Rabbinic inheritance
B.H.
The Rema in Yoreh Deah, section 22, wrote:
Whoever was held as a rabbi in a city, even if he himself held some authority, should not be reduced in his greatness, even if another greater than him comes there (Rivash, siman ra’a). Even his son and his son’s son are forever superior to others as long as they fill the place of their fathers in reverence and are somewhat wise (Rambam, 51, Mahallochot Melachim).
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And the words of Maimonides are in Chapter 1 of the Laws of Kings, Halacha 7.
And not only the kingdom, but all the dominions and all the appointments in Israel are an inheritance for his son and his son’s son forever, and it is that the son will take the place of his fathers in wisdom and fear.
He would act with reverence, even though he did not act with wisdom, and they would put him in his father’s place and teach him.
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My question is, what is the meaning of the words of the Rema and they are a little wise? Is it for intellectual competence (so that ‘and they teach him’ applies)? Or for halakhic knowledge? And if so, what is the level of knowledge? Can the son of a rabbi who has not opened a Tosh’ah in his entire adult life inherit his father?
As long as the questions are at the theoretical level (simplified in the text) it is easier to neglect common sense. I would also like to focus on a specific case that I know of and try to examine the Rema’s words in relation to them:
In a certain community where the law of succession to the rabbinate is practiced, there is a rabbi who is widely accepted by the public. In recent years, the rabbi has grown very old and weak, and preparations have begun to succeed him to his position. It has been proposed that his son be appointed in his place, and all sorts of actions have already been taken to promote this. However, it is clear that this son is not a rabbi and certainly does not belong to the jurisprudence (beyond reading and teaching from abridged books). In the yeshiva, he did not stand out as a scholar, and he spent the rest of his adult life as a teacher in Haidar. He has never written a halakhic reply and is not capable of doing so (at the level of proficiency).
Moreover, according to him, he had understood for years that he was the natural candidate to succeed his father and therefore hoped. But in all these years, he was never observed opening a Tosh’a or going for appropriate training (for example, in the field of fertility). He did not lift a finger to improve his halakhic knowledge (beyond what Albus Yar’sh does) and prepare himself for the position.
Recently, he even began to father children. An unknown person approached him with a specific question in the field of fertility. He was not familiar with the medical procedure, the equipment, or anything else, and none of this prevented him from trying to make a hasty decision on a website without in-depth investigation of the real aspects (from experts and not from the patient’s report).
Do the words of the Rema apply here as well?
I’m also trying to think about what the chances are that a person approaching 60 years of age and trying to position himself as a leader and as competent will bow his head and make himself a student.
I would love to hear from you.
First of all, it is clear that someone who cannot instruct cannot be the rabbi of a congregation or place. Del is referring to the Rema and the Rivash and other poskim. The discussion is unnecessary. Just as someone who cannot be a shoemaker will not be appointed a shoemaker in the proper sense. Rabbinate is not a privilege but a position. He is paid to do a job, and if he does not know how to do it, he should not be paid or appointed. It is a wonder to me that such a thing even needs to be said.
Second, the whole issue of succession in authority is an invention. It is an uncommitted extension of the law of a king. In any case, many poskim have already written that this is not stated regarding the headship of a yeshiva and rabbinate, which require skill and suitability (Chats and others). And since all the poskim’s statements on this matter are an empty invention, there is no point in discussing their intent. The above is not worthy of appointment and should not be appointed. That’s all.
And in the words of the Rema, if you look closely, you will see that he is not talking about the inheritance of the rabbinate itself, but about the inheritance of additional power that a rabbi has (to sanctify or teach students). He is talking there about a rabbi of a city who held some power. His intention is to speak only about the inheritance of power to his son, and not about the rabbinate itself. Therefore, he wrote that in order to inherit the power, it is sufficient for the son to fill the place of his fathers in fear (because every power requires fear) and be somewhat wise (to understand what he is doing and how to do it). But this is not enough to inherit the rabbinate itself. There, one must be a great sage and worthy of teaching, and it is simple.
Thank you very much.
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