Q&A: Inheritance of a Rabbinic Position
Inheritance of a Rabbinic Position
Question
With God’s help,
The Rema in Yoreh De’ah, siman 245, se’if 22, wrote:
“One who has been established as the rabbi in a city—even if he himself has held some position of authority—he should not be removed from his greatness, even if another comes there who is greater than him (Rivash, responsum 271). Even his son and his grandson forever take precedence over others, so long as they fill their fathers’ place in fear of Heaven and are somewhat learned (Maimonides, chapter 1 of Laws of Kings).”
And Maimonides’ words are in chapter 1 of Laws of Kings, halakhah 7:
“And not kingship alone, but all positions of authority and all appointments in Israel are inherited by his son and his grandson forever, provided that the son fills his fathers’ place in wisdom and in fear of Heaven.
If he fills their place in fear of Heaven, even though he does not fill their place in wisdom, he is established in his father’s place and they teach him.”
My question is: what is the meaning of the Rema’s words, “and are somewhat learned”? Does that refer to intellectual ability, so that “they teach him” can apply to him? Or to knowledge of Jewish law? And if so, what degree of knowledge? Can the son of a rabbi, who throughout his adult life never opened the Tur and Shulchan Arukh, inherit his father?
As long as the questions remain on the theoretical level (the plain meaning of the text), it’s easier to ignore common sense. I also want to focus on a specific case that I know and try to examine the Rema’s words in relation to it:
In a certain community, where they follow the rule of inheriting a rabbinic post, there is a Torah scholar rabbi who is accepted by the public. In recent years the rabbi has grown old and become very weak, and preparations have begun for inheriting his position. It was proposed to install his son in his place, and they have already begun to advance this through various efforts. The problem is that this son is not a Torah scholar, and certainly does not belong in the realm of halakhic ruling, beyond reading abridged manuals and issuing rulings from them. In yeshiva he did not stand out as a serious learner, and the rest of his adult life he has spent as a teacher in a cheder. He has never written a halakhic responsum and is not capable of doing so, on the level of sheer skill.
Moreover, by his own account, he understood already years ago that he was the natural candidate to inherit his father, and so he hoped for it. But through all those years he was never seen opening the Tur and Shulchan Arukh or attending relevant professional training (for example, in the area of fertility). He did not lift a finger to improve his halakhic knowledge—beyond what an ordinary God-fearing layman does—and prepare himself for the role.
Recently he even began issuing rulings. Someone came to him with a certain question in the field of fertility. He was unfamiliar with the medical procedure, the equipment, and really everything involved, and none of that prevented him from trying to improvise an on-the-spot ruling without serious clarification of the practical aspects—from experts, not from the patient’s report.
Do the Rema’s words apply here too?
I am also trying to think about how likely it is that a person approaching age 60, who is trying to position himself as a leader and as qualified, will bow his head and make himself into a student.
I would be glad to hear your thoughts.
Answer
First of all, it is obvious that someone who cannot issue rulings cannot be the rabbi of a community or a place. Leave aside the Rema, the Rivash, and the other halakhic decisors. The discussion is unnecessary. Just as someone who cannot be a shoemaker would not be appointed the town shoemaker. A rabbinate is not a right but a job. He is paid in order to do work, and if he does not know how to do it, he should neither be paid nor appointed. I find it astonishing that this even needs to be said.
Second, this whole matter of inheriting positions of authority is an invention. It is an unwarranted extension of the law of a king. In any case, many halakhic decisors already wrote that this was not said about a yeshiva headship or a rabbinate, which require skill and suitability (the Hatam Sofer and others). And since all the decisors’ words on this are basically an invention, there is no point in discussing their exact intention. The person in question is unfit for appointment and should not be appointed. That’s all.
And in the Rema’s words, if you look carefully, you will see that he is not speaking about inheriting the rabbinate itself, but about inheriting an additional authority that the rabbi has (to perform kiddushin or to teach students). He is speaking there about a city rabbi who held some position of authority. His intention is only to speak about inheriting that authority to his son, not about the rabbinate itself. Therefore he wrote that in order to pass on the authority, it is enough that the son fill his fathers’ place in fear of Heaven (since any position of authority requires fear of Heaven) and be somewhat learned (so that he understands what he is doing and how to do it). But that is not enough to inherit the rabbinate itself. There he must be a great scholar and fit to issue rulings, and that is obvious.
Thank you very much