AAOM Rabbinic Search
The Ann Arbor Orthodox Minyan seeks a warm, energetic rabbi to lead and help build our diverse, vibrant community.
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 1965-66 by a small group of Orthodox faculty and students at the University of Michigan. For more than 50 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%) Rabbi to meet the additional needs of our 40 members/family units, who are religiously, demographically, and professionally diverse.
A Rabbinic Position with Limitless 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, and his pastoral and educational responsibilities will constitute no more than a 25%-time position. 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 (either at the University of Michigan or elsewhere), participating as a visitor scholar in other communities, or other personal projects. During this part of the year the Rabbi will be asked to seek creative ways to build and strengthen relationships with our community that take advantage of his own unique talents as an educator and community builder. In effect, the Rabbi will have a full-time position during summer and during school breaks, but only a 25% 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.
Early Start Bonus and Other Benefits
The position will begin no later than August 15, 2026, with an “early start” bonus of $8,000 if the candidate is able to begin no later than June 1, 2026. Because this is a part-time position, we are able to offer a very generous and flexible vacation time package as part of our compensation (up to 10 weeks per year, subject to scheduling restrictions). 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. Compensation range (salary plus housing allowance) is $45-60k annually. (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.)
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 early-to-mid-November.