This week's Torah portion, Shemini, begins with the conclusion of a special ritual, the ordination of Aaron (and his sons) as the priests of Israel. The ritual describes a procedure of installation of the Israelite community's spiritual leaders, the ones who would lead the people in sacrificial worship and who would act as intercessors between the people and their God.
From the Bible's day to our own, the need of the Jewish People for inspired spiritual leadership has remained a constant. Eventually, with the destruction of the Temple, the priesthood would be relegated to a ceremonial role, and the rabbinate would emerge as the chief institution of Jewish spiritual leadership. Throughout the generations, the Jewish people has seen fit to ordain as rabbis people who exemplify deep learning and deep commitment to the highest ethical principles of our faith.
This week's Torah reading illustrates the place of primacy that our spiritual leaders have always held in steering the direction of our religious lives. The ceremony described in Parashat Shemini is one of high drama, with sacrificial blood and animal flesh, fire and smoke, sacred clothing and ritual choreography. It commanded the attention of the people, to say the least. They looked up to their priests who were invested with sacred power: the power to utilize sacrifice and offering to expiate sin, the power to marshall the people's energies and wealth to doing good, helping the needy and supporting their religious institutions, an almost mysterious power. Fortunately we do not invest rabbis with all the same powers! We do not need rabbis to reach out to God; we do not need rabbis to live vicarious Jewish lives for us. But we do rely on our rabbis to help us learn and live Torah.
This week, the Union for Reform Judaism, the synagogue arm of the Reform Movement, nominated its next President, the chief spiritual leader for over 900 Reform synagogues and 1.5 million affiliated members: Rabbi Richard Jacobs. It is a point of pride for our community in particular, because for the past 19 years Rabbi Jacobs has helmed with distinction, thoughtfulness, and a visionary outlook, the congregation that I also have the privilege of serving as one of its rabbis, Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale.
It is a particularly emotional development for me personally, because Rick is also the man I call my rabbi and whose mentorship and mutuality of leadership at WRT has been a signature blessing of my rabbinate.
As the Torah this week prompts us to contemplate the significance of our spiritual leaders in our midst, I invite you to read about Rabbi Jacobs and his nomination by following this link.
All of us at Westchester Reform Temple join hands and hearts in offering Rabbi Jacobs a heartfelt mazal tov and a pledge of support in his forthcoming, sacred work!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Jonathan Blake
