Description
The Religious Action Center (RAC) of Reform Judaism seeks applicants
for the 2025-2026 Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Program.
- THE DEADLINE TO APPLY IS MARCH 7, 2025, AT 11:59 PM EST **
Position: Eisendrath Legislative Assistant
Location: Washington, D.C.
Organization: Union for Reform Judaism
Employment Type: Full Time, Benefits Eligible, Exempt, Requires some weekend and evening hours
Department: Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
Reporting to: Assistant Legislative Director
Employment Dates: August 19, 2025 – August 7, 2026
Salary Range: $50,000 plus competitive benefits package
Level/Salary Grade: Subject Matter Expert (Foundational) / A
The Role
The Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Program is a year-long fellowship with the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism designed for recent college graduates or young professionals who are interested in Judaism, social justice, and public policy. Eisendrath Legislative Assistants (LAs) play a pivotal role in carrying out the Reform Movement’s social justice work: legislative advocacy and public policy, campaigns and organizing, communications, and leadership development programming. As central members of the Reform Movement’s social justice efforts, LAs have a meaningful impact on our work. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment within the Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Fellowship and the RAC, reflecting the varied communities we represent. As part of this commitment, we encourage applications from underrepresented and marginalized backgrounds, including but not limited to People of Color, individuals with disabilities, those from marginalized socioeconomic backgrounds, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and those at the intersection of these and other marginalized identities.
What You Will Do
As the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism responds to a new federal policy landscape, the 2025-2026 Eisendrath Legislative Assistant term will be characterized by experimentation. This section outlines major components of the position, but the specifics may evolve over the year. All elements of the Eisendrath Legislative Assistants’ work serve the common purpose of recruiting, organizing, and mobilizing individuals and communities to protect democracy through voter engagement, strategic issue advocacy, and overcoming hate in all forms in the United States, Canada, and Israel.
FEDERAL ADVOCACY & COMMUNICATION
- Amplify the voice of the Reform Movement’s 825 congregations, 2,000 rabbis, and 1.8 million Reform Jews in Congress, the White House, and among key partners in Washington, D.C.
- Lead on designated policy issues, taking charge of strategy development, drafting materials, mobilizing rapid responses, and advancing our work. One Legislative Assistant, the Linda Rae Sher Legislative Assistant, will focus specifically on abortion, reproductive rights, and women’s rights.
- Mobilize Reform Jewish leaders (including clergy, adult lay leaders, and teens), partners, and others adjacent to the Reform Movement at the grassroots level to leverage their power in service of our policy priorities.
- Play a key role in creating and distributing action alerts, social media content, blog posts, press releases, and other communications to decision-makers, the media, congregational leaders, and stakeholders.
- Support the work of the Commission on Social Action, which serves as the social justice policy-making body for the Reform Movement.
CONFERENCES & PROGRAMMING
- Develop and implement programming for the RAC’s L’Taken Social Justice Seminars for high school students in Washington, D.C., held over four weekends in the winter. Support the expansion of L'Taken to adult and Canadian audiences.
- Support RAC and URJ programs that identify, train, and mobilize youth justice leaders, including the RAC Teen Justice Fellowship, Teen Jews of Color Fellowship, Teen Israel Organizing Fellowship, NFTY justice programming, and more.
- Attend, staff, and support other RAC and URJ in-person gatherings and events throughout the year.
CAMPAIGNS & ORGANIZING
- Support the RAC’s nine state organizing projects and national campaign(s), which focus on strengthening democracy and overcoming hate in the United States and Israel.
- Mobilize Reform Jewish leaders and support outreach and engagement with individuals new to the Reform Movement’s justice work to achieve victories on the local, state, provincial, and federal level.
WHO YOU ARE & KEYS TO SUCCESS (THE MUST-HAVES):
To be successful in this job, you excel in the following areas:
Advocacy & Social Justice: Passion for social justice, with a particular focus on the role of faith-based advocacy in social change. Ability to analyze legislation and policy proposals in the context of Reform Movement position statements and priorities. Capacity to engage with a wide array of stakeholders, including elected officials and staff, clergy, lay leaders, students, the media, and coalition partners.
Youth Education: Ability to develop and run youth educational experiences, especially for high school audiences. Strong presentation skills and comfort teaching in-person, hybrid, and virtual spaces with different forms of technology. Understanding of safe and appropriate adult/teen partnership. Experience with formal or informal teen education is helpful.
