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RABBIS AND RELIGION
Regardless of fairness or justice, the Jewish public always holds rabbis to a high standard of personal and moral behavior. Maimonides is his discussion of 'chilul Hashem' - shaming or desecrating God's name, so to speak - uses as an example of 'chilul Hashem' the words of Rav in the Talmud: "If I (Rav) do not pay my butcher's bill promptly…." Now most of us would not consider the somewhat late payment of a bill as being in the realm of 'chilul Hashem.' The phrase "the check is in the mail" is a standard and almost expected response in current day commercial life. So what is the big deal about paying a bill a few days later? The big deal is because Rav is involved.
A rabbi, a great scholar is always held to a higher standard. Even a little deal becomes a big deal when a rabbi is involved. That is what makes the position such a difficult one to maintain and establish. Our great teacher Moshe suffered from intense public scrutiny regarding the most petty of matters. The Midrash records for us that if Moshe came early to the study hall, the people asked: "Why is he early today?" And they always attributed less than honorable motives to his coming then. And if he arrived late then they certainly questioned his reasons for coming late. They commented upon his appearance - he always looked either too good or too haggard to them. If that was the case with Moshe, what should ordinary mortals expect? Unwarranted suspicions come with the job and foolish is the rabbi that does not recognize that this is just the way it is and will be.
It would seem from the above that the rabbi is doomed whatever he does or does not do. But that is too pessimistic an assessment of the situation. By being aware of the standards of behavior expected of him, the rabbi can in most cases actually live up to those standards. The prophet Malachi states the issue succinctly; "For the lips of the kohein guard knowledge and Torah will be demanded from him, for he is an angel of the Lord of Hosts." To which the Talmud states that "if he resembles an angel of the Lord of Hosts then people will ask to study Torah from his lips, but if he does not resemble the angel of Lord of Hosts then none will request him to be their teacher of Torah."
It is difficult to be angelic in a practical, complicated, stressful society and Jewish society is all of that and more. Yet there is an old Yiddish aphorism that "one who does not aspire to be angelic will not even be human." So that must be the goal that everyone should aspire to, especially rabbis. Many times merely aspiring to the goal brings us closer to its actualization. There is no one way for all to rise spiritually and appear angelic to the general public. But each in its own way must see this as a goal in life and certainly in a rabbinic career.
Rabbis are oftentimes forced to make difficult decisions that affect their congregants or the general community. One should never expect universal approbation for the decision and its results. Rabbis are not infallible. Decisions are made in current time without the benefit of prophecy. One would naturally prefer to be always right and prescient in making these decisions. But that is not realistic.The rabbi must allow himself the luxury of making an error every so often. Happy is the rabbi that has a congregation that will afford him that luxury and without undue rancor. But for his own psychological well being the rabbi must allow himself that luxury and move on.
Mistakes and errors are part of everyone's life and a rabbi is also an everyone. The rabbi is the representative of Torah and Torah is infallible. Therefore, part of the task of a rabbi is to raise his congregation to a level of sophistication where they are able to differentiate between the infallibility of Torah and the human frailties of our rabbis and teachers of Torah - no matter how great they may be. Judaism does not subscribe to the cult of the personality. Its greatness has always been in recognizing the difference between human fallibility and the eternal truth of Torah granted to us by God.
Judaism was able, throughout its history, to overcome the tragedies of false messiahs, of charlatans posing as holy men, and of truly good people being humbled by the facts of reality and unforeseen events. I have always maintained that Jews should be sophisticated enough not to confuse Jews with Judaism itself and rabbis with religion. I think that the history and facts of Jewish life bear out the truth of this seemingly off- the-cuff quip.
Shabat shalom.
Berel Wein
