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When a rabbi divorces,
its not just his family who is affected.

LYNNE MEREDITH COHN Staff Writer

T

done, although several psychologists spe-
cialize in counseling rabbis.
In Detroit, at least seven rabbis have
ended marriages while working a pulpit.
Most have remarried, and quite a few still
preach in the area. Those who agreed to be
the same.
interviewed say that a rabbi is just like any
Like it or not, once they are ordained,
rabbis become symbols of how to live well, other person — only more so — and mar-
riages in which one spouse is a rabbi are
how to follow the Torah, how to learn,
subject to more public scrutiny than a mar-
how to love.
riage between two private individuals.
But they are only human, a fact that
But does that mean rabbinic marriages
congregants often forget. And when a
are subject to different pressures than "lay"
rabbi divorces, some congregants call it
marriages? Maybe, maybe not.
betrayal, while others say it helps them
Detroit's divorced rabbis have mixed
relate to their spiritual leader on a person-
feelings on that question, but, overall, they
al level.
None of the national Jewish movements hold to the notion that divorce and
remarriage have made them better able to
can provide statistics on how many rabbis
teach about relationships.
divorce. Apparently, no studies have been

hirty years ago, if a rabbi's
marriage broke up, his job
hung by a thread. Today,
much has changed — although
some things have stayed exactly

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