Thinking About Career Choices

This is likely to be the first of a series of sorts.

So we had a meeting today of folks in Tokhnit HaYesod- the program I'm in here at JTS for people involved in the Rabbinical school who for whatever reason aren't actually accepted into the full program. It turns out that I am the only one who is still really making up my mind about what I want to be doing- quite unlike what I was told during my interview-like-thing. Of the other folks, a few did a full application and had some reason the school wasn't ready to fully accept them. For several others, they only decided to come to rabbinical school well after the application deadlines, which I find interesting- why not just have them study as non-matriculated students instead if they want to begin coursework right away? Maybe it facilitates grants or loans or who-knows-what. And then I think there was some other way people ended up in the program. So it meant that we were all coming from different places with different needs from the program. It was also interesting to really see who else was in this program- I hadn't realized that certain people were. It was also interesting to see how people handled it, who had been applying to the full program, and didn't get in to that. It is a difficult thing to communicate, and I can see why they wouldn't want to try, besides feelings of failure, but also because the concept just doesn't communicate well. I mean, the rabbi at Temple Beth Israel/Beth Bingo took "she's leaving to go to school at JTS" without even specifying what school at JTS to mean rabbinical school just as an assumption... Admitedly he's not a great example, but the idea sticks.

However, it's bringing to light that I really need to start making a real decision here about what I want to be doing next year and what I want to be doing with my life. Coming out of the meeting, I'm realizing that there are a couple of different lines of thought that I'm having as far as what's impacting my decision-making process.

The first has to do with what I want to be doing with my career, and that's an issue where I'm torn. I want to be able to teach- but I could do that with either credential in some settings, although I'd need the PhD for university level teaching. But could I live doing high-school level teaching and adult education in non-academic settings? Sure. I think I'd enjoy teaching on the university level, heck, I think it would be fabulous, but other sorts of teaching would also be very reasonable options. I would really like to be able to do competent and respected research though, and that would require the PhD, as far as I know. It just isn't something one expects to develop skills for in rabbinical training. On the other hand, I think I would really find meaning in doing chaplaincy-type work, especially in a geriatric population. I found the time I volunteered with that population to be really meaningful and something that, once I dived into it, I found that I felt like I could develop a real competency. I do worry that it would be very depressing work- I expect that that sort of a rabbinical career would involve a lot of funerals, and a lot of dying people, and the like. But that's also very important work that doesn't get a lot of attention, and I do tend to have a desire to work in areas that are otherwise neglected- my interests as far as Judaic scholarship also fall into that sort of category to some extent. And my mother certianly thinks that I have a strength in that area- dealing with the elderly, that is. And I do enjoy working with that population. But I don't know if I would want to do that and only that- I think it would leave me feeling unbalanced: I don't think it would involve enough of the sort of teaching, teaching the sorts of texts that I really love- halakhic texts about the details of how one lives a life and how one does ritual and such- and am worried that I'd really feel that lack. I know that I really have a passion for that. But maybe I'd be able to be involved in writing about that field, as a rabbi, in a way that would fulfill that passion and maybe even make those texts and their implications more accessible to the rest of the community and other interested readers. On the other hand, I might be able to do that with a doctorate as well, and to be able to write for the scholarly community as well.

The other question is what sort of training process do I want. Do I want a spiritually-focused program, or a purely academically focused program? I think I could be very happy with either, but I really don't know how to explore that question adequately. I'm really enjoying my classes now- but do they really focus spiritually? THey claim to, but the things that I really love are the more academic parts of the program- the stuff that weaves in spiritual practice and such has so far been involved with so many aspects that I find academically repetitive that they aren't doing a lot for me personally at this point. And I've always enjoyed straight academia.

Another question is my ability to self-direct. I really found working without a lot of set schedule to be challenging last year, and worry about my ability to self-direct my work as far as preparing for oral exams or on a dissertation eventually. But that same issue will, I expect, also come up as far as rabbinical training, and certainly, I expect, in working in the clergy. And I expect that that is something that I will just need to train myself in and find ways to schedule my time for myself. My growing discipline as far as davening on the appropriate schedule and with a minyan may help as a foundation for that, although I'm not sure exactly (or even more than very vaguely) how I'll go about making that change/training myself.

A final question would involve finding a job eventually, and the fact that I really want to be near my family, and to eventually work somewhere where my spouse, G-d willing, also will have a job in his field, and either sort of job makes it hard to be able to find such a job. But I understand that this is always difficult, and that with some compromises things are often workable. But will one sort of training prepare me better than the other to have those opportunities? And if so, how much do I go for the purest form of what I want, and how much do I head for something that will give me a fuller range of options?

And of course, would it be worthwhile to plan to eventually pursue both degrees/sets of training? Would it be worth the extra time in order to have all the options and be able to combine aspects of both careers?

