Clergy vs. Individuality: Article for Intermountain Jewish News

There have been recent instances of local upset because our rabbis chose to speak their minds publicly.  Like authors, publishers, actors, politicians, and business owners, rabbis have higher visibility and are able to reach more people at once.  They also have a greater responsibility for their public actions and statements.  However, our unique system of government allows freedom of speech for any U.S. citizen; and it is part of a rabbi’s job description to utilize the pulpit, speaking his/her mind on issues felt to be important to Judaism and/or the Jewish community. 

It is wrong to insult, to make negative ad hominem remarks about members of the clergy for speaking and/or doing as they think best (when couched in a responsible and well documented format) in the interest of individuals, the Jewish community, society at large.  It implies a kind of censorship, and it demotes rabbinical leadership to a level of a “rubber stamp” mentality, whereby a rabbi must have permission from the congregation or the community before committing to a point of view.

Denver has a very unique Jewish population: Our diversity of beliefs and practices demands an extraordinary sense of cooperation and respect from our leaders and lay people.  We all need to support one another’s right to express an opinion—so long as that right does not infringe upon another’s—whether we agree with that opinion or not.

Jewish tradition is steeped in argument and debate; dialogue and contradictions are fundamental to Judaic culture.    Talmud, rabbinical Judaism, is the cornerstone of our belief system.  Within that structure, discussions and disagreements abound.  There are not only dissenting opinions and commentaries, but whole schools of learning that differ with one another. 

If our teachers support Gay rights, then we have an obligation to examine why Jews who are in the minority have a responsibility to support Gays, who are also in the minority: If our teachers support a more aggressive Israeli effort against the Palestinians, then we have an obligation to our fellow Jews in Israel to consider more carefully, both sides of the coin.

But to attempt to admonish our religious leaders with attacks of character, merely because we have a personal disagreement with them, is inappropriate.  Individuals are entitled to disagree with each other.  They are also entitled to thoroughly dislike one another.  They are not, however, entitled to insult and demean, merely because of a difference in viewpoint, when that perspective is one of credible intellectual diversity.