Home>>Alumni and Their Impact>>Leading the Way

We have trained over 185 stellar, transformative rabbis who serve in communities across the U.S., in Israel, and across the globe. They:

Seth Braunstein Szarvas helping student lay teffilin

Reach over 250,000 people each year, serving in a wide variety of settings

  • In some of the largest and most vibrant Modern Orthodox synagogues in America
  • In smaller communities around the globe that lack Modern Orthodox options
  • On a wide range of college campuses
  • As teachers and administrators in day schools
  • As chaplains in hospitals, prisons, and the U.S. Armed Forces
  • As religious and spiritual entrepreneurs, including as founders of dynamic engagement opportunities for all Jews
  • As leaders of Jewish community centers, senior residences, camps, adult education programs, and so much more.
Steven Exler Bar Mitzvah

Occupy top leadership positions in the Jewish community

  • Heads of School and Heads of Judaic Studies
  • Executive Directors and a Vice President of Hillel International
  • Camp Directors and as Vice President of Foundation for Jewish Camp
  • Senior rabbis in major synagogues, including the both the largest Orthodox synagogue in the US and the largest one in Canada
  • Senior rabbis and Directors of Chaplaincy of major hospitals in the US and Israel

Are innovators, thought-leaders and change agents

Some of the most exciting new and visionary initiatives in the Jewish community over the last 20 years have been launched and headed by YCT rabbis.

  • Base – Rabbinic couples opening their homes to millennials and others seeking Jewish engagement and learning, now in 10 locations across the US.
  • Uri LiTzedek – An Orthodox movement bringing people together around learning Torah and activism for a variety of social justice causes.
  • Solu – A Chicago-based organization bridging the gaps between Jews and non-Jews through shared social action and community projects.
  • YATOM – Jewish Foster and Adoption Network, providing material and spiritual support for those who bring children into their homes.
  • Fact Finders Israel – 10-day trips to Israel for Jewish and non-Jewish college students, to learn about the Israel-Palestinian first-hand and deepen relationships between campus leaders.
  • Livyat Chen: YCT Center for Pastoral Rabbinic Education in Israel – Bringing Israeli clergy together for in-depth training and in-person experience providing spiritual care in various healthcare settings.

Our Alumni in Action

Video, Alumni Impact

Rabbi Jon Leener: Rabbi of BASE BKLYN &The Prospect Heights Shul

Video, Alumni Impact

Rabbi Aaron Lerner: Executive Director, UCLA Hillel

Video, Alumni Impact

Rabbi Andrew Scheer: Rabbi of the Tokyo Jewish Community

Video, Alumni Impact

Rabbi Mishael Zion’s (’11) Journey to the Rabbinate in Israel

Video, Alumni Impact

Rabbi Ari Hart (’12) Makes a Deep Impact in His Hometown

Video, Alumni Impact

Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz (’10) on the Obligation to Help Foster Kids

Musmakh looking for a Job?

We are here to help you. Contact Ruthie Strosberg Simon  to explore your opportunities.

Community looking for a Rabbi?

We can help make the right shidduch for your community. Contact Ruthie Strosberg Simon to learn more about our placement process and to discuss your needs!

Alumni News

  • Photograph of Rabbi Aaron Portman. Image of a man, from the shoulders up, facing the camera with head slightly tilted to the right, smiling broadly. His eyes are dark, possibly green, and partly closed, he appears to be in his 20s-30s and he has light, pinkish sandy toned skin. He has short, dirty blonde hair that curls slightly upwards, he has stubble around the bottom half of his face. He is wearing bright red-orange tortoise shell, circular glasses. He is also wearing a navy blue collared shirt and a black suit jacket. The background of the image is blurry and indistinct and contains patches of forest green, pastel yellow, sky blue and pastel orange.

    Rabbi Portman appointed senior Jewish educator and campus rabbi at OSU Hillel

  • Brandeis Photograph of Brandeis University in front of the Brandeis University sign. The sign is a large rectangular slab of off-white stone held up by 2 stone blocks with grooves cut through the middle for the sign to rest in, the blocks are the same color and material. On the sign, carved in large block font that makes the letters appear black is "BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY". To the left of the words is the Brandeis logo. The words and symbols are hard to make out but the image is a circle within a circle with the larger circle having words written within going around the inner circumference. The only word that is clear is the one on top that says "TRUTH", all the words appear similar to the larger ones on the Brandeis sign. The inner circle has a shield with light rays extending outwards in all directions. Inside the shield are 3 lit candles in the middle with an indeterminate word on top and "אמת" on the bottom. The sign is resting in a large patch of soil with 2 small spot lights and a small bed of yellow and purple flowers. The background of the image is a manicured green grassy lawn with a few large green leafy trees on the left and right and metal poles holding up banners dotted around. There is a large yellow and white flower patch directly behind the sign and there is an off-white stone sidewalk swerving upwards towards a set of large rectangular buildings. The building on the right is grey with many blueish windows on the bottom half. the middle building is shaped like 90 degree line with mostly blue-green glass and the building on the right is red-brown brick. The sky is light royal blue with wispy white and blue-grey clouds.

