JSLI’s Rabbinical School leads to rabbinic ordination (s’micha) in one year of live, online study. You keep your job, your home and your community while you train. JSLI was the first fully online rabbinical school, and in more than 15 years we’ve ordained more than 250 rabbis and cantors. In our most recent alumni survey, almost 90% of the graduates who responded are working professionally as spiritual leaders.
Who our students are
Our students are adults who bring a full life with them: educators, therapists, physicians, community leaders and retired professionals. Many have led services or taught in their synagogues for years. Some are second-career candidates who heard the call decades ago and couldn’t walk away from a job or a family to answer it. If that sounds like you, read Becoming a Rabbi as a Second Career.
JSLI is pluralistic and trans-denominational. Students come from Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Renewal, Orthodox and unaffiliated backgrounds. Our guiding philosophy is Rabbi Steven Blane’s Jewish Universalism, but no graduate is required to adopt it.
How the program works
The program runs two semesters, starting in September or January. Classes meet live once a week by video conference for about two and a half hours. Each class opens with prayer, moves into the week’s Torah portion, and then works through the topic of the week. Between classes, expect four to eight hours of reading, assignments and writing. All materials live in our online learning system and are posted a week ahead. If you have to miss a class, you watch the recording and send in a short summary.
Every week you write a d’var Torah on the parasha, so by ordination you’ve written and delivered dozens of sermons. To finish the program you also lead a Friday night Erev Shabbat service, write a final dissertation, and give a Lunch and Learn presentation in your area of expertise. You’re ordained at our online Ordination Shabbaton, held each June and December, and your family and friends can join from anywhere.
What you’ll learn
- Torah and Jewish texts: the weekly parasha, Prophets, Kings, Pirkei Avot, Midrash, Mishnah and Talmud
- Jewish history and thought: from ancient Israel through the Holocaust and the State of Israel, medieval thinkers, Kabbalah, and the Jewish movements
- Rabbinics and pastoral care: halacha, Shabbat, kashrut, conversion, brit milah and brit shalom, eschatology, and counseling people through illness, grief and crisis
- Liturgy and ritual: weekday, Shabbat, Festival and High Holiday services, prayer melodies and the priestly blessing
- Lifecycle officiation: Jewish, interfaith and same-sex weddings, b’nai mitzvah, baby namings, brit shalom and funerals, plus sermon writing and delivery
See the full Rabbinical School Curriculum and meet our Faculty.
Tuition
Full, all-inclusive tuition is $21,750 for the class starting January 2027, or $22,250 for the class starting September 2027, plus a $300 enrollment fee and the cost of required texts. Payment plans are available. Compare that with a traditional residential seminary, where tuition, living costs and lost income over five years can run well into six figures. We break down the real numbers in What Does Rabbinical School Cost? Full details are on the Admission and Fees page.
Is an online ordination a real ordination?
It’s a fair question, and you deserve a straight answer. S’micha has always been, at its heart, a recognition by qualified teachers that a student is ready to teach and lead. For most of Jewish history it passed from teacher to student and had nothing to do with a campus. What makes an ordination meaningful is serious study, the integrity of the people who confer it, and the student’s readiness to serve. JSLI graduates serve as rabbis of established synagogues, chaplains, educators and independent rabbis across the country. Different institutions recognize different ordinations in different ways, so ask us directly how JSLI ordination fits the work you want to do. We’ll answer plainly. Read the full answer in Is Online Rabbinic Ordination Legitimate?
Serving interfaith and unaffiliated Jews
What sets JSLI apart is our focus on the many Jews that traditional institutions often overlook: interfaith couples, unaffiliated Jews, and people who feel they don’t fit in a conventional synagogue. We train rabbis who welcome these families warmly and without judgment. That’s why support for interfaith marriage is a requirement for admission. Our graduates are recognized as clergy and can register to officiate weddings wherever local law requires it.
What our graduates say
“JSLI gave me the tools I needed: to draft meaningful Divrei Torah, to lead others in meaningful prayer, and to better understand all the facets of rabbinical work.” — Rabbi Brian Serle, Joliet Jewish Congregation, after a 40-year career in financial services
“My rabbinic ordination from JSLI allowed me to fulfill a quest of 35 years.” — Rabbi Norman Maybloom, spiritual leader of a retirement community of about 1,000 Jewish seniors
Read more testimonials from JSLI rabbis and cantors and see where our graduates serve in our Graduate Stories.
How to apply
You’ll need to read siddur Hebrew and have a working knowledge of Jewish history, texts, Shabbat, the festivals, the High Holidays, ritual and lifecycle. Every applicant has a personal interview with our Founder and Dean, Rabbi Steven Blane. If you need more background first, our Mechina preparatory year is built for you. New to all this? Start with How to Become a Rabbi: A Complete Guide.