full halachic literacy curriculum
- Clinical Pastoral Education training
- Intensive Jerusalem residency
- One-on-one mentored practicum
- Professional certification (recognized body)
- Active placement support
Questions
Before you apply.
What certification will I receive?
Who is this program designed for?
What is Clinical Pastoral Education?
Do I have to relocate to Jerusalem?
How long is the program?
What roles will this prepare me for?
Step into the leadership your community needs.
Cohorts are intentionally small. Begin your application, or speak with our admissions team about whether this path is the right fit for you.