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Ours is a rather hysterical time, and we are an anxious
and, consequently, an angry people. We flail about us seek
ing whipping-boys on whom to unleash our fear-inspired
wrath. Of late we have selected, as targets for the poisoned
darts of our anxiety-engendered hostilities, the teachers and
the ministers.
It seems appropriate then to examine the function of the
Rabbi who by virtue of popular acceptance and usage, is
a minister and. by virtue of literal translation and tradition,
is also a teacher. Some of them are. in reality, only one or
the other; some are both; some are neither and some are
far more (all this and heaven, too.'). If you hare had "ex
posure” to rabbis over any protracted period, you begin to
collect data, to amass theories and experiences, to make
comparisons and to arrive at conclusions. These observa
tions, based on over thirty-four years of such exposure,
represent not only a convict ion as to what a rabbi ought
to be, but a certain knowledge of what a rabbi can be.
He may be a brilliant orator; dazzling in his deliver}) of
sermons, proficient in the use of exquisite phrases uttered
in tones guaranteed to please not only his congregants, but
also the entire community. He may be a prolific popular
writer whose articles and books gain nationwide circulation.
or a scholarly author whose colleagues are awed by his pro
fundity. He may be a prodigious community-organizer; ac
tive on ever)/ civic and philanthropic committee, renowned
for his participation in interracial. interfaith activities,
famed for his ability to make a persuasive speech at the
drop of ever)/ politico's hat and every prominent and weal
th}) lady's hankie. He may be a veritable Circe at luring
important and impressive guest-speakers to his pulpit. He
may, on Yom Kippur, be a George Whitefield weaving a
web of words, artfully devised to heap opprobrium on the
heads of laggard temple atlenders and produce blind peni
tence, so that even the cautious and prudent, like Benjamin
Franklin, will empty their pockets at his behest.
He may be a present help in all times of need: full of
wisdom and kindness, never too busy to listen, to console.
to advise, always ready and able to lend comfort m your
sorrow and exult in your joy. He mail remember the names
of all the members in your family, including the dog. and
always inquire about the health of your old aunt Minnie
He may know how to palliate the aggrieved loser in a con
test for the recording secretary's position m the sisterhood
how to pacify the donor of a new chair for the pulpit whose
name was omitted from a recent bulletin; Iww to avert the
resignation of the richest and most irascible trustee who
teas not called upon for a few choice remarks at the last
men's club meeting; how to subdue and check the power-
drives of those small-minded, self-important men who. not
infrequently, seek to exert the authority they lack at home
or in business by serving on organizational boards.
All these are useful and admirable qualities. Bl’T lie
must also be able to make of religion what the prophets
made of it; something to make men’s spirits soar to shining
heights of splendor. He must be able, as a teacher and <i
minister, to imbue his congregants with <i deepening of faith,
a broadening of sympathy for the needs of mankind, a
heightening of religious idealism, a warmer spiritual in
wardness, a closer communion with God. This he can and
should do through Torah.
Once he has accomplished this, then inevitably his con
gregants will translate these ideas and emotions into action
— action exemplified in service. When men's heads and
hearts and hands an’ so engaged, they no longer have need
of whipping-boys, for they are engrossed in the most re
warding of endeavors. They are making man's most noble
effort to live in imitatio Dei.
If the Rabbi cannot fulfill this last, but most important
part of his function, all the other skills and talents are of
little value. There are more men possessed of the embellish
ments enumerated in the first part of this Clinical Note;
there are some men endowed with the rich and rare qualities
explicated in the second part. If you have a rabbi with all o)
these, take the lid off of your Emergency Fund and get
your smartest to write him an ironclad lifetime contract.
You are most truly blessed.
36
The Rabbi
CLINICAL NOTE
l>if Janice L. Corn
The Southern ' raeW (