Rabbi Heller's Blog

The process of finding community leadership has never been easy. Who has the charisma? The time and temperament? Where would one even learn the technical skills needed to focus the energies of a diverse and sometimes querulous community? This week, we explore those challenges both in the portions that we read from Exodus and in real life. Parashat Vayakhel reflects the consummation of the previous 10 chapters of the Torah. After all of the instructions have been given as to how the Tabernacle is to be built, Moses now gathers the people and sets them to their work. How will he find people to lead the effort? 

This week we are also participating in “Shabbat with JTS,” part of a national program where rabbinical students from the Jewish Theological Seminary spend a Shabbat with a “real world” congregation. What we will learn is that whether you are building a Tabernacle or a 21st century congregation, the challenges and techniques are not so different.

As Moses is building the Tabernacle, he is blessed with a people with so much to contribute. There are those have skills like dying, weaving, facility with wood and metal. Everyone had something to add. There are people who can make major donations because they have gold, copper, silver, wood, wool and precious gems. And the maftir portion, Shekalim talks about how each person brought ½ shekel, a uniform, token sum, to show that they were a part of the community. It is not so different building a synagogue community today. There are people with talents in ritual, those who can sing or teach. There are experts in finance, fundraising and facilities, PR and HR. And of course, there are those who bring donations large and small, but each one meaningful, without which the community could not function.

However, in both the ancient Tabernacle and in a modern congregation, there is a need for more specialized leadership. Moses was blessed to have, among others, Betzalel, from the tribe of Judah. He was endowed with divine spirit to know many different kinds of crafts, to understand all of the many different types of work that needed to be done. Betzalel had the wisdom “Lehorot”- to teach. He could not only direct the many lay leaders and their donations, but transmit his skills to others, to be a multiplier of effort and talent. He understood the needs of those who came to work, their drives and temperaments, so that he could motivate them and resolve points of contention for the greater good.

Today, that role is played in many congregations by rabbis. A rabbi may not be an expert in all things (as much as we claim to be), but understands enough in many different areas to be able to coordinate and focus the work of volunteers with diverse talents, and must have the gift of wisdom needed to tend to each person with their individual quirks. How does a person achieve this level of leadership? For Betzalel, it was a gift. As it says in Exodus 35:30-31, God chose him and “filled him with the divine spirit.” Today, whatever one’s innate abilities, one also has to go to a school, like JTS.

The process of becoming a rabbi differs in different streams of Judaism. In some communities, one merely need know enough Jewish law. In others, having a great voice and the ability to give a good sermon is all you need to get by.  A community like ours demands an astonishing diversity of skills: facility with texts like Bible and Talmud, Jewish laws and liturgy and literature are neccessary, but not sufficient. Rabbis need the ability to teach, preach and inspire, but they also need the wisdom and empathy to provide counseling and pastoral care. And they will not succeed without the organizational skills needed to work with committees, participate in governance and fundraising. JTS was founded over 100 years ago to train rabbis with a range of abilities- not just the book knowledge but the real world skills- needed to serve American Jews. Of course, rabbis serve not only in congregations, but in chaplaincy at Hillels and JCCs, and each requires a unique blend of talents.

This Shabbat, we will meet Rabbi Lara Rodin, who is a 4^th year student at JTS. During her visit she will teach and share her experience as a student. She will also have the opportunity to learn from our community and our rabbis about what it takes to be a rabbi in the real world. While I hope that we are able to retain our current rabbinic team for years to come, no doubt the day will come when our community will need new Betzalels- masters of diverse wisdom, and it is amazing that we have the opportunity to maintain good relationships with the places where new leaders are made.