From prophetic voices to compassionate witnesses, the role of accompanying others through uncertainty has deep roots in Jewish life and thought. While the title “chaplain” is a relatively recent addition to this long lineage, it carries forward an ancient calling. To be a chaplain is to accompany individuals, groups, and communities through significant life moments with compassion, openness, and a commitment to honoring the fullness of each person’s humanity.
Our graduates serve diverse individuals, families, and communities — both Jewish and non-Jewish — by integrating Judaic studies with intensive training in clinical pastoral care. The three-year, low-residency program includes fieldwork and a Master’s thesis, culminating in a Master of Jewish Studies with a Certificate in Jewish Chaplaincy. We take pride in being the first Jewish graduate institution in the United States that prepares students for board certification through an ACPE-accredited program.
The Chaplaincy School is a three-year, low-residency Master’s program leading to a Master of Jewish Studies with a Certificate in Jewish Chaplaincy.
Length: Three years of full-time study; students may enroll in the program part-time for up to six years
Format: Low-residency hybrid model — online coursework supplemented by three in-person residencies in Los Angeles
Hebrew Placement: A written placement test and faculty meeting at the start of the program; tutoring support is available throughout
CPE + Academic Integration: Students complete 60 academic credits along with two units/12 credits of CPE; consideration offered for professional accomplishments and previous graduate level study
Preparation for Board Certification: A minimum of two CPE units are required for graduation; up to four are available. The Academy’s CPE program is independently accredited by the ACPE and the units are accepted by ACPE Inc., Neshama (National Association of Jewish Chaplains or NAJC), and the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC), toward board certification
Clinical Placements: Students intern at clinical sites such as hospitals, hospices, elder care facilities, and rehabilitation facilities, as well as in congregational and communal settings in their home communities
Supervised Fieldwork: Reflective supervision throughout the clinical sequence, including class discussions comparing situations across placements and building familiarity with other faiths, cultures, and approaches to spiritual care
Master’s Thesis: Original scholarly work on a topic in Jewish studies or chaplaincy
Students at the Academy train at the intersection of Jewish text, clinical pastoral skills, and the human dimensions of suffering and care. Chaplaincy students learn from faculty across AJRCA’s professional schools. The faculty list below names those whose courses are central to chaplaincy training; chaplaincy students also take coursework alongside the broader Rabbinical and Cantorial faculty in shared areas of Jewish text, thought, and tradition.
The curriculum is built around six pillars of learning:
1. Clinical Pastoral Education with Spiritual Care Studies — Spiritual Care Studies with Clinical Pastoral Education integrates academic study with CPE clinical training. Over the course of three to six years, students learn charting, interviewing, and writing verbatim records of encounters. They study how to build a comprehensive spiritual care program for a clinical site and how to function as part of a treatment team.
2. Lifecycle and Loss — Exploring the full arc of human experience.
3. Crisis, Trauma, and the Practice of Care — This course trains students in professional approaches to immediate intervention, appropriate referral, and follow-up — addressing addiction and anti-social behavior arising from physical or emotional trauma, alongside applicable philosophical and religious thought (forgiveness, mussar, the nature of supportive communities).
4. Jewish Text and Tradition — Foundational study of Tanakh, Talmud, and rabbinic literature — the textual grounding chaplains draw from when accompanying patients, families, and colleagues through illness and meaning-making.
5. Spiritual and Human Development — The CPE classroom experience fosters personal and spiritual development, enhancing students’ self-awareness and the presence required for effective chaplaincy.
6. Hebrew Language — Hebrew study enables students to cultivate practices related to prayer, lifecycle, and end-of-life rituals, while also engaging with Jewish primary sources.
Chaplaincy students train alongside rabbinical and cantorial students in shared Jewish text and tradition coursework, while developing the specific clinical, theological, and pastoral competencies required of board-certified chaplains.
Meet the Chaplaincy Faculty
View More Alumni
Given their unique transdenominational training, Rabbis, Cantors, and Chaplains who graduate from the Academy work in a variety of denominational and transdenominational synagogues, organizations, and institutions nationwide. The following is a representative list:
Conservative
B’nai Shalom, Vista, CA
Congregation B’nai Israel, Tustin, CA
Sinai Temple, Los Angeles, CA
Temple Ramat Zion, Northridge, CA
Valley Beth Shalom, Encino, CA
Congregation Agudas Achim, Austin, TX
Congregation Ner Tamid of South Bay, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
