OUR BOARD
Michael Weiss, President
Naomi Israel, Treasurer
Kathy Savit, Secretary
Paul Dubinsky, Trustee
Ben Rosen, Trustee
Rachel Wall, Trustee
Ariel Zoldan, Trustee
The Minyan, Past & Present
OUR HISTORY
The minyan was founded in the 1965-1966 academic year by a small group of faculty and students. Among them were Joseph A. Reif, who was among the first to teach modern Hebrew at the University, and his colleague Gene M. Schramm, who had come to teach Hebrew and linguistics. The minyan first met at Joe and Saura Reif’s house on Brooklyn Street, then moved into the Hillel building on Hill Street. Rabbi Yechiel Poupko, Assistant Director of the Hillel Foundation, served the minyan for 5 years and was followed by a succession of Orthodox and non-Orthodox rabbis including Martin Ballonoff, William Rudolph and Michael Balinsky. Rabbi Rod Glogower was the rabbi of AAOM from 1980-1983 and then from 1987 to 2019. Rabbi Jared Anstandig assumed leadership in July 2019. The minyan has always included students, faculty, and community people and welcomes people of different backgrounds, while maintaining the standards of a Modern Orthodox congregation.
Hillel Today
Original Hillel Building
Over the years, about 500 people have been associated with the Minyan, and nearly 100 celebrated together in March 2001 the 36th anniversary of its founding. At present, there are about 70 members of the AAOM who are joined for services, classes and other events by about 100 students of the Hillel Orthodox Minyan. Students enjoy home hospitality of AAOM members on Shabbat and holidays, giving them a home-away-from-home environment. Many friendships of long duration have evolved from these student/community contacts. During the academic year, services are held twice daily as well as on Shabbatot and holidays. During the summer, services are held on Shabbat and holidays.
Rabbi Jared Anstandig is AAOM's interim posek. Rabbi Anstandig was formerly the rabbi of AAOM, but is currently the JLIC Rabbi at Binghamton. We are actively searching for a rabbi.
See information about our Rabbinic Search below.
AAOM Rabbinic Search
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Posted with YU's The Morris and Gertrude Bienenfeld Department of Jewish Career Development and Placement in September 2026
The Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan seeks a warm, energetic rabbi to lead and help build our diverse, vibrant community.
About Ann Arbor
Featuring a world-class university, hospital, and museums, a vibrant cultural life, and abundant natural beauty, Ann Arbor regularly tops nationwide rankings of cities for quality of life (US News and World Report), educational attainment (WalletHub), peaceful places to live (Insider Monkey), and best places to retire (MoneyDigest). Although the Ann Arbor Jewish community is comparatively small, it boasts its own eruv, mikvah, Jewish Federation, Jewish Day School, and Jewish Community Center. In addition to the Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan, the Jewish community includes Chabad, Conservative, Reform, Secular Humanist, Renewal, and Reconstructionist congregations. Ann Arbor’s Jewish Family Services also offers local home-based support services to people of all faiths and nationalities. A wide range of kosher foods, including meats and cheeses, is available at local grocery stores. In addition, our close proximity to the much larger Metro Detroit Jewish community (just 45 minutes away) provides access to kosher grocery stores, restaurants, and other essential amenities.
About the Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan
The AAOM was founded in 1965 by Orthodox faculty and students at the University of Michigan. For 60 years, the AAOM has held joint religious services with U-M’s Orthodox students at Michigan Hillel. For most of that history, the AAOM and our student partners shared a single Orthodox Rabbi who served the needs of the entire community. Since 2023, U-M’s Orthodox students have been under the leadership of the OU-JLIC. The AAOM now seeks a part-time (50-75%) Rabbi to meet the additional needs of our 40 members/family units, who are religiously, demographically, and professionally diverse.
A Rabbinic Position with Flexibility
Due to its relationship with Hillel and JLIC, AAOM offers an unusual and highly flexible rabbinic position. On a year-round basis, the AAOM Rabbi will be expected to perform pastoral, educational and community-building responsibilities. During University break and vacation periods (approximately 19 weeks out of the year) the AAOM Rabbi will also have full responsibility for all other normal Rabbinical functions, including ensuring that all Shabbat, Yom Tov and weekday services run smoothly.
However, during the academic year (roughly 33 weeks out of the year), services are held at Hillel under the direction of the OU-JLIC Rabbi; during this time the AAOM Rabbi will be largely free of responsibility for Shabbat, Yom Tov and weekday services (although his educational, community-building, and pastoral responsibilities will continue year-round). This creates an opportunity for the Rabbi to combine his work for the AAOM with other endeavors, such as other professional work, pursuing graduate study, participating as a visiting scholar in other communities, or other personal projects.
In effect, the Rabbi will have a full-time position during summer and during school breaks, but only a part-time position during the rest of the year. We look forward to working with a candidate to craft a position that makes the best use of their skillset while allowing them the freedom to concurrently pursue other passions.
The Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate is comfortable serving a highly-educated but hashkafically heterogeneous congregation, and is committed to building a vibrant, Torah-inspired community, as well as being proficient as a baal tefilah and baal koreh, and in pastoral care. The ideal candidate is both religiously knowledgeable and intellectually curious and articulate in other domains, and able to teach engagingly to a wide variety of congregants, including children and families. The candidate must be able to work collaboratively with leaders of other communal organizations, and in particular must be comfortable working within the ecosystem of the AAOM/Hillel/JLIC relationship. Single and married candidates are welcome to apply. While AAOM would certainly welcome the presence of an engaged and involved rebbetzin, we understand that some married candidates may have partners whose schedules or other responsibilities preclude them from significant involvement.
Compensation, Early Start Bonus and Other Benefits
The compensation range (salary plus housing allowance) for this position is $50,000-90,000 annually, corresponding to the scope of the position (50-75%), to be mutually agreed upon. The position will begin no later than August 15, 2027, with an “early start” bonus of $8,000 if the candidate is able to begin no later than June 1, 2027. Applicants with 10+ years of rabbinic experience and leadership, including pastoral care and excellence in educational programming, may be considered for compensation above the stated range.
In addition, the AAOM offers significant contributions towards the cost of health insurance and life and/or disability insurance, plus annual contributions to a qualified pension or retirement plan. Because this is a part-time position, we are also able to offer a very generous and flexible vacation time package as part of our compensation. A portion of compensation may be designated as a tax-exempt housing allowance, to cover such expenses as rent, mortgage, property taxes, and/or utility costs, in accordance with all IRS guidelines and limitations.
Growth Potential
Although at present we are hiring for a part-time position, we hope that under his leadership, our congregation and its fundraising base will grow to a level that may develop into a full-time congregational position.
Applying
Interested applicants should send a resume, along with a cover letter describing their goals (should they be hired for the position) and their qualifications, to search@annarborminyan.org. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, but we hope to begin contacting selected candidates for interviews beginning in late October.