Rabbi Israel Salanter, the ideological founder of the Mussar movement, is reported to have said that ““A rabbi whose community does not disagree with him is no rabbi. A rabbi who fears his community is no mensch.”
Thankfully, I can share with you that I’ve never feared my community. On the contrary: I’ve been embraced, nourished even. Most days, I am excited to come to work.
We’ve also had very few disagreements. That’s not to say that there haven’t every now and then been conversations behind closed doors. That is the everyday business of politics–the art of moving the needle and getting things done–at the synagogue.
Yet I believe the secret to our success together stems from an openness on my part to learning from you…almost as much as you may believe you have learned from me. Rabbis like to joke that whenever they are in the grocery store someone is always looking inside their shopping cart. But here’s the rub: if you believe that you are watching the way that I serve as a dugma for our community, don’t forget that I am watching for your good behavior too! The congregant who pays for dinner and constantly finds ways big and small to give to others inspires me to be generous in my dealings with others. The man passionately involved in a Jewish communal organization inspires me to want to get involved in that cause too. The woman with incomparable dedication for an aging parent inspires me to want to be a better son. The Shlichat Tzibbur who davens with such a beautiful voice and kavanah, intent, makes me want to work more fervently on my own prayers. All of these have helped me to learn how to be a mensch.
I’ve never believed the line from the movie Keeping the Faith that Jews expect their rabbis to “be the kind of Jews they don’t have the time to be.” Rabbis inspire communities. But successful communities always collectively find the time to inspire their rabbis to become menschen.
They say that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. Keep inspiring me to be a mensch: and I will do my best to keep inspiring you too.
– Rabbi Dan Dorsch
