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I Do It For The Kavod:
A response to the Chief Rabbinate of Israel’s blackening of my name.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Some 160 rabbis wrote letters confirming the Jewish identity of prospective immigrants who were rejected in 2016. Those rabbis are now on the Israeli Chief Rabbinate’s
“blacklist” of rabbis they do not trust to confirm Jewish identities of immigrants, according to a JTA story published last week. The Chief Rabbinate’s office countered that “[The list’s] inten-
tion was not to invalidate rabbis, God forbid, but rather [to invalidate] letters that raised doubts and questions.” Temple Israel’s Rabbi Paul Yedwab is on that original list.
A
16 hours a day, including spending the
stranger moved into a new town
entire Shabbos here at shul. I devote
and visited the local shul for
myself completely to my congregants and,
Shabbos services. He turned
therefore, I have no family life, no time for
to the man in the pew next to him and
hobbies or outside activities and,
inquired about the rabbi.
as a result, my wife is threatening
“Oh, our rabbi is a disgrace,”
to leave me.”
opined the gentleman — a
cross between a schlemiel and a
“So why do you do it?” respond-
schlamazal. “Somehow he man-
ed the man, taken aback.
ages to be both a mamzer and
“Oh, that’s easy,” responded the
a nebish at the very same time.
rabbi with a smile. “I do it for the
And besides, everyone hates his
kavod!” (honor and prestige)
sermons!”
Today, having learned that
At the oneg Shabbat, the visi- Rabbi Paul
I have earned the “kavod” of
Yedwab
tor came upon the Sisterhood
being included on the short list
president who had delivered the
of Orthodox, Conservative and
congregational announcements
Reform rabbis blacklisted by the
at the conclusion of the service.
so-called “Chief Rabbinate” of
The conversation turned once again to
Israel, I am that rabbi.
the rabbi. “Oy,” sighed the woman, “if we
Why do I schlep hundreds of people
keep that schmendrik as our rabbi for
to Israel on temple and Federation
much longer, the Sisterhood will be out
missions? I do it for the kavod. Why
of business. And besides, everybody hates
do I rail against BDS and all anti-Israel
his sermons!”
movements from the bimah? I do it for
Undeterred, the potential congregant
the kavod. Why do I ardently support
called the synagogue office on Monday.
AIPAC, JNF, Friends of IDF and so many
Once connected, he asked the secretary
other pro-Israel organizations? I do it
for an appointment with the rabbi. “The
for the kavod. And why have I spent the
rabbi?” she asked, surprised. “I hope it
last three decades of my life serving a
is not for counseling. Confidentially, I
congregation built upon the unshakable
have to tell you that our rabbi could not
foundation of Zionism? Clearly, I do it
counsel his way out of a paper bag. And
for the kavod.
besides, everybody hates his sermons.”
I am not being entirely facetious here.
Nonetheless, the appointment was
Since the list appeared, I have received
made and when the stranger sat down in
countless emails, Facebook messages
the rabbi’s study, he said, “Rabbi, it would
and calls from colleagues telling me
seem that your position here is quite …
how jealous they are that they were not
how shall I say … stressful.”
included on the list. All I could say to
them was, “try harder … maybe next
“Oh, yes,” the rabbi responded. “I work
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time?” And I am in such good company!
The list includes some of the great lumi-
naries of our time, including Detroit’s
own late Rabbi Irwin Groner, who seems
to have made the list even though he
has been deceased for quite some time
now. So, yes, I am taking my inclusion
on this absurd, surreal, McCarthyisitic
“list” as a badge of honor. I am having
fun with my 15 minutes of infamy, and
I am sure at least one good sermon will
come out of it.
I am, however, also very sad — not
for myself — but for the State of Israel.
Israel has so many enemies, so many
detractors, so many who seek her
destruction, and their “official” rabbinic
leaders are choosing to paint so many
“ohavei Yisrael,” so
many lovers of Israel,
as enemies? It is self-
destructive, immoral
and lacking in even
the most basic under-
standing of the cen-
tral Jewish concept of
clal Yisrael, the unity
of the Jewish people.
I could spend the
rest of this article
ranting and raving
about the Israeli gov-
ernment’s lily-livered
reversals in the area
of the Western Wall
and conversion. I
could invoke the
specter of “sinat chi-
nam,” the “baseless
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hatred” amongst Jews that is said to
have led to the destruction of the Holy
Temple in Jerusalem. Instead, however,
the Hebrew word that keeps coming to
my mind is “mechoar” — this is so very,
sadly, disappointingly, tragically ugly.
So no, “Chief Rabbinate” of Israel,
your cowardly blackening of my name
will not stop me from bringing busloads of
loyal congregants to our Jewish homeland;
it will not deter me from fighting with all
of my heart for Israel’s future; it will not
diminish my love of Eretz Yisrael, the Land
of Israel, in the slightest. Why?
Because clearly … I do it for the
kavod! •
Paul Yedwab is a rabbi at Temple Israel.
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