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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, September 24, 1M6
JTA SURVEY
Shortage of Rabbis For
U. S. Pulpits Getting Worse
NEW YORK (JTA)—Hundreds
of congregations throughout the
United States will start the new
Jewish year this month with
out rabbis as the chronic short
age of Jewish spiritual leaders
continues to get worse, a special
Jewish Telegraphic Agency sur
vey showed.
While the shortage is universal,
the JTA found, its degree of sev
erity is related directly to the
size of the Jewish community
where 'rabbis are sought. The
smaller the community, the less
the possibility that a rabbi-hunt
ing congregation will have any
success.
The shortage is unrelated to
the denominational divisions in
American Judaism. Whether the
congregation is actually or nom
inally Orthodox, Conservative or
Reform, if it is seeking a rabbi
for the first time or has lost its
rabbi through retirement or
choice of another pulpit, it will
have trouble finding a replace
ment. The farther it is from a
major metropolitan center, the
more trouble it can anticipate.
The religious needs of Jews in
military service automatical] y
makes the situation more diffi
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cult because the armed forces
have priority. Able-bodied sem
inary graduates who have not
had previous military service are
expected to serve a tour of duty
as military chaplains. The Com
mission on Jewish Chaplaincy of
the National Jewish Welfare
Board announced last month that
23 new Jewish military chaplains
entered the U. S. Armed Forces
in time to officiate at Rosh Hash-
anah services this month for
Jewish military personnel. They
replace an equal number of Jew
ish chaplains who have completed
tours of duty and are now pres
umably available to fill long-
empty pulpits. But the total of
prospective candidates for civil
ian pulpits remains at 23 less.
Placement of Reform rabbis is
handled by the Rabbinical Place
ment Commission of the Central
Conference of American Rabbis,
the Union of American Hebrew
Congregations and the Hebrew
Union College—Jewish Institute
of Religion. The Commission co
operates with the World Union
for Progressive Judaism. Four
teen of the placements were over
seas, including the pulpits in Ire
land, Britain, the Philippines and
even one in Finland.
The 85 included 23 who were
newly-ordained this year and
who were taking their first pul
pits. A Commission spokesman
said that the Commission was
unable to meet many requests for
fulltime rabbis and for assistant
rabbis in the smaller commun
ities.
A CCAR spokesman said that
student rabbis help to fill the
gap for the High Holy Days. A
source at the HUC-JIR said that,
as of the end of August, all re
quests for student rabbis from
“acceptable sources” for the High
Holy Days services had been fill
ed. The Reform rabbinical sem
inary rejects such requests from
sponsors of what the seminary
considers “makeshift” services.
Between 40 and 50 students
have received such assignments,
the HUC-JIR source said. If de
mand continued, advanced fresh
men would be assigned to meet
such requests. If demand still
continued, the practice is to ask
retired Reform rabbis to fill in.
It was estimated that about 100
student rabbis were assigned
from the Cincinnati branch of
the seminary, and between 10
and 15 from the newly-opened
Los Angeles branch this year.
The source told the JTA that
student renrollment at the Re
form seminary was about 5 per
cent higher this year than last.
Conservative, Orthodox Make
Similar Reports; Requests
For Rabbis Unfilled
The information provided by
the Rabbinical Assembly of
America (Conservative) was key
ed to the theme that “the sit
uation gets worse every year.”
The RAA reported that it had
filled requests for 60 Conserva
tive rabbis for the new Jewish
year, but that some 150 fulltime
pulpit requests were not filled
for lack of candidates. Every re
quest since July 1 had been turn
ed down because the Rabbinical
Assembly had no one to offer.
Some 12 student rabbis were as
signed to pulpits in the Greater
New York area. The RAA said
that the number of students in
rabbinical classes at the Jewish
Theological Seminary had been
increasing, but that the number
of pulpit openings in the expand
ing Conservative congregational
movement had been growing still
faster.
The Orthodox community had
a similar report. Orthodox rabbis
are placed through the Commun
ity Service Division of Yeshiva
University, whose Rabbi Isaac
Elchanon Seminary is a primary
source of Orthodox rabbis. The
division received a total of 144
requests for fulltime rabbis in
5725, as compared with 98 such
requests in the prior Jewish year.
A division spokesman reported
that, as of September 10, the di
vision’s placement service had
placed 60 fulltime rabbis for the
year 5726, as compared with 43
such placements for the prior
Jewish year.
The spokesman said that 40
Orthodox congregations were still
unfilled for lack of candidates.
Most of these congregations, he
added, were in smaller commun
ities throughout the United
States.
He reported that 150 requests
had been received for student
rabbis to assist in conducting
services at the High Holy Days
and during the rest of the year.
He said some 85 such placements
had been filled, “which repres
ents our yearly average.” He
also reported that eight student
rabbis were engaged on a part-
time basis in the development of
new communities as part of the
New Communities program of
the division.
The trends in rabbinic place
ment, he added, indicated that
a continued increase in establish
ment of Orthodox congregations
in suburban and metropolitan
areas would assure a continued
shortage, even if the number of
rabbinical students rose marked
ly. He suggested that “the proper
recognition of the great satisfac
tion which the rabbi reaps from
his consecrated labors, and also
appropriate steps by the congre
gations to make the pulpit rab
binate an attractive profession,
would go a long way in assisting
the recruitment of young men in
our rabbinical school.”
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The Jewish Agency - American Section,
Aliyah Office, Atlanta, extends best
wishes and greetings to the Jewish
Community for the New Year 5726.
predti^e darpetd, ^9nc.
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in your oCuxuriouA C^arpetiny f?or your Lome
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