Temple Beth Sholom, Temecula, CA
Temple Sholom, Greenwich, CT
Congregation Beth Shalom, Corona, CA
Fort Belvoir Congregation, Ft. Belvoir, VA
Temple Ner Tamid, San Francisco, CA
Valley Beth Israel, Sun Valley, CA
Conservative / Reform
Congregation Beth Shalom, Sioux City, IA
Congregation Kol Ami, Salt Lake City, UT
Temple Shalom, Colorado Springs, CO
Humanistic
Adat Chaverim, Encino, CA
Reconstructionist / Renewal
Congregation P’nai Tikvah, Las Vegas, NV
Makom Ohr Shalom, Encino, CA
Wholly Present, A Center for Embodied Spirituality, El Sobrante, CA
Reform
Beth Emet, Evanston, IL
Congregation Beth Israel, West Hartford, CT
Congregation Emeth, Morgan Hill, CA
Jewish Communities of the Desert, Desert Hot Springs, CA
Temple Beth David, Temple City, CA
Temple Beth Israel, Pomona, CA
Temple Emanuel, Beverly Hills, CA
Beit Knesset BaMidbar, Las Vegas, NV
Congregation B’nai Tikvah, Walnut Creek, CA
Congregation Ner Tamid, Henderson, NV
Temple Ahavat Shalom, Northridge, CA
Temple Beth El, Aptos, CA
Temple Beth Tikvah, Wayne, NJ
Temple Emanuel, Pueblo, CO
Congregation Beth Israel, Scottsdale, AZ
Congregation Emanu-El, San Francisco, CA
Congregation Ohr Tzafon, Atascadero, CA
Temple Akiba, Culver City, CA
Temple Beth Hillel, Richmond, CA
Temple B’rith Shalom, Prescott, AZ
Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Los Angeles, CA
Trans / Postdenominational / Unaffiliated / Other
Ahavat Torah Congregation, Los Angeles, CA
Congregation Beth Jacob, Redwood City, CA
Congregation Kehillah of Arizona, Scottsdale, AZ
Congregation N’vay Shalom, Los Angeles, CA
Jewish Community & Learning Center, Sunland, CA
Lev Chadash, Chino Valley, AZ
Oahu Jewish Ohana, Honolulu, HI
Temple Beth El, Santa Maria, CA
Valley Outreach Synagogue, Calabasas, CA
Beth Israel Congregation, Greeley, CO
Congregation B’nai Horin, Los Angeles, CA
Congregation Shir Chadash, Lakewood, CA
Desert Outreach Synagogue, Rancho Mirage, CA
Jewish Community of Ojai, Ojai, CA
Nachshon Minyan, Encino, CA
Open Temple, Venice, CA
Temple Beth Or, Reno, NV
Zimrat Yah, Santa Barbara, CA
Congregation Bet Shalom, Tuscon, AZ
Congregation B’nai Or, St. Croix, U.S.V.I
Congregation Shir Shalom, Sonoma, CA
Fountainview at Gonda, Los Angeles, CA
Jewish Community of Sedona & Verde Valley, Sedona, AZ
Nefesh, Los Angeles, CA
Or Echad, Agoura Hills, CA
Temple Ner Simcha, Agoura Hills, CA
Beit Kulam, Sherwood Forest, CA
Jewish Community High School of the Bay, San Francisco, CA
HomeShul, Agoura Hills, CA
Tarbut v’Torah, Irvine, CA
Congregation Tikvat Jacob, Manhattan Beach, CA
Jewish Day School of Metro. Seattle, Bellevue, WA
Shalom Hartman Institute, Los Angeles, CA
Temple Menorah, Redondo Beach, CA
Jewish Community Center, San Francisco, CA
Melton School of Adult Learning, Los Angeles, CA
Sinai Akiba Academy, Los Angeles, CA
California Lutheran Univ., Thousand Oaks, CA
Sandra Caplan Beit Din, Culver City, CA
Shutafi m, New Mexico Jewish Connections, Albuquerque, NM
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, VA
California Dept. of Corrections, San Quentin, CA
Covia, Oakland, CA
Jewish Federation & Family Services of O.C., Irvine, CA
L.A. Community Chaplaincy Services, Los Angeles, CA
Meridian Assisted Living, Cheviot Hills, CA
Providence St. John’s Med. Ctr., Santa Monica, CA
Seasons Hospice, Broward County, FL
The Sparta Project, Valencia, CA
Beit T’shuvah, Los Angeles, CA
Cedars Sinai Med. Ctr., Los Angeles, CA
Denver Hospice, Denver, CO
Jewish Healing Center of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Motion Picture & Television Fund, Woodland Hills, CA
Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center, Pasadena, CA
Providence St. Joseph Med. Ctr., Burbank, CA
Skirball Hospice, Encino, CA
Valley Outreach Synagogue, Calabasas, CA
Buena Vista Hospice, Thousand Oaks, CA
Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles, CA
Greater Miami Jewish Federation, Miami, FL
Jewish Home for the Aging, Los Angeles, CA
Madrona Hospice & Palliative Care, Scottsdale, AZ
P.E.C. Hospice, Garden Grove, CA
Providence Tarzana Med. Ctr., Tarzana, CA
St. Paul’s Towers, Oakland, CA
Walter Reed Nat’l. Military Medical Center, Bethesda, MD
Academy for Jewish Religion, Los Angeles, CA
University of Arizona, College of Medicine
Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Yavapai Community College, Prescott, AZ
L.A. Valley College, Los Angeles, CA
Camp JCA Shalom, Malibu, CA
Shalom Institute, Malibu, CA
Professionals, Scholars and mentors who share the journey with you
President
Chief Academic Officer and Dean of the Rabbinical School and Master of Jewish Studies Program
Academic Dean of the Cantorial School
Chaplaincy Program Director, ACPE Certified Educator
Chief Financial Officer
Director of Student Affairs
Director of Development and Financial Aid Administrator
Payroll Manager / Bookkeeper
Director of Admissions and Marketing
Educating spiritual leaders to transform the Jewish world.
1 LMU Drive, Suite 3400
Los Angeles, CA 90045
(213) 884-4133
admissions@ajrca.edu
Programs
Rabbinical School
Cantorial School
Chaplaincy School
Master of Jewish Studies Program
CPE for Clergy & Professionals
Community Education
Information
Our Story
Faculty & Staff
Board of Directors
Alumni
Partnerships
Connect
Admissions
Events
Makom Magazine
Contact
Support AJRCA
Your support sustains accessible, courageous Jewish leadership for generations to come.
