[Avodah] Firing a Rabbi

[Richard Wolberg]

> Halacha says that you cannot fire a rabbi.
> Can you please be more specific?
I was quoting R' Micha who emailed me and stated that specifically it is a halacha.
I was not aware of any such halacha, so perhaps R' Micha could be more specific.
Frankly, if it is a halacha, I would consider it a chok.

> There is a very important distinction which needs to be made.
> Firing a rabbi implies terminating a contract prior to its conclusion.
> Agreed.  What if the rabbi is incompetent or is in some other way affecting
the way the shul/community is run negatively.
I'm not the one to ask that question, as I did not know it was a halacha to begin with.
Common sense tells me one thing, but since the halacha does not make
sense to me in the context of the culture and times in which we live, I cannot 
give you an answer. I can tell you though, that I am the Chairman of the Ethics
Committee of the Cantors Assembly and there have been some cases of incompetence
and worse, where the hazzan was either fired or did not have his contract renewed.
> 
Who says that we can make a contract with a Rabbi? Doesn't that defeat the
purpose of the Rabbi if he is constantly worried about how different
congregants(sp?) are going to view his positions?  Where is the original
source of the modern professional rabbinate?  ie- Why
It appears that you are not facing the reality of the 21st century. There is no halacha
that says we cannot make a contract with a rabbi, cantor, educational director, etc.
In today's world most religious leaders have contracts, at least in the beginning. And
the very purpose of the contract is to protect both parties. If a rabbi or other leader is competent
then it is less likely he has to worry about renewal. However, if the rabbi is "incompetent", which
is the very word you used above for your argument regarding halacha, then the contract becomes
very useful, so that the baal habatim are not cornered in to have to keep the rabbi for the rest of his
life. 
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