How can and should the role of the rabbi adapt in this new environment? Duke law professor Barak Richman and Jewish innovator Daniel Libenson have tackled this question in a paper focused on rabbinic training.

In "Right-Skilling: Rabbis and the Rabbinic Role for a New Century," Richman and Libenson, pointing to parallels between the U.S. health care system and American Jewry, argue for reforms in rabbinic training and Jewish institutional life.

Using changes in medicine as a model and drawing on Clayton Christensen's theory of organizational innovation, they argue that there's a need for "right-skilling" -- developing and employing professionals with the specific, targeted skills the sector needs.

Rather than training every Jewish clergyperson to fit the mold of the idealized family rabbi who has known every family in the congregation for decades, they argue for employing a decentralized model, in which a team of leaders trained in different specialties work together to facilitate Jewish learning and community.

"You do not need the brain surgeon, because most of your health needs do not involve brain surgery. You might need a nurse practitioner," Richman said. "We don't really need someone who is thoroughly versed in Talmud and hermeneutics or homiletics -- it may be actually what we really need is the camp counselor."