Jewish Life Digital Edition November 2014 | Page 33

of a sportsman, but also the life of a rabbi.
But rabbis, by definition, must speak
their minds. A rabbi is a teacher. The word
rabbi in Hebrew means ‘my teacher’. Rabbis must teach, and that means speaking
out and teaching right from wrong –
whether it is popular or not. The Talmud
states: “A rabbi who is loved by his entire
community is not necessarily loved because of his fine character, but rather because he does not rebuke them in matters
of faith.” (Kesubos 105b) Or, as an old Yiddish proverb goes: “Any rabbi who people
do not wish to dismiss is no rabbi. And any
rabbi who they do dismiss is no mentsch.”
Sacrificing principle on the altar of expediency is a time-dishonoured practice
not only of corrupt politicians, but even
of some preachers who fear the predictable repercussions of a provocative sermon. So, if absolutely everyone loves the

them want to come back again.
I imagine every rabbi around the world
with a traditional congregation is faced
with the annual temptation to sock it to all
those ‘three days a year’ Jews who come to
shul on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
only. There is this impulsive craving to
shout, “Where the hell have you been all
year?!” or “Aha! Arrived safe!” and so on.
Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks tells
the story of some non-Jewish workmen
who were hired to build the sukkah in his
old London shul, a very large, prestigious
synagogue. They were curious what the
structure they were working on was to be
used for and inquired from the non-Jewish caretaker of the synagogue. He explained to them about the ancient Biblical festival of Tabernacles, and that for
eight days the Jews would be taking their
meals in the sukkah. “You mean we’re do-

CHARISSE ZEIFERT
PRESENTS
JEWISH BOARD TALK

GENERALLY, THE ‘FIRE AND BRIMSTONE’ SERMONS
OF OLD DON’T WORK TODAY AND HAVE PROBABLY
PUT MORE PEOPLE OFF G-D AND JUDAISM THAN THE
HIGH PRICE OF KOSHER FOOD.
rabbi, he must be doing something
wrong! (Or not doing something right). I
suppose that is a consolation to those of
us who fall foul of the odd congregant
now and then. Please remember, folks,
we’re just doing our job.
At the same time, ‘preaching’ should be
reserved for rare occasions and only
when absolutely necessary. Generally, the
‘fire and brimstone’ sermons of old don’t
work today and have probably put more
people off G-d and Judaism than the high
price of kosher food. People come to shul
to be inspired, uplifted, find some peace
and serenity, if not genuine spirituality.
Highlighting the negative is far less successful than accentuating the positive.
People want to feel good when they leave
shul. I love it when I see a smile on their
faces on their way out, whether it was
from a witty remark of the rabbi or an
upbeat tune from the chazan. It makes

ing all this work, putting up this whole
thing, just for eight days?” Whereupon
the caretaker pointed to the huge, magnificent synagogue edifice and asked, “All
that work was for just three days?!”
Yes, many a rabbi may well be provoked
to lash out at the ‘yom tov only’ Jews. But
what will be achieved besides getting it off
his own chest? Will it encourage those
Jews to come back again next week, or will
it only prove to them that they were quite
right in staying away all year to avoid pulpit abuse? Love, warmth, positive messages and inspiration will get rabbis a lot further than those preachy, cynical sermons.
If we have faith in Jews, it may well bring
out the latent faith inside the Jew.
So, I learn