Communication & Design: Effective oral and written communication skills, including the ability to utilize and produce different forms of media. Strong research and analytical skills. Ability to produce engaging social media content to reach and mobilize new and existing audiences. Experience with graphic design, video production, and/or other forms of content creation is helpful.
Community Organizing & Mobilizing: Capacity to identify, train, mobilize, and empower congregational leaders and others outside the Reform Jewish Movement to act for justice at the local, state, provincial, and federal levels. Ability to think strategically, analyze power dynamics, and mobilize diverse communities around shared goals. Experience in grassroots organizing, political advocacy, and/or issue-based campaigns is helpful.
Self-Management & Accountability: Strong ability to assess priorities and manage time effectively to meet goals while ensuring personal well-being. Competence in establishing goals aligned with organizational objectives and collaborating with management for clarity. Skill in articulating needs and challenges clearly to foster a transparent and collaborative environment. Commitment to maintaining respectful communication and timely responses to colleagues and stakeholders. Initiative in regularly accessing organizational updates and essential information to stay informed and effective.
Collaborative Teamwork: Ability to work with diverse teams to achieve shared goals, ensuring clarity in roles and responsibilities. Proficient in scoping projects to define purpose, outcomes, and accountability. Skill in managing time and resources to meet commitments on schedule and within budget while addressing challenges respectfully. Willingness to learn about the broader organizational context and strengthen collaborative initiatives. Capacity to connect people and ideas to identify and implement opportunities for enhancement across teams. Skill in valuing diverse perspectives to develop comprehensive solutions and foster a culture of inclusion.
Commitment to Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI): Experience in or willingness to create equitable, diverse, and inclusive environments that foster a sense of belonging. Proficient in seeking and incorporating diverse viewpoints in decision-making processes to promote innovation. Ability to prioritize efforts to engage multi-racial and marginalized communities effectively. Willingness to apply a REDI framework in planning to support fair initiatives. Skill in implementing and upholding shared agreements that advance Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.
Jewish Traditions & Values: No specific academic or Jewish background is required to apply. Applicants do not need to be affiliated with the Reform Movement but should be familiar with and eager to advance Jewish text, tradition, and values that are aligned with the URJ. Ability to work with Reform Jewish clergy, lay leaders, and synagogue professionals. Willingness to incorporate Reform Jewish values into advocacy.
APPLICATION PROCESS The Eisendrath Legislative Assistant application consists of two components, outlined below. These may be completed in any order (e.g., recommenders may submit their letters before the applicant submits their application), but all materials must be received by the application deadline for the application to be considered. If you have any questions about the program or the application process, please reach out to Jacob Greenblatt, Assistant Legislative Director, at jgreenblatt@rac.org. We look forward to reviewing your application!
The application deadline is March 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm ET. Letters of recommendation may be submitted up to one week after the deadline, but all other materials should be submitted by the deadline for the application to be considered.
PART 1: APPLICANT DOCUMENTS
The following documents should be submitted with the application. The first five documents are required, but the last two documents are optional. Please upload all documents as a single combined PDF document. You may need to log back into the candidate profile to upload the documents.
- A resumé highlighting your relevant academic, extracurricular, and/or professional experience.
- A brief statement of interest (250 words or fewer) explaining why you are interested in serving as an Eisendrath Legislative Assistant.
- A brief essay (500 words or fewer) that responds to one of the following quotations and explains why Jewish social justice work matters to you and what inspires or motivates you to do this work. Please make this essay reflective of your personal experiences rather than a theoretical explanation and indicate which quotation you are responding to in your essay.
- “Movements of people create change – not just any one person or organization, but when lots of people are in motion around a shared vision” – Ai-jen Poo, President of the National Domestic Workers Alliance
- “When you see the donkey of your enemy lying under its burden and would refrain from raising it, you must nevertheless raise it with your enemy.” (Exodus 23:5)
- “The values at the heart of a multiracial, inclusive democracy are freedom of expression and assembly and authentic representation of the communities our democracy serves…Democracy can only thrive when we fuel it with our voices, votes and healthy discussion and debate about how we move the country forward.” – Margaret Huang, President and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center
- An official or unofficial academic transcript (if applicable – required only for applicants who have attended college)
- A completed writing exercise. A significant portion of an LA’s work involves research and writing (e.g., letters to legislators, talking points, educational programs, and policy memos). To assess your ability to evaluate and produce written material, all applicants are required to complete a brief writing exercise to be submitted with the application. While the writing exercise does not have a strict time limit, you should spend no more than 1.5-2 hours on it. Visit www.RAC.org/LAWritingExercise for instructions.
