Q&A: Discrimination Against the Righteous
Discrimination Against the Righteous
Question
As the gabbai, I have to make a lot of assignments: who will lead the morning service on the first day of Rosh Hashanah and who on the second day, and so on for all the prayers.
Who will give a talk before Ma’ariv on this day, and who will connect Rosh Hashanah with the Sabbath.
Who will blow the shofar, who will blow at the end of the service or in the afternoon for the women, who will read from the Torah, and who will be the prompter.
Organizing the kiddushes, planning the schedule, estimated time for the shofar blasts, estimated hakafot, Yizkor, Kol HaNe’arim, and so on.
In short, lots of assignments and honors that take a lot of time to find the right people for, making sure no one gets hurt, etc.
I discovered that I waste a huge amount of time on “righteous” people who don’t have WhatsApp. You have to catch them to talk, explain, agree on things, and then call again when there are changes (there always are), clarify details both on my end and theirs, remind them, and finalize everything. Even with people who do have WhatsApp it’s a challenge, but without it, it turns into hard work that sucks up time.
This year I decided that anyone who doesn’t have WhatsApp gets nothing, and that’s that. Everything closes much faster, shorter, and more to the point, and it’s also more flexible for changes.
The synagogue is not my private property, but my role as gabbai is completely voluntary.
Am I acting properly?
Answer
To tell the truth, people like that also really annoy me—those who filter the internet in an extreme way and don’t keep a smartphone—and I don’t make an effort to make things easier for them or be considerate of them. But in your case this is a matter of community policy. You can announce that this is your policy, and if they don’t want it, they should appoint another gabbai.
Discussion on Answer
There are people who confuse the definition of “righteous” with “fool.”
If you are the sole owner, do whatever you want. But if the congregation is the one that decides, then you need to coordinate it with them.
In our community they are a tiny tiny minority, apparently less than 10%.
And I founded the synagogue, which now has hundreds of worshippers,
so I wasn’t appointed—I built it and gathered the congregation.
True, the funding is from the community.
Do I still need to suggest to the congregation that they consider replacing me, because I’m sick of chasing people down and burying huge amounts of time for a few individuals?