Thinking About Career Choices

This is likely to be the first of a series of sorts.

So we had a meeting today of folks in Tokhnit HaYesod- the program I'm in here at JTS for people involved in the Rabbinical school who for whatever reason aren't actually accepted into the full program. It turns out that I am the only one who is still really making up my mind about what I want to be doing- quite unlike what I was told during my interview-like-thing. Of the other folks, a few did a full application and had some reason the school wasn't ready to fully accept them. For several others, they only decided to come to rabbinical school well after the application deadlines, which I find interesting- why not just have them study as non-matriculated students instead if they want to begin coursework right away? Maybe it facilitates grants or loans or who-knows-what. And then I think there was some other way people ended up in the program. So it meant that we were all coming from different places with different needs from the program. It was also interesting to really see who else was in this program- I hadn't realized that certain people were. It was also interesting to see how people handled it, who had been applying to the full program, and didn't get in to that. It is a difficult thing to communicate, and I can see why they wouldn't want to try, besides feelings of failure, but also because the concept just doesn't communicate well. I mean, the rabbi at Temple Beth Israel/Beth Bingo took "she's leaving to go to school at JTS" without even specifying what school at JTS to mean rabbinical school just as an assumption... Admitedly he's not a great example, but the idea sticks.

However, it's bringing to light that I really need to start making a real decision here about what I want to be doing next year and what I want to be doing with my life. Coming out of the meeting, I'm realizing that there are a couple of different lines of thought that I'm having as far as what's impacting my decision-making process.

The first has to do with what I want to be doing with my career, and that's an issue where I'm torn. I want to be able to teach- but I could do that with either credential in some settings, although I'd need the PhD for university level teaching. But could I live doing high-school level teaching and adult education in non-academic settings? Sure. I think I'd enjoy teaching on the university level, heck, I think it would be fabulous, but other sorts of teaching would also be very reasonable options. I would really like to be able to do competent and respected research though, and that would require the PhD, as far as I know. It just isn't something one expects to develop skills for in rabbinical training. On the other hand, I think I would really find meaning in doing chaplaincy-type work, especially in a geriatric population. I found the time I volunteered with that population to be really meaningful and something that, once I dived into it, I found that I felt like I could develop a real competency. I do worry that it would be very depressing work- I expect that that sort of a rabbinical career would involve a lot of funerals, and a lot of dying people, and the like. But that's also very important work that doesn't get a lot of attention, and I do tend to have a desire to work in areas that are otherwise neglected- my interests as far as Judaic scholarship also fall into that sort of category to some extent. And my mother certianly thinks that I have a strength in that area- dealing with the elderly, that is. And I do enjoy working with that population. But I don't know if I would want to do that and only that- I think it would leave me feeling unbalanced: I don't think it would involve enough of the sort of teaching, teaching the sorts of texts that I really love- halakhic texts about the details of how one lives a life and how one does ritual and such- and am worried that I'd really feel that lack. I know that I really have a passion for that. But maybe I'd be able to be involved in writing about that field, as a rabbi, in a way that would fulfill that passion and maybe even make those texts and their implications more accessible to the rest of the community and other interested readers. On the other hand, I might be able to do that with a doctorate as well, and to be able to write for the scholarly community as well.

The other question is what sort of training process do I want. Do I want a spiritually-focused program, or a purely academically focused program? I think I could be very happy with either, but I really don't know how to explore that question adequately. I'm really enjoying my classes now- but do they really focus spiritually? THey claim to, but the things that I really love are the more academic parts of the program- the stuff that weaves in spiritual practice and such has so far been involved with so many aspects that I find academically repetitive that they aren't doing a lot for me personally at this point. And I've always enjoyed straight academia.

Another question is my ability to self-direct. I really found working without a lot of set schedule to be challenging last year, and worry about my ability to self-direct my work as far as preparing for oral exams or on a dissertation eventually. But that same issue will, I expect, also come up as far as rabbinical training, and certainly, I expect, in working in the clergy. And I expect that that is something that I will just need to train myself in and find ways to schedule my time for myself. My growing discipline as far as davening on the appropriate schedule and with a minyan may help as a foundation for that, although I'm not sure exactly (or even more than very vaguely) how I'll go about making that change/training myself.

A final question would involve finding a job eventually, and the fact that I really want to be near my family, and to eventually work somewhere where my spouse, G-d willing, also will have a job in his field, and either sort of job makes it hard to be able to find such a job. But I understand that this is always difficult, and that with some compromises things are often workable. But will one sort of training prepare me better than the other to have those opportunities? And if so, how much do I go for the purest form of what I want, and how much do I head for something that will give me a fuller range of options?

And of course, would it be worthwhile to plan to eventually pursue both degrees/sets of training? Would it be worth the extra time in order to have all the options and be able to combine aspects of both careers?