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Functions

Rabbis serve the Jewish community. Hence their functions vary as the needs of the Jewish community vary over time and from place to place.

A dramatic change in rabbinic functions occurred with Jewish emancipation (18th-19th cents.). Tasks that were once the primary focus for rabbis, such as settling disputes by presiding over a Jewish court, became less prominent, while other tasks that were secondary, like delivering sermons, increased in importance.

1. Learning and teaching. Rabbis have always been the main links in the chain of transmission (masorah) whereby knowledge of the Torah has been passed down through the generations. Learning from their teachers, adding new insights of their own (hidushim), and teaching the public have always been the primary functions of the rabbinate. Studying the Torah is a rabbi's lifelong undertaking that does not end with receiving ordination. A rabbi is expected to set aside time daily for study. A rabbi that does not constantly replenish his or her store of Torah learning will lack the knowledge, inspiration and mastery of Jewish law and traditions required to perform all other rabbinic functions.

Once acquired, Torah knowledge must be passed on, because it is the heritage of all Israel. Teaching by rabbis occurs in many venues--the schoolroom of course, elementary (heder), intermediate (the yeshivah high school), and advanced (yeshivah and kollel), but also, especially in antiquity, in the vineyard, the marketplace and the disciple circle. The sermon is a form of public education, often integrating Biblical passages with a contemporary ethical message, and no Jewish meal or celebration is complete without the rabbi's "d'var Torah"--a short explanation of Biblical verses related to the event.

Apart from face to face instruction, rabbis who are inclined to authorship have composed an extensive rabbinic literature, dealing with all aspects of the Jewish tradition--Bible commentaries, codes of law, responsa, mystical and ethical tracts, and collections of sermons are examples of common genres of rabbinic literature.

2. Judging. Prior to Emancipation, rulers delegated discipline and dispute settlement within the Jewish community (kahal) to the Jewish community itself. If a dispute, domestic or commercial, a tort or a petty crime, involved only Jewish residents, then it could be settled in the town's Jewish court according to Jewish law. The town rabbi, with his extensive knowledge of Torah law (halakhah), was expected to preside as Head of the Court (av beth din), although lay assessors might join him in judgment. The judgments were enforced with fines and various degrees of communal excommunication when necessary.

After Emancipation, Jews, as citizens of their countries, turned to civil courts for dispute resolution. Today rabbinical courts remain active under the auspices of each Jewish denomination for religious matters, such as conversion and divorce, and even, on a voluntary basis, for civil matters when the parties voluntarily elect to have the rabbinical judges serve as their arbitrators. In Israel there are rabbinical courts for matters of personal status.

3. Legislating. During the centuries of Jewish self-government, some problems were considered regional or universal and could not be solved by a single rabbi acting alone. At these times rabbinical synods were convened for concerted action, calling together the prominent rabbis of the region to debate solutions and enact binding regulations (takkanot) for their communities. The regulations involved matters as diverse as dowries and matrimonial law, relations with gentiles, utilizing civil courts, education of orphans, anti-counterfeiting measures, and the hiring of schoolteachers. The most famous of these ordinances is ascribed to Rabbenu Gershom of Mainz (c. 960-1040), but was probably enacted in a rabbinic synod he convened c. 1000 C.E. The ordinance, still in effect today, prohibits polygamy among Jews in the West.

Rabbis in the modern era have enacted takkanot in the State of Israel, and the major Jewish movements, such as Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist, enact takkanot for their members. Today most congregational rabbis are members of a national rabbinic organization related to their movement and also an association of local rabbis in their city. When these bodies debate local and national questions, they function in a manner that is similar to the rabbinic synods of the past.

4. Religious supervision. The Jewish community requires a number of religious institutions for daily life, and it falls to rabbis, with their knowledge of Jewish law, to supervise them to ensure they operate in accordance with Jewish law. Examples would be Jewish slaughter (shekhita), Jewish dietary laws in shops and institutions (kashrut), the ritual bath (mikveh), the Sabbath boundaries (eruvin), and the burial society (hevra kadisha). Traditionally this function fell to the town's rabbi. In the modern era, rabbis who specialize in this type of supervision will find full-time employment as a Mashgiach (superviser of ritual law).

