The Auerbach Entrepreneurial & Reconstructionist Incubator Grants

The Auerbach Entrepreneurial Grant Program at Reconstructing Judaism supports rabbinical students in creating bold experiments. The goal is to reconstruct Jewish experiences, increase access and meaning, encourage forward-thinking growth in the Jewish community and explore the connection between the 21st Century environment and traditional Jewish values. 

Ignition Grants 

Launch Grant: New This Year 

The Launch Grant, a two to one matching grant for $18,000 will support one RRC internship in either year three (robust general internship), four or five (field internship). To apply, students are required to enroll in the innovation mini-course, Jan. 6-10, 2025. See details below.  

Reconstructing Judaism’s Auerbach Ignition Grant 2024–2025

Reconstructing Judaism is delighted to award multiple Auerbach Ignition Grants to support innovation that strengthens Jewish community by engaging the un/under-engaged. We support RRC students as change-makers who wish to shape new pathways to meaningful Jewish life.  

Six grants of $1,500 each will be given to seed small-scale projects led by a student presently enrolled at RRC. Grantees are encouraged to complete the January 2025 innovation mini-course.  

Timeline  

Ignition Grant applications will be accepted on a rolling basis beginning Sept. 15, 2024, through Dec. 15, 2024. Proposals should be submitted to Cyd Weissman, vice president for engagement and innovation, at cweissman@reconstructingjudaism.org. Applicants will receive an email response within 10 days after receipt of application. Projects should conclude by June 2025.    

All grantees are encouraged to enroll in the winter semester innovation mini-course, Jan. 6-10, 2025. This academic credit course will support students in extract learning from their experiments, design future innovation trials and project plans and to develop grant writing skills.   

Grant Criteria  

• Project tests an innovative pilot for Jewish living and engagement in America;
• Must serve Jews outside of New York City and Los Angeles;   
• Demonstrate potential for expansion into a larger-scale project; and   
• Welcomes women, LGBTQ+ and Jews of Color among all other applicants.  

Recipients must provide a final grant report about what they were able to accomplish and, most importantly, what they learned. Recipients may be asked to share the stories of their work with the communications department at Reconstructing Judaism.   

Be bold. Be willing to fail and to learn. This is your chance to meet a challenge and explore an opportunity in the Jewish community. Learn the stories of recent grant recipients. 

Click here for the 2025 Auerbach Ignition Grant Application. Please contact Cyd Weissman, vice president, Engagement and Innovation, with questions.  

Note: Grant funds cannot be used to employ staff from Reconstructing Judaism. Students can receive a maximum of one Ignition Grant per application cycle.  

Reconstructing Judaism’s Auerbach Launch Grant 2025–2026

Reconstructing Judaism is delighted to award one $18,000, two to one: matching grant to support innovation that strengthens Jewish community and engages the unengaged and/or under-engaged. The program supports Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (RRC) students who are change-makers seeking to spark emerging expressions of Jewish life in our changing world. 

New this year: This grant supports a rabbinical internship (year three, four or five.) Preference will be given to year four and five internships. Also, preference will be given to students who have tested their internship with the support of an Auerbach Ignition grant or with some other trial.

Multiple forces at work in our times demand that we reconstruct opportunities to immerse in Jewish life.  

This grant will support an innovative endeavor that responds to one or more of the following forces:   

• Rising generations that seek connections and yearn for new entry points; 
• Technological advances insisting we find ways to harness their power; 
• Increasing diversity that cries out for inclusion; and, or 
• Social and political upheaval that insists on action.  

Your initiative should respond to shifts in the American Jewish landscape and seek to engage and create community for the unengaged and/or under-engaged.   

One $18,000, Two to One Matching Grants  

This $18,000 Auerbach Innovation Launch Grant is designed to support an entrepreneurial/start-up internship for an RRC student. This grant is offered as a two to one matching grant. To receive the full $18,000, the recipient will independently raise or develop income totaling $9,000. In-kind services (e.g., someone volunteers to develop social media for the project) up to the value of $1,500 may be considered toward the required $9.000. If the grantee generates less than the total required, the grant award will be proportionately reduced. This is designed to give recipients experience in fundraising, a key skill in nearly all rabbinic roles, but particularly in start-up projects.  

Applicants are encouraged to work with partners. The team leader must be a current RRC student using the funds to support their 2025-6 year internship. Grant recipients will provide two grant reports, mid-year and end of year, including financial accounting.   

Grant payments are distributed three times throughout the year.  

Supervision will be provided by Cyd Weissman and will carry academic credit. 

Award Decisions  

A three-judge panel will review all applications and make award decisions. The panel reserves the right not to award the grant if proposals do not adequately meet grant criteria.   

Innovation Mini-Course Required 

All grantees are required to enroll in the class, Jan. 6-10, 2025. This academic credit course will support students in extract learning from pilots, design future innovation trials and project plans and to develop grant writing skills.   

Application Timeline  

Apply by Jan. 27, 2025  

Grant awards will be announced by Feb. 14, 2025. The project must have an anticipated start date in Sept. 2025. The project needs to be completed within one year of the initial financial disbursement. Preference will be given to year four and five students. Evidence of small pilots prior to attempting a larger yearlong project will only benefit applicants. 

Grant Criteria:   

• Project tests an innovative approach to Jewish living and engagement in America;  
• Must serve Jews outside of New York City and Los Angeles;  
• Has potential for expansion into a larger-scale project; and  
• Welcomes women, LGBTQ+ and Jews of Color among all other applicants. 
• Project will need to build community around the challenges and opportunities you address.  

 Be bold. Be willing to fail and to learn. Be prepared to celebrate your successes and build from the misses. Grant funds cannot be used to employ staff from Reconstructing Judaism. You can include salary for yourself as part of the budget. Individuals are eligible to receive one Auerbach Launch Grant during their time at RRC. Learn the stories of recent Auerbach Grant recipients.  

Auerbach Launch Grant Application Available Fall 2024 

Questions  

Connect with Cyd Weissman, vice president, Engagement and Innovation, Reconstructing Judaism    

 With appreciation to the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Advisory Fund I/Schiro (SFS), a donor-advised fund at the Jewish Community Fund of Greater Hartford.