Right-Skilling: Rabbis and the Rabbinic Role for a New Century

Abstract

This chapter applies Clayton Christensen's model of organizational innovation to Jewish contexts. It observes a parallel between the many challenges that currently confront U.S. healthcare and American Jewry: a mismatch in the skills acquired by professionals and the needs expressed by the broader public; expensive institutions with high fixed costs that are struggling to provide value and maintain sustainable revenues; a failure to respect individual autonomy and cultural mores; and a disenfranchised public that suffers from high costs and unmet demand for meaningful services. It then applies Christensen's adapted model for the healthcare sector to American Jewish institutions, suggesting reforms and articulating a vision of Jewish institutional change.

Keywords: organizational innovation, American Judaism, right-skilling

JEL Classification: D23, L22, L89, O30