5. Pastoral counseling. Members of the Jewish community have always turned to rabbis for advice on personal matters. This is conducted in private on a one-to-one basis. In the pre-modern era, rabbis had no special training in counseling. Instead they relied on their personal qualities of empathy and caring as well as their knowledge of halakhic requirements. These factors continue to inform rabbinic advising in the modern era. However modern rabbinical seminaries have instituted courses in psychology and pastoral counseling as part of the required rabbinic curriculum and they offer internships in counseling and social services for their rabbinical students.

All rabbis will answer questions about Jewish law and ritual from their congregants, and among Hasidic Jews, turning to the rebbe for advice on personal matters is common.

6. Leading prayer services. Traditionally rabbis did not lead prayer services in the modern sense. There is no requirement that a rabbi be present for public prayer. The Jewish liturgy is fixed and printed in prayer books (siddurim), the vocal portions are chanted by a cantor (hazan) and the Torah portion is read by a trained reader (ba'al kriah). If the rabbi was present, he would be seated in front near the Ark and as a matter of respect, the pace at which the rabbi recited his prayers might set the pace of the service. If halakhic questions arose about the prayer service, the rabbi would answer them.

In modern synagogues, the rabbi takes a more active role in leading prayer services. In some synagogues, it is permitted for the rabbi to select passages from the prayer book for public reading, to omit some passages for brevity and to add other readings and special prayers to the service. The rabbi may lead the congregation in responsive reading, announce page numbers and comment on the liturgy from time to time. At Sabbath and holiday services, the congregational rabbi will deliver a sermon either right before or right after the Torah is read.

• 
  Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook in 1924
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  Rabbi Kinneret Shiryon
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  Rabbi Mark Wildes and Rabbi Ezra Cohen
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  Rabbi Abraham Geiger
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  Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
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  Rabbanit Malke Bina
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  Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
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  Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi Emeritus of the UK
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  Rabbi Solomon Schechter

Kuban Cossacks, late 19th century.

7. Celebrating life's events. Jewish law does not require the presence of a rabbi at a marriage, bar or bat mitzvah, circumcision, funeral, house of mourning, or unveiling of a monument at a cemetery. At the same time, Jewish law has prescribed requirements for each of these events and rituals. It therefore became customary for rabbis to be present and to lead the community in celebration and in mourning. In the modern era, it is virtually obligatory to have the rabbi's participation at these events, and ministering to the congregation in these settings has become a major aspect of the modern rabbinate.

Jewish divorce, which requires a rabbinical court (beth din), will always have rabbis in attendance.

Outreach. Some rabbis program and guide activities designed to reach Jews who are unaffiliated with Judaism or lapsed in their observances. These include "Beginners' Services" where the Jewish liturgy is shortened and explained, and Shabbatons, where unaffiliated Jews are hosted with an observant family during Sabbath to experience the day in a religious setting and learn about its rituals and customs. Chabad outreach, known as kiruv (bringing close), finds many rabbis and their spouses posted in Chabad Houses for the express purpose of reaching unaffiliated Jews.

Conversions. Most rabbis will from time to time encounter someone who is not Jewish seeking information about Judaism or wishing to explore conversion to Judaism. This may happen when one member of a couple wishing to marry is seeking conversion or on other occasions when intermarriage is not involved. Based on the rabbi's training and assessment of the person's motivations and goals, and in accordance with the policy on conversion of the rabbi's movement, the rabbi's approach may range from discouragement of the potential convert to mentoring and directing to a conversion class. A rabbi or three rabbis will serve on the beth din that performs a conversion. There are no rabbis serving as "Jewish missionaries" per se; there is no parallel in Judaism to the proselytizing of other faiths.

Match-making. In periods when match-making was common, rabbis participated. Rabbis were well-acquainted with their community members and in particular with the young unmarried men attending their yeshivas. Parents did not hesitate to consult the rabbi for suitable matches. Today in Orthodox circles where socializing among the sexes is not common, this practice continues, and in all branches of Judaism, a rabbi who can help in this arena will not hesitate to do so.

8. Synagogue administration. The modern synagogue is a non-profit religious corporation run by a Board of Directors elected by the members. However, on a day to day basis, board members are not present. In most synagogues, it is the rabbi's task to administer the synagogue, supervise personnel, manage the physical plant, review (if not write) the newsletter, and interact with the brotherhood, the sisterhood and the youth organizations. Very large synagogues may employ a separate administrator to perform some or all of these functions.