    Brandeis is ‘Anything But’ Bad for Observant Jews

  • A Year of Strong & Steady Growth: YCT Highlights of ’22-’23

  • Photograph of Rabbi Ari Hart Photo of a man from the shoulders up. He appears to be in his 30s or early 40s and has sandy toned skin and neat yet curly short dark brown hair. He has a neat, short, full face beard with connected mustache and possibly brown eyes. He has a toothy smile and is facing the camera. He is wearing circular dark tortoise shell glasses, a charcoal grey suit and a white button down shirt. The background of the image is white.

    Skokie Synagogue Renovation Reflects Congregation’s Recent Renaissance

  • The Making of a Rabbi: Nissan Antine

  • Photograph of Rabbi Aaron Lerner with Surfboard. Image of a man, from the knees up, turned to the right with head facing the camera and appears to be middle aged. He has a beaming smile, half-closed eyes, and pinkish tan skin. He has thick black hair that is greying on the sides, seems to be clean shaven and is wearing a navy blue sweater with a white button down shirt underneath and blue jeans. He is carrying a surfboard horizontally at a slight upwards angle under one arm. The surfboard is depicting a city-like map grid with the land mass being being yellow with broad white grid lines criss crossing throughout. There are a few splotches of green on the map and on the top left section of the map is blue representing a body of water with 2 smaller rivulets going into the city on the right vertically and on the left horizontally. Slightly past the half-way point, to the right, are 4 navy blue, circle logos. The one furthest to the right has the white silhouette of a bear. Side by side, with the top one just below the bear, is a white city logo with the abstracted images of 4apartment buildings with windows, and a logo which looks like an overlapping "" forming a shape similar to a Magen David. The last logo, to the left of the previously mentioned one, looks like a white Roman helmet with a visor and a horse-like mane/ crest. On the far left side of the surfboard are the words "ללכת עם הזרם" (the letters are on their sides because the surfboard is being held horizontally) with a white wavy pattern to the left and a navy blue section to the left of that. Behind Rabbi Lerner are 2 tall bookshelves filled with Jewish books in various colors and sizes and to the left of the shelves is a grey wall.

    Finance, rabbinics and practical experience fuel L.A. Jewish community foundation’s new top exec

  • Photograph of UCLA (university of California, Los Angeles) Hillel building. Image of a grey stone building made up of large rectangular blocks arranges vertically with small window-like gaps spread throughout. The building appears to be about 3 floors tall with a large windowed balcony section on the top left and what might be a large square garage entrance on the bottom right and a big stone arch main entrance. To the right and left of the building are some scraggly trees with an asphalt road/ walk-way leading up to and past the building. The sky behind the structure is a bright, cloudless blue.

    How Hillel at UCLA Moved beyond Tolerance to Embrace Difference

  • Photograph of Rabbi Kyle Savitch Image of a man, facing the camera, with a grey background. He appears to be in his 30s and has a pinkish-beige skin tone, green eyes and has a slightly open mouthed broad smile. He has wavy dirty-blonde hair and a short full-faced beard with connect mustache. He is wearing a dark maroon sweater-coat with a vertical blue and white striped button down shirt.

    Rabbi Kyle Savitch (’21) Holds Both Jewish Tradition and Modern Sensibilities in His Hands with Kehillat Harlem

  • Jason Mark

    Jason Mark (’22), rabbi at Congregation Etz Chayim, observes High Holidays in Toledo

  • Rabbi Aaron Lerner

    Rabbi Aaron Lerner (’13) Selected as Next President and CEO of Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles

  • Rabbi Jonathan Lenner

    Synagogue Teshuva

  • headshot of aaron finkelstein

    Jewish Journal- Rabbis of LA | Rabbi Aaron Finkelstein: The Educator With a Pastoral Focus

  • kyle savitch, seated far right, at a kitchen table with four others teaching torah. looks like a friendly group.

