On the Frontiers of Rabbinic Work

On the Frontiers of Rabbinic Work
Rabbi Dov Gartenberg
March 17, 2006

Many rabbis and commentators go to this week's Torah portion to reflect on the role of leadership in a community. In Ki Tisa in the Book of Exodus Moses is caught between an angry God and a people he feels compelled to serve. He is the thread that holds the together the relationship. He advocates on behalf of the people, yet he is the agent of God's word. He must mediate the reality of God for a people that feels distant from God.

The role of the rabbi is based on the life of Moses in many ways. The rabbi must understand the dual directional nature of leadership based on the model of Moshe. On one hand the rabbi mediates God's word, tradition, Jewish values (whatever term you want to use) to the people. He or she is a teacher who has something special to teach or bring down (tablets) or to translate. On the other hand the rabbi is an advocate for the Jewish people to God, reminding of their worthiness and of the covenantal relationship which is binding on God as well.

A rabbi then in the classical sense is a connector bringing God and Jews together, trying to keep the relationship alive and fresh. That is how I conceive of my work as a rabbi who focuses on outreach.

Outreach is an awkward and ambiguous term. The term in the Jewish community is best defined as connecting-restoring, reengaging, even creating a relationship between a person and his living tradition. A rabbi is an advocate and a repository of that tradition. The people I reach out to are those who I think potentially will not only find meaning in this relationship, but will help make the world a better place because of a renewed relationship to it. This is very Hutzpadik when you think about it. Who am I to think that reconnecting to Judaism would help improve a person?

The question is even more important in a world where some clergy take on enormous power and even control nation states. There is much antipathy and distrust toward clergy for the abuses of power and the push to control or to coerce people. Doing Jewish outreach as I understand it is not at all a clergy power grab or an attempt to save people from their evil paths.

One of the unique approaches of Panim Hadashot is the presentation of Judaism pluralistically. I only know a few places that do this such as the Hartman Institute. I have confidence that the many voices within Judaism create meaningful and compelling answers on how to be a human being. I don't believe there is one way, but there are paths we must choose to take. I am passionate about presenting those multiple voices and derive great satisfaction in seeing people become engaged in the choices that Judaism present to a thoughtful and searching person.

The work of outreach is associated with rabbis who believe there is one way to be Jewish. The frontier of my rabbinic work is how to present Judaism passionately and affirm and validate different paths of leading a meaningful and world improving form of Judaism.
I will continue reflecting on this issue over the next couple of weeks.

Rabbi Dov Gartenberg