9. Charitable works. The synagogue has been a place where charity is collected every weekday after services and then distributed to the needy before Sabbaths and holidays. It was not the rabbi who collected these sums; that task was assigned to the sexton, wardens of charity and charitable associations. But it was the rabbi's task to teach that charity (tzedakah) is a core Jewish value. He did this by preaching, teaching and by example--hosting poor out of town yeshiva students at his table and offering Jewish travelers a kosher meal. Maimonides formulated a ladder consisting of eight degrees of charity, starting with reluctant giving and ending with teaching someone a trade. Rabbi Israel Salanter (1809-1883) was once asked, "How do you provide for your spiritual needs?" He answered, "By providing for someone else's physical needs."

Today Jewish federations and foundations collect and distribute most charity within the Jewish community. However the rabbi retains the task of teaching the value of charity and often participates personally in appeals for his synagogue and for national and international causes.

Role-modeling The rabbi serves as a role model for the congregation by his or her conduct and deportment. Congregation members are keen observers of their rabbi's personality traits, family life, professional conduct, leisure activities and in general the way he or she treats others. Rabbis are aware of this and in the best case deliberately model their conduct so that it represents Jewish values to the community and to those outside the Jewish community.

This aspect of the rabbinate's setting an example for the public also has an application in Jewish law. The way the greatest rabbis and Torah scholars conduct themselves can become a precedent in Jewish law, known as ma'aseh. For example, based on reports of what rabbis did in the Talmud, Moses Maimonides ruled that on engaged in public affairs should not break off the recite certain prayers.

9. Chaplaincy.

Jewish chaplain insignia, U.S. Air Force.

Rabbis go into the field wherever members of the Jewish community may be found. This is most noticeable in the military services and on university campuses where some rabbis serve as Jewish chaplains on a full-time basis. All branches of the U. S. military have Jewish chaplains in their ranks and rabbis serve in the Israeli Defense Forces. The Hillel Foundation provides rabbis and Jewish services on 550 campuses while Chabad operates Jewish centers with a rabbi near 150 college campuses. Local rabbis perform other chaplaincy functions on a part-time basis in hospitals, senior homes and prisons.

Worthy of mention are the rabbis who accompanied Jews to concentration camps during the Nazi era; in dire circumstances they continued to provide rabbinic services, such as ritual observance, advice and counseling, to the victims of Nazi persecution, whenever it was possible to do so.

10. Public affairs. As leaders of the Jewish community, many rabbis devote a portion of their time to activities in the public arena, especially where Jewish interests are at stake. They dialogue with public officials and community groups, interact with school boards, advocate for and against legislation, engage in public debates, write newspaper columns, appear in the media and march in parades with others to show support and opposition to their causes. The extent and tenor of these activities is dictated by the rabbi's own conscience and social and political leanings.

11. Defending the faith. Rabbis are often called upon to defend the Jewish faith. During the Middle Ages, the Church arranged a series of public disputations between rabbis and priests that were intended to "disprove" the Jewish faith and condemn its religious texts, including the Talmud. The rabbis acquitted themselves well in debate with their superior understanding of Jewish texts and mass conversions to Christianity did not take place. However following these disputations local rulers at the Church's behest consigned cartloads of precious Hebrew manuscripts to the flames.

Today rabbis are involved in countering the activities of missionaries aimed at converting Jews, explaining for example how one cannot be a Jew while believing in either the Christian God or the Christian messiah.

12. Interfaith activities. Some rabbis engage in interfaith dialogues with clergy of other faiths. They may host student groups from the religious schools of other faiths and participate in interfaith services. They will view these activities as a means of deepening understanding and reducing misconceptions in a diverse society.

Other rabbis, especially those affiliated with Orthodox Judaism, will generally not participate in interfaith dialogues about theology. They will however engage in discussions with the clergy of other faiths about matters of mutual social concern.

18. Non-practicing rabbis. There is a segment of the rabbinate that does not engage in rabbinic functions on a daily basis, except perhaps to study. Because ordination (semicha) has the features of a post-graduate academic degree, some study to receive ordination but then follow a different career in secular business, education or the professions. These rabbis may be asked from time to time to perform a rabbinic function on an ad hoc and voluntary basis, e.g. to perform a marriage ceremony or answer a religious question. At other times, they act as regular members of the Jewish community. No negative attitudes attach to rabbis who do not practice they profession. They are likely admired in their communities for their decision to spend years engaged in advanced Torah study for its own sake.