    #YCTInnovators: Kyle Savitch (’21) Is Helping Lead the Growing Orthodox Community of Harlem

  • Photograph of a person, presumably male, clutching his side with both hands. The man is wearing a light blue button-down shirt and a striped tie that has a repeating pattern of dark blue fading into light blue followed by dark blue, a line of grey, dark blue and then light blue again. Only the man's waist to upper chest area can be seen. His hands are overlapping on-top of the side of his stomach, his hands are an light sandy skin-tone. On his left wrist is a silver analogue watch. He is wearing black pants and a black leather belt.

    I’m a Rabbi With Mental Illness and I’m Done Trying to Hide My Pain

  • Jewish Daily Forward: A Chicago Orthodox rabbi reaches out to his Rohingya and Black neighbors

  • A photograph of a white latex gloved hand with fingers slightly splayed except for the thumb and pointer finger. Clasped between the thumb and pointer finger is a small glass bottle with a white cap that has blue plastic at the top. The bottom of the bottle has a white label with blue letters saying "mRNA Vaccine" with "COVID-19" written below in smaller letters. The background of the image is white.

    Why Being a Rabbi Led Me to Participate in the Novavax Vaccine Trial

  • #YCTInnovators: Learn about Rabbi Scott Kalmikoff’s (’18) Journey to Professional Genealogy

  • Photo-realistic image of a hospital's surgery room. Picture of a white room with a tiled floor and 4 hospital wards lined up against the wall. Each ward has a bar with a sliding divider between them and a metal bed-frame on wheels with a thin mattress and pillow on top of them. Each bed frame also has a metal step stool leading up to the bed and the wall behind the bed has a large power strip with machinery plugged into it. The three furthest beds each have some type of mechanical grey box on a small shelf that is attached to the power strip, the three furthest beds also have cream colored bed sheets, a thin blanket and a pillow case on the pillow. The wall of each ward also has a small horizontal, cylindrical wall light. Of the two middle wards the right one has a cabinet to the right of the bed and the left one has a small night stand to the right of the bed. The ward closest to the viewer has the bed linens removed revealing a blue canvas mattress and pillow, there is a set of folded, cream colored linens at the foot of the bed. Both the closets and furthest wards have a small box like machine with buttons on the right side and a large bar making an upside down squared out U shape above the machine and 3 tubes coming of of the bottom of the device. There is a divider leading into a dark room at the far left end of the image.

    In Haifa Coronavirus Ward, a US-Trained Rabbi Helps Muslims Keep the Faith

  • A photograph of a key hanging in a door lock. The right half of the image is taken up by a brown wooden door which has a greenish tinge due to the light source coming from the left. The key is inside a metal modern turning door lock and is hanging at the center of the photograph. The key inside the lock is metal and straight with ridges on both sides of the key bit and the part that attaches the bit to the key-ring is bulky and made of black plastic. On the small metal loop key-ring are hanging to other keys pointing straight down, both are completely metal and have ridges only on one side of the bit, the front key is squarish at the top and the back key is circular at the top. At the top of the image is what might be a cylindrical door knob but it has been cut-off at the top. The left side of the image is blurry and seems to be a window directed outside to a garden or some other space with a large light source and many green vaguely leaf shaped objects.

    Open Doors

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    The Silence Between Us – What we’re missing in the #MeToo/#GamAni Movement

  • Cornell University Logo A circular logo over of transparent background. The circle is white with red outlining the letters and images and a red border before and after the lettering around the circumference of the circle. The block letters going around the circumference of the circle say "CORNELL UNIVERSITY" on the top half and the bottom half says "FOUNDED A.D. 1865". In the center of the circle is another circle with a shield touching 3 edges of the circle. The shield is split into 2 segments, the top third and the bottom 2 thirds. The bottom segment has the symbol of an open book facing the viewer with 8 horizontal bars each on the left and right pages of the book. The line dividing the book extends upwards and downwards past the edge of the book and forms a "T" separating the bottom segment from the top segment and the left part of this segment from the right part. The book symbol also has 3 small squares coming out of its left and right sides with space between them appearing like bookmarks or tags.The top segment has two smaller shields. The left shield has a horizontal box taking up a third of the shield and descending down from the box are 6 vertical lines. The right shield has a quadrilateral in the abstracted form of a ship with 5 other quadrilaterals appearing like sails. The ship is on a flat plane meant to look like water with 3 triangular shapes behind to look like mountains and a circle behind the mountains with rays bursting out to look like the sun.

