24 friday, August ReE/ect 1978' : Oak Park R.O. Twp. AARON County Commis:1o• !T Rabbi Looks Favorably on Two Surveys o Profession By RABBI MAX WEINE It is surprising that no one until now has underta- ken to write a complete his- tory of the rabbinate, al- though this important in- stitution in Jewish life has been the theme of numerous brief articles and reminis- cences scattered in various SPECIALLY SELECTED WALLCOVERINGS AND A SELECTED LINE OF 1" HORIZONTAL BLINDS AUGUST 1 - SEPTEMBER 5 • dynamic PAINT & WALLPAPER 542-3315 23061 COOLIDGE HWY., OAK PARK, AT 9 MI periodicals. Yet, many a record of per- sonal history in this field remains unpublished. The result is that the average intelligent Jew has only a hazy idea of the rabbi and the role that he has played in the growth of Judaism and Jewish life. What were the qualifica- tion required of the rabbi? How was he trained and what was the rabbinic cur- riculum at different times? What is the story of the or- dination (smikha) of the rabbi? When did he begin to be remunerated for his ser- vices? What were the ex- periences of the rabbi in relation to his community? A good, popular, well written survey of this subject is contained in "Rabbi — The American Experience" by Murray Polner. Published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., this book is the result of personal ac- quaintance with many rabbis in different kinds of communities, of inter- views with seminary stu- dents and of a wide read- ing of unpublished memoirs. "A Note on Sources" at the end of the volume gives the reader an idea of the material that went into the writing "AN ABLE AND BRILLIANT ATTORNEY" 444* HILDA an exceptional new voice for justice • Active Trial Attorney (Civil and Criminal) • Endorsed by the South Oakland County Police Officers Association • Resident of Bloomfield Hills ; former -resident of Southfield. Oak Park • Juris Doctorate from Wayne State University Law School (Magna Cum Laude) • B.A. and M.A. from University of Michigan (With Distinction) • Former - School Teacher and Instructor of Law. Wayne State University Law School • Young Lawyers Section of Detroit Bar Association Award • of Achievement • Arbitrator— American Arbitration Association and State Bar Grievance Board • Mediator—Circuit Court of Oakland County • Appointed to Civil Rights Commission by Governor Milliken in 1975. Reappointed in 1976 • Elected Treasurer — General Practice Section of the State Bar of Michigan (1977) • Elected Corresponding Secretary —Southfield Bar Association • Member of Family Law Committee and Judicial Liaison—Circuit Court Committee — Oakland County Bar Association • Member of Political Advisory Committee—Women Lawyers Association and Detroit Bar Association • Participant in Television Series — "Law in Your Life" (WXYZ-TV) and "Ask the Lawyers" (WTVS-TV). • Lecturer on Family Law • Life Member of Children's Hospital Auxiliary • Board Member of Dysautonomia Foundation. Vote on the non-partisan side of ballot AUGUST 8TH . Paid for by Committee to Elect Hilda Gage Circuit Judge, 380 N Main Street, Clawson, Man RABBI MAX WEINE of the different chapters in the book. A quick introductory sur- vey of the recent history of the rabbinate, with em- phasis on the American scene, gives the reader an idea of the soil upon which the rabbinate grew in Colo- nial and Revolutionary times and later in Civil War days. The rabbi was in many cases not ordained, and yet, in spite of the rough pioneering communities he had to serve, he succeeded in laying the foundations of organized Jewish life in America. Some of them, in fact, achieved lasting reputa- tions and are remembered to this day — Isaac Leeser and Isaac Mayer Wise and others. We see, at the end of the last century, the organi- zation of training schools for the rabbinate in the several denominations of American Judaism. Some of the key questions dealt with in the book are: Why is the rabbinate chosen as a career by American young men? Is the rabbi happy in his calling? Does he have a feeling of ac- complishment or of failure? How does he manage to maintain his idealism and cling to his calling with ut- most dedication? What has the development of subur- bia done to Jewish life, the synagogue and the rabbi- nate? How about the small town rabbi? What feeling of accomplishment and of happiness does he have? How does he handle Jew-Gentile rela- tionships? Anti- Semitism? Intermar- riage? What about the rabbi in the deep South? What position does he take with reference to Civil Rights and white- black relationships? What effect does this have upon him, his mem- bers and his synagogue? What about the threats of the Klan? And synagogue bombings? And, in spite of all, why do some of the men stick it out and pre- fer to remain? What of the Orthodox rabbi? How much success does he have in indoctrinat- ing the members of his community? How do we cope with the cleavages in the Orthodox camp, the Hasidic groups and others? Why do young men go in for the Orthodox rabbinate? And why do so many prefer to earn their living after or- dination in other, even un- related fields? And now there is the Jewish woman in the rabbi- nate. How is she faring in her calling, and how is she regarded by her male col- leagues? And not the least of considerations as far as the woman is concerned is the rabbi's wife. What role does she play — or is she expected to play — in the congregation and in the community? And how does she resolve the conflicting roles (time-wise, to say the least) of wife, homemaker and community figure? Other recent phenomena touched on in this book are the "gay" synagogues and the Havurot. And finally the rabbinate as a calling: will it continue to attract the kind of people who are qualified from the point of view of ability and interest to serve in the rabbinate? Has the rabbinate a future? Another recent book dealing with the same subject from a somewhat different approach is "The American Rabbi," edited by Gilbert S. Ro- senthal (Ktav). This is a well-organized and well-written tribute to the American rabbi on the occasion of the Bicen- tennial of the United States and the 95th birth- day of the New York Board of Rabbis. Several chapters at the end of the book deal with the changing role of the rabbi on the American scene: What are his functions at the present time and what will they be in the future? Tangentially, some of the major problems of Jewish life in America are touched on: the problem of Jewish education and Jewish sur- vival; the role of Halakha in the Jewish community of the future; the individual Jew in the community and in American public life; and finally, the threat of sec- ularism to religion today and to the survival of the religious Jewish commun- ity. Reform, Orthodox and Conservative Judaism are each given adequate exposure in their efforts to deal with the various problems that confront the American Jewish community. The impor- tant role of the New York Board of Rabbis (which is, incidentally, by no means limited to New York) in the American Jewish community and its various activities and functions, and the posi- tion it takes on numerous American and Jewish is- sues sheds a good deal of light on the American rabbinate and its role in the American Jewish community. The book is dedicated to the late Rabbi Harold H. Gordon, who served for many years as the executive vice president of the New York Board of . Rabbis and who, unfortunately, died at about the same time that the book was published.