Jewish Post, Indianapolis, Marion County, 14 July 1972 — Page 10

Xbm Jftwish Post And Opinion Friday, July 14, 1972 J

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ADMINISTRATION ♦ EQUIPMENT • SUPPLIES • GIFT SHOE'S

What The Temple Wants, Not Same For Rabbi

By MYRON SCHOEN Beginning in April each year and extending through May

when most congregations hold their annual membership meetings, the question of renewing the rabbi’s contract, r e - setting h i s compensation,

Schoen or e n g a g-

ing a new spiritual leader is the main order of business, if not the sole agenda item of real concern to the members assembled. Despite the occasional acrimony which this arouses which sometimes reaches such proportions that it spills over into the general community and makes headlines in the press, in most instances this is done in a routine manner and both leadership and rabbi seem quite content with the outcome.

TAKE THE EXAMPLE of the report in one synagogue bulletin on their annual meeting. In fifteen lines it covers the events of the session by citing the election of officers and the names of those who were elected or re-elected to the board of directors. As for the rabbi, it merely records that “The rabbi’s contract was approved for a period of three years.” Presumably, the terms of the agreement were either outlined orally or were revealed in the

projected operating budget of the congregation for the coming year, so it is not implied that the members were kept in the dark in this regard. In the same issue of the synagogue’s bulletin that dealt so succinctly with the future of the congregation’s spiritual leadership, there is a message on the second page which is headed “From the Rabbi.” With all the studies undertaken and concern about the state of the American rabbinate, it is worth-

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while pondering this response. After expressing appreciation to the membership for their “faith in my leadership . . . and dues to pay my salary, as well as other needs of our congregation,” the re-elected rabbi posed two questions. “Did you vote for me because you share my dreams? Do you endorse mv program for fulfilling our ideals?” NOW LET THE RABBI speak for himself: - u * “I suspect that most of you voted for me because you perceive my rabbinate in terms of prescribed roles. And you approve of the way I implement these roles. For some of you, I am a dignified officiant-priest at family life-cycle events. Others like the way I carry the Jewish ‘flag’ in the nonJewish world . . . Your children ‘relate’ to me; almost all of you ‘like’ me. Perhaps you have found me helpful in times of , crisis,” responded the rabbi. He . then went on to cite the fact that he has had a good “partnership” with the officers and board; that the religious school has grown; and that the congregation has acquired its own physical facilities during his relatively brief tenure. Rather routine up to this point, but then the rabbi states, “. . . I prefer that you evaluate my work and our congregational success in terms of the ideals we have and will continue to evolve together.” What are these dreams? HERE AGAIN the rabbi must speak in his own words: “I long for a community of sensitive, passionate, and creative Jews, each searching continually for his own Jewish commitment. I dream of a temple membership responsive to the integrity of every individual. I hope for Jews who take seriously the eternal Covenant between God and the Jewish people. I want you to open yourselves as willingly to the Jewish tradition as you do to the modern secular world. I pray that we will study and worship together with an intensity unrivalled in Jewish history. I dream of a synagogue community whose members translate their prayers and study into relentless effort to reshape the world in an image of Jewish ideals. “If you share my dreams, I ask you to judge the effective(Continued on Next Page)

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