Jun 3, 2010 -- Yeshiva University’s Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) has introduced The Huberfeld Family Semikha Leadership Initiative, a three year fellowship at RIETS designed to mold future leaders of the American rabbinate. “It is our privilege to be afforded this special opportunity to provide enhanced leadership training to students in consonance with time treasured Torah principles of areivus, our communal responsibility towards klal yisroel,” said Rabbi Yona Reiss, the Max and Marion Grill Dean of RIETS. As part of the fellowship, students will receive crucial leadership and entrepreneurial training that will enable them not only to play a vital role in their future respective communities, but to create and guide the institutions that stand at the helm of those communities. The talented young men that comprise the first cadre of Huberfeld Fellows are Rabbi Yaacov Feit, Yechiel Shaffer and Dovid Bashevkin. “The goal of this program is not to produce leaders who will fill positions in existing institutions,” explained Rabbi Marc Penner, director of professional education for RIETS. “It is to train leaders who will envision and create the institutions of tomorrow.” The fellowship program will combine an individualized curriculum of directed post-semikha [rabbinic ordination] Torah learning at RIETS with a full complement of professional training, tailored to each of the fellow’s career aspirations. Each fellow will also be assigned multiple mentors in the rabbinic, organizational and business worlds and benefit from personalized professional coaching. “This offers me the unique opportunity to learn from successful Jewish leaders in the field and the chance to continue my studies within the walls of Yeshiva University,” said Shaffer, who is scheduled to obtain his semikha from RIETS as well as his master’s degree in education from YU’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration this June. “I can continue my development both academically and in the field under the best guidance.” Rabbi Feit, a member of the Yadin Yadin Kollel at RIETS, which trains future dayanim [judges], looks forward to furthering his training in Jewish jurisprudence through the fellowship. “Our community doesn’t fully understand or trust the Beth Din system,” said Rabbi Feit, who will participate in a joint program between RIETS and the Beth Din of America. “One of my goals through the fellowship is to create several initiatives that will educate the community at large. This will include seminars, articles and publications that clarify the roles and procedures of Beth Din.” Bashevkin, who is currently completing both his rabbinic ordination at RIETS and a master’s degree from YU’s Bernard Revel Graduate School, believes the fellowship will help him develop as a leader and an educator. “I’d like to eventually get involved in communal leadership, education and growth,” said Bashevkin, who has been involved with several Jewish organizations and schools in the past. “My hope is to become as valuable an asset as I can be for the Jewish community.”