Process Timeline

Our community's search for a full-time spiritual leader is moving forward rapidly! Below is a timeline of the Search Committee's Activities to date:

September 2007 – Community meeting re: Spiritual Leadership Search Process and invitation for applications to serve on the Search Committee
October – Search Committee selected; holds first meeting
October -- January – Multiple meetings of Search Committee and its sub-committees to design an application process and application form and a screening process including interview questions and community meetings.
Early December – CHL Spiritual Leader Position advertised
Early-January – Application deadline extended due to high interest. Twenty-six applications received. Applicants represent a wide range of skills, backgrounds, paths, ages and geographies.
Late-January – First round phone interviews completed.
Mid-February – Second-round interviews commence.
Mid-March - Committee selects two finalists to bring before the community: Rabbi Elliot Kukla and Rabbi SaraLeya Schley.

On April 1, the search committee received notification that Rabbi Elliot Kukla was withdrawing his application, having accepted another position. Please read the announcement, and Rabbi Elliot's letter, here.

Rabbi SaraLeya Schley joined us for a Shabbos weekend April 4th and 5th. The format was the same as for the weekend of March 21st and 22nd. SaraLeya's Resume and Application are available to all. Her CV can be downloaded by clicking here: resume. Her application and proposal to be considered for the position can be downloaded for a limited time by clicking here: application.

Schedule for April 4-5

We asked Rabbi SaraLeya Schley to lead several functions at Chochmat:

1) The traditional potluck dinner on Friday prior to celebratory Shabbat services

2) Rabbi Schley led the Kabbalat Shabbat services,

3) On Shabbas Shabbat morning, Rabbi Schley and our Torah Study Group engaged in reading and spirited discussion of this week’s portion.

4) Rabbi Schley led a Shacharit (morning prayer) service

5) Community lunch with Rabbi Schley

6) Rabbi Schley led a teaching

The Search Committee consists of members of our community and wishes to represent everyone's interests. Please share any opinions, comments, and questions with the Committee by clicking here.

The Job Description

For a full job description, please click here. Overarchingly, Chochmat is looking for a Spiritual Leader to provide the leadership necessary to promote each individual’s spiritual search for a connection to the divine through Jewish wisdom as well as the development of a deep, spiritual community. The Spiritual Leader would create such an environment by personal example, by leading innovative liturgy, by teaching, through oversight of meditation and education programs, and by providing spiritual and emotional counseling.

A Brief History of Chochmat HaLev

In 1994, Rabbi Avram Davis founded Chochmat HaLev as a school of Jewish meditation and mysticism. Interest was strong, and soon thereafter, he teamed up with Nan Gefen to formalize our non-profit corporate status. At that time, classes were held in private homes and church meeting rooms. By 1995, Chochmat had enough momentum to rent warehouse space on 8th Street in Berkeley. There, programming included various classes, workshops, and retreats on Jewish meditation, spiritual practice and mysticism. Within a few years, the curriculum matured to include three year-long programs of study in Jewish spiritual leadership, Jewish spirituality, and Jewish meditation. As a sense of community emerged, we began to celebrate Shabbat and High Holidays together; chanting and meditation were our core practices.

In 2000, Chochmat HaLev bought the facility on Prince St. in Berkeley with an eye toward expansion. Friday night Shabbat services increased in number and prominence, and the music at Chochmat began to soar with the formation of the Chochmat band. We continued to offer classes, workshops, meditations, and retreats. In addition, in 2001, our first three-year Jewish Meditation Teachers Certification Program attracted 40 students from around the country to learn to teach meditation. A second three-year program began in 2003, then a one-year program in Jewish Healing in 2004.

During these years of expansion, Chochmat HaLev was co-directed by Avram, Nan, and Richie Andler (Executive Director), and as the community grew, so did its interest in steering the course of Chochmat and participating in governance. In 2005, the board launched a strategic planning process that resulted in a proposal for Chochmat to become a membership organization, along the lines of a synagogue, where members elect the board, ratify the bylaws, and approve an organizational mission. The community voted and approved this plan.

In December 2006, Avram resigned from his position as Spiritual Director of Chochmat, and has been made Rabbi Emeritus of Chochmat. In the interim, services at Chochmat have been led by his fellow service leaders, Rabbi Sara Shendelman, Brian Schachter-Brooks, and Cyrise Beatty. In the fall of 2007, the community began its search for permanent spiritual leadership.