    Rabbi Ari Weiss honored for Cornell Hillel leadership

  • Rabbi Noah Leavitt Ran the New York Marathon for Friendship Circle

  • Hearing the Shofar’s Cry in the Jerusalem of Lithuania

  • Rabbi Aaron Frank (’08) leads his students in faith

  • Photograph of meat being grilled. Most of the image is taken up by a piece of what might be chicken breast, its mostly light in color but is clearly fully cooked with many splotches of dark reddish-brown to black coloring, including about 9 dark vertical grill lines. To its left are two other cooking pieces of meat that are slightly blurred. They also appear to be poultry but are much redder in hue and one appears to have a skewer sticking out of the bottom horizontally. The meat is cooking on top of a grill grate with black metal bars in horizontal rows making up the surface of the grill. Below the bars are grey coals with an orange glow emanating from beneath them.

    Rabbi Jacob Siegel ensures that investors do not promote religious discrimination and instead reflect their values

  • Photo-realistic image of the inside of a library. A library with row upon row of shelves filled with books on the left and right walls. Down the middle is an ornate dark brown wooden banister around the entrance to a downward staircase. At the top of the stair case, below the opposite banister is a sign that says "AMERICA AFRICA ASIA AUSTRALASIA" in cream colored blocky font. The 4 corners of the banister have a upwards wooden protrusion shaped like and angular vase. Behind the down stairs entrance are two standing racks, each with 7 horizontal rolls of wrapping paper with a beige circular table. On the table are several indiscernible squarish objects and a tall, green potted plant with bright yellow flowers. Behind the table is a large arched window in a white frame with swirling designs on the outer panes. The walls are charcoal grey and the space through the window is a foggy white with a blurry grey rectangle on the bottom. The floor of the library is an overlapping "V" patterned brown wooden floor. There is an upper balcony above the bookshelves with the same banister as the down stairs entrance and made of a brown wood that is the same color as the bookshelves. The ceiling is solid and cream colored with a skylight shaped like a bottomless rectangular triangle with foggy white light shining through. The books come in a wide colors and sizes but most are roughly the same size and are nestled comfortably in their shelves, their are also several books on the ledge where halfway up the shelves where the remaining top shelves are further back into the wall. There are also two small silver overhanging light fixtures in a curving design that splits into a branch on either side each ending in a light with a flower shaped glass shade. On the right side of the room at the end of the base level and the balcony level is a beige rectangular wooden door. Hanging from the underside of the balcony is an array of simple black metal light fixtures.

    Rabbi Jordan Soffer (’16) on the cost of Jewish Day School education

  • Two greyed-out hands, each holding a puzzle piece towards the other. The puzzle pieces are the same shape, a squarish middle section with 2missing circular sections on opposite sides and 2 outward jutting circular sections on the other two sides. The puzzle pieces are oriented towards each other so that they would fit, the left piece is rotated so that the jutting out sides are horizontal and the right piece is rotated so that the missing sections are horizontal. The image is photo realistic and the background is white.

    YCT Rabbis Attempting To Rebuild Ties Between Israeli And American Jews

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    Hillel International Welcomes Rabbi Benjamin Berger as Vice President of Jewish Education

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    A Justice System That Creates Orphans: Reflections on a recent visit to the US/Mexico border:

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    UCLA Hillel Director Rabbi Aaron Lerner (YCT ’13) responds to growing anti-Zionism on campus

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    Muhlenberg College Announces Appointment of Rabbi Rachmiel Gurwitz as Jewish Chaplain and Hillel Director

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    R’ Avidan Freedman, ’07, invites fellow Israelis to be shelter for African refugees

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    Base Hillel: A pluralistic project for millennials takes a page from the Chabad playbook

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    The Solution to Growing Chasm Between Israel and North American Jewry

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    What the Book of Genesis Tells Us About Sexual Harassment and #MeToo

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    Adult Learning is the Number One Priority for the Jewish Future

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    Libi B’Mizrach- New IRF Journal on Religious ZIonism

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    Supporting and Destigmatizing Those With Mental Illness

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    For Judaism to survive, it has to get out of the shtetl

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    The Spiritual Trauma of Taking a Life

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    A Blacklisted Diaspora Rabbi Is Pleased To Find Himself In Good Company

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    Was the Chatam Sofer Really So Fair?

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    Rabbi Seth Winberg Named Executive Director of Hillel At Brandeis

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    ‘Fleet as an Eagle’: Scouts Soar into the Rabbinate

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    The Triple Decker Shalshelet: Partnership With Those Differently Abled – Parshat Vayikra

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    Every Age Shines with its Own Light:” A Review of “When God Becomes History”: Historical Essays of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hakohen Kook, translated by Bezalel Naor

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    Host of SXSW festival, Austin also trying to lure more Orthodox Jews

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    Rabbi Dan Millner ’14 at the Texas House of Representatives

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    A Pharaoh Who Knew Joseph

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    Sacramento temple hires native son as rabbi