Two Optional Supplements
As the Eisendrath Legislative Assistant position evolves to include a larger focus on community organizing and digital communication, we invite candidates to submit supplemental materials that showcase their interest and experience in these fields. Because the Eisendrath Legislative Assistant position is a fellowship program, candidates are not expected to enter with experience in all areas of work; candidates without prior experience in community organizing and digital communications are still strongly encouraged to apply.
- A brief description of your community organizing experience (500 words or fewer): As the RAC expands its work on local, state, and national organizing, we are especially interested in candidates with prior background and/or strong interest in community organizing and mobilization. Candidates are invited (but not required) to share a summary of any community organizing experience.
- A digital media portfolio. As the Eisendrath Legislative Assistant position evolves to include more responsibilities related to digital organizing and social media, candidates are invited (but not required) to share a portfolio with up to six samples (social media posts, graphics, short videos or reels, etc.) that demonstrate their skills in graphic design, social media, video production, or content creation. Samples must be of an academic, professional, volunteer, or extra-curricular nature and should not come from an applicant’s personal social media account. You may screenshot or link to individual samples within the document, or you may paste a link to a single external folder with all the materials. Please include screenshots or links as part of the combined PDF alongside all other application documents and ensure all links are viewable by an external audience.
Part 2: LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION
Applicants are required to provide two letters of recommendation. One letter must be an academic or professional reference. The second letter should be from someone who can speak to your ability to work in the Jewish social justice field/broad-based social justice field. The letters should outline the qualities that specifically make you an outstanding candidate for a Jewish social justice fellowship. In the application, you will be prompted to provide the name and contact information of two recommenders. Please ask recommenders to submit their letters separately at www.RAC.org/LARecommendation. It is your responsibility to share the submission link with the recommenders; it will not be sent directly to them.
About The Religious Action Center
For more than six decades, the RAC has worked to educate, inspire, and mobilize the Reform Jewish community to advocate for social justice. We mobilize around federal, state, provincial, and local legislation on more than 70 pressing socioeconomic issues, including reproductive health and rights, environment/climate change, racial justice, immigration, gun violence prevention, and LGBTQ+ equality. The RAC's work is mandated by the Union for Reform Judaism, whose nearly 850 congregations across North America include approximately 1.8 million Reform Jews, and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, whose membership includes more than 2,000 Reform rabbis. As part of a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the RAC’s work is nonpartisan.
About the Urj
Every team member at the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) plays an essential role in our mission to create a whole, just, and compassionate world. Our team is creative, thoughtful, and innovative. Each member of the team is empowered to make meaningful contributions to achieving our shared goals. Our diverse team is made up of individuals with different skills and backgrounds and every team member is willing to take risks as well as take action to develop and create big ideas for the future of the Reform Movement. While this position focuses on a particular area of work, every team member is a vital part of our overall success.
The Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) provides vision and voice to build strong communities that, together, transform the way people connect to Judaism and change the world. We acknowledge that due to racism, ableism, homophobia, and other forms of oppression, that our communities are not whole until everyone experiences a sense of belonging within the Jewish community. As the largest Jewish movement in North America, we stand for a Judaism that is inclusive and reflective of a wide range of identities and accept the responsibility of dismantling oppression both inside and outside of our communities. Through camping, youth experiences, programs, information sharing, and networking opportunities, our over 850 congregations and 15 residential camps create opportunities for our communities to enhance their capacity to build and expand community, engage in meaningful and authentic Jewish life, deepen Jewish learning, energize worship, pursue social justice, and develop inspired leadership. Together, our employees and stakeholders, are creating Reform Judaism of today.
The URJ strives to be a welcoming and inclusive environment that is committed to creating a diverse environment. We promote strenuous policies and practices of equal opportunity and diversity, equity, and inclusion. It is our objective to recruit, hire, and retain the most qualified individuals including those of any race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic or status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. Our equal employment philosophy applies to all aspects of employment, including recruitment, compensation, benefits, training, promotions, transfers, job benefits, and terminations. The URJ encourages applications from women, people of color, persons with disabilities and individuals who identify as LGBTQIA+.
