[Avodah] Are we trying to grow?

[Zev Sero]

A factor on RYL's side in this discussion is that having a rabbi for 
each shul, and having him speak every Shabbos morning, or even on an 
occasional Shabbos morning, was not the Jewish tradition.  It's a very 
modern thing, partially influenced by Reform, which was in turn 
influenced by Lutheranism.

It used to be that a rav was employed by the *kehillah*, rather than by 
any specific shul.  Even a small kehillah would often have several 
shuls, and a large one would have many shuls, large and small.

And the rav would speak on Shabbos afternoons, not in the middle of 
shachris.   Indeed, while the original minhag, both in Eretz Yisrael and 
in Bavel, was to have the rav speak every Shabbos afternoon, and this 
was continued by at least some Sefardi communities (e.g. Bavel, hence we 
have Ben Ish Chai), in Ashkenaz the custom became that the rav only 
spoke twice a year, on Shabbos Teshuvah and Shabbos Hagadol, while for 
other Shabbosos the kehillah might either hire a maggid, or depend on 
itinerant maggidim.  In the latter case there would not be a drosha 
every shabbos, but only when a maggid happened to come by.

None of this means our current model is not an improvement; but it's 
something to bear in mind.


-- 
Zev Sero            Wishing everyone a healthy summer
zev at sero.name