Rabbinical School, with a Side of Nonprofit Management: Meet Michael Mitgang, a Student Learning the Practical alongside the Sacred

Michael Mitgang knew he wanted to be a rabbi by the time he was a sophomore in high school - and he can trace that certainty back to a single place: URJ Camp Harlam. It was there, surrounded by rabbis in Birkenstocks and tie-dye rather than suits and ties, that Judaism first felt genuinely alive to him. "At camp, you kind of see everyone for who they actually are," he recalls. That authenticity was revelatory. He found himself writing text studies for his friends on topics like gun violence prevention, weaving Jewish tradition into the issues his peers cared about most. He was hooked.

From camp, Mitgang threw himself into NFTY, the Reform Jewish youth movement, and set his sights on Hebrew Union College. He'd gathered intel early, peppering rabbis and cantors with questions about their educational paths every chance he got, including at the URJ Biennial in Orlando. When it came time for college, he chose Indiana University in Bloomington, drawn in part by the enthusiasm of camp counselors who'd gone there, and by IU's nationally recognized Jewish studies program. "I wanted a big state school energy," he jokes, "but growing up outside of Philly, everyone was going to Penn State, and I didn't want to go where everyone else was going." Indiana was the answer.

At IU, Mitgang's path came into even sharper focus. He wrote his final paper for his Intro to Judaism class on the history of noodle kugel, took Jewish music classes with Professor Judah Cohen (also the professor of the Intro class, and now, in a full-circle twist, the Provost at Hebrew Union College), and spent a year studying in Jerusalem through Hebrew University. COVID-19 cut the year short in March 2020, but not before it solidified his direction. He also participated in the Nachshon Project, a career development program that brought him to the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies and connected him with Jewish professionals across the field.

Cohen, who had originally interviewed Mitgang for IU and later wrote him a letter of recommendation to Hebrew Union College, holds a special place in his journey. "He's actually my favorite professor I've ever had," Mitgang says. "Once I found out that he was coming to Hebrew Union College, I was beyond excited to reunite."

Now a rabbinical student at the New York campus, Mitgang is doing his internship at Rodeph Sholom on the Upper West Side, getting a front-row seat to the workings of a large, vibrant Manhattan synagogue. But alongside his rabbinical training, he delved further into one of the competencies he may need as a rabbi: the business of running a Jewish institution. That's what drew him to the Zelikow School's nonprofit management certificate program, where he's learning to understand fundraising models, craft mission and vision statements, navigate board governance, and, not unimportantly, how to read a form 990.

The program has been, by his account, transformative. "I'm glad I will get to my job already having been exposed to these important skills," he says. Beyond the technical skills, the Zelikow School connected him with professionals across North America and beyond - pulpit clergy, nonprofit leaders, executives from organizations like PJ Library - building a network he expects to draw on for decades. "Every single week we met with new people in the field," he says. "Who knows - maybe one day I'll want to connect with PJ Library in another country for a program at my synagogue, and I'll be able to because of the connections I made here."

For Mitgang, the combination of rabbinical and nonprofit training isn't just practical - it's essential. Synagogues are nonprofits, with boards and budgets and missions to uphold, and rabbis who understand that infrastructure are better equipped to serve their communities. He thinks the certificate program should be required for all Hebrew Union College students. "These are super important skills that you will need in your future," he says simply. As he prepares to step into his first pulpit position, he feels ready - not because he thinks he knows everything, but because he now has the foundation from which to ask the right questions and keep digging deeper.