Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel once wrote, “Faith is a blush in the presence of God.” Put another way, the purpose of a synagogue, or any house of worship for that matter, is to alert congregants of the gap between who we are and who we should be — an awareness that often induces us to blush. The paradox embedded in all synagogues is that at one and the same time they seek to embrace Jews “where they are,” yet also direct them towards “where they ought to be.”
All of which makes the job of a rabbi really interesting. Because if the project of religion is to inform, admonish or inspire individuals toward bettering themselves and the world in which we live, then it follows that a rabbi’s task must be the same. From the time of the Prophets to present-day congregational life, sound religious leadership is marked not by parroting the choices Jews would otherwise make, but rather in inspiring Jews to live the lives they would otherwise not lead. Be it feeding the poor, supporting the State of Israel, or preaching the value of endogamy — a rabbi’s job is prescriptive in nature — to reach beyond what everyone else in secular society tells us is inevitable and unavoidable.
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