Diary of a Chief Rabbi

To be a rabbi is the highest calling in Jewish life

It was the first induction in Jewish history. Moses was about to appoint Joshua as his successor. God tells him to do two things. First, he is told to "take" him, meaning, persuade Joshua to undertake the task. At the same time he is told to "command" him, in other words, inform him of what it will involve.

On this, Rashi makes two marvellous comments. Together they constitute the good news and bad news about Jewish leadership. The bad news is, "Know that they are troublesome and quarrelsome." It isn't easy to lead the Jewish people. It never was. It never will be. Moses knew this only too well.

The good news, says Rashi, is this, "Happy are you that you are privileged to lead the children of God." The Jewish people are exceptional. They may be difficult. But they are called to high ideals. They are capable of great things. It is no small thing to be the leader of such a people. Evidently the persuasion worked. Joshua undertook the task.

I think that I have officiated at more inductions in the past few years than any previous Chief Rabbi, and few things give me greater pleasure. One of the untold stories of Anglo-Jewry has been the arrival of an entire new generation of spiritual leaders. The face of the British rabbinate has been renewed.

Three years ago there were many vacancies in London pulpits. There was talk of a crisis in the rabbinate. I knew it was mistaken. More of our young people have a sense of religious vocation than at any time I've known. In many cases they are more religious than their parents. They have made a personal spiritual journey, and they want to share it with others. It was only a matter of time before they made an impact on our communities.

And they have. The rabbis of today - young and not so young - are involved in all aspects of communal life. A generation ago, the talk was of rabbis as "functionaries". They felt constrained by the limits of the role. Today, the rabbi of a synagogue is likely to be found spearheading a dynamic communal diary, leading programmes, trips, social events, residential retreats, explanatory services and "Ask the Rabbi" evenings.

Above all he is likely to be an educator. The word "rav" means a teacher, and that was always traditionally his role. Sadly, though, learning was not always at the top of a congregation's priorities. Today it often is. I remember a conversation I had with the late Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik, of blessed memory, in the early 1980s. I had been asked to become the rabbi of Boston, Massachusetts, where he lived. We discussed the challenge of the contemporary rabbinate. "When I came to America," he said with a wry smile, "congregations were vulgar and they expected their rabbi to be vulgar too! Today, they learn. And they expect their rabbi to be able to teach. The rabbinate has become dignified again."

There is no more beautiful relationship in Judaism than that between teacher and disciple. So it is thrilling to see the way today's rabbis have taken the lead in establishing educational programmes for all ages, especially teenagers, adults and families. Historically, shuls were centres of learning as much as they were houses of prayer. Nothing augurs better for the health of Anglo-Jewry than the fact that they have become so again.

So we have a new rabbinate. Many of the rabbis of the United Synagogue have been inducted in the past three years. Together with their longer serving colleagues they have generated a new mood of purpose and drive. They tend to be yeshiva-educated, outreach-oriented, less formal than in the past, and full of ideas of how to bring more people into the life of the community. They are a marvellous human resource.

What advice do I have for them and their congregations? To their congregations, my advice is simple. Pirkei Avot says, "Make for yourself a rabbi." How does a congregation make a leader? By being willing to follow. When a community wants to learn, a rabbi is able to teach. When it is willing to listen, a rabbi is able to speak. When it is prepared to grow, its leader will show them how.

My advice to rabbis is always to remember those words of Rashi. "Happy are you that you have been privileged to lead the children of God." It's hard to be a rav. Our entire culture has become focused on the satisfaction of desire. Almost no one today, other than a spiritual leader, is prepared to say that some desires are better than others, and that we may sometimes want the wrong things. Being a moral voice in a relativistic age is a lonely and sometimes stressful task.

Yet there is none higher. A good rabbi changes lives. He makes a difference. It's not a small thing to be able to go to sleep at night knowing that you've brought comfort to someone in distress, or enlightenment to the perplexed, that there are people who will act differently because of you, that you helped them grow. According to the effort is the reward. As in the days of Joshua, so it is now. Being a rabbi remains the highest calling in Jewish life.