Not All Rabbis Are Created Equal

By Dr. Aviad Hacohen
Israel Hayon
June 30, 2013

http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_opinion.php?id=4813

As originally conceived, the institution of the Chief Rabbinate was supposed to be a "spiritual center," a fount of creativity and moral inspiration for the Jewish people and the world at large. If anyone needs additional proof of the depths to which this institution has sunk, look no further than the recent house arrest and suspension of Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger as well as the statement issued by his spokesman, which breathlessly announced nothing short of a "revolution."

"From now on, kosher bakeries will be required to bake parve phyllo-dough bourekas in the shape of a closed triangle or spiral, while the dairy bourekas will be bagel-shaped. Parve croissants and rogalech will be straight while the dairy ones will be crescent-shaped," the statement said.

There you have it, folks. The "bourekas revolution," as brought to you by the Chief Rabbinate, will surely join the communist revolution, the French revolution, the industrial revolution and the digital revolution in import. Clearly its instigators expect it to enter the pantheon of history.

Verily has it been said: There are great rabbis who wear small hats, and small rabbis who wear large hats. There are rabbis who are great in Torah and mitzvot, while being extremely humble and adding the word "small" to their title. There are small rabbis who are not diligent Torah scholars, but nevertheless insist, in an act of pride and arrogance, on the title of "great genius of the generation."

There are rabbis who love and pursue peace, love their fellow men and bring them closer to Torah. And there are rabbis who are full of quarrels and altercations.

There are rabbis who serve as spiritual leaders, men of many pious deeds, who guide their communities and lead them in the path of righteousness. And there are rabbis who are addicted to publicity, basing their actions on whether they will generate newspaper headlines the next day.

There are rabbis appointed because of who they know, not their talents. And there are rabbis with good taste, whose mouths utter pearls of wisdom and whose words are "like golden apples in a silver basket" (Proverbs 25:11).

There are rabbis whose good names precede them, like a pleasant fragrance, and whose reputations spread in the world, and who attract many visitors. And there are shallow and empty rabbis, who hire spokespeople, PR flacks and media consultants to glorify their name in the world.

There are rabbis who speak little and do much, who are pure, honest and full of integrity, and whose words and deeds are one. There are also rabbis who speak much and do little, and whose thoughts are as hollow as their deeds.

There are rabbis who sanctify God's name through their actions and prescriptions. And there are rabbis who desecrate God's name, speak it in vain, and disgrace the Torah and its students.

There are rabbis who write one small book with many new ideas, creating something that is timely and timeless. And there are rabbis who write many books, covering many pages with little content.

There are rabbis with simultaneous understanding of the study hall and the real world, who are deeply immersed in community life, frequently visiting the homes of congregants, rejoicing in their joys, feeling their pain, and taking their sorrows to heart. And there are rabbis whose heads are stuck in books, disconnected from the world and their communities, sharing none of their language, their joys or their pain.

There are rabbis who always keep in mind the exploited, who demand justice, do acts of loving kindness and listen to the poor and the downtrodden, the orphans and widows. And there are rabbis who are attracted to the vortex of money and power. The first kind worships God and shuns the idols of money, and the second is willing to sell his God for the golden calf.

Of the first kind it has been said "how goodly and how pleasant" (Psalms 133:1). Of the second kind it has been said "a rabbi of straw and fodder" (wordplay based on Genesis 24:25). And there are those who add, to paraphrase the Rosh Hashanah liturgy, "And you shall forgive our iniquities, for they are rabbinic."