Dialogical aspects of reflective learning in ministerial work

This article examines reflective and reflexive aspects of practice in the area of ministerial work. Through an analysis of the narrative accounts of four Reform and Conservative rabbis in Israel, the author focuses on how congregational rabbis acquire the skill of attentiveness in their daily professional lives. One of the salient themes to emerge in research conducted on models of rabbinic leadership was the theme of ‘careful listening’. Rabbis in non-Orthodox congregations in Israel achieve success through their ability to perceive the needs of individual congregants and learn the local culture of the communities in which they work, and by constantly assessing and reassessing the unmet needs of the broader community. The article concludes with a discussion of how a technical rationality model of learning has dominated modern rabbinical school curricula and suggests that by incorporating reflexive professional development courses, students could be better prepared for the ministry.