The Importance of the Community Rabbi: Leading with Compassionate Halachah

The contemporary rabbi nowadays is influenced by the modern rabbinic establishments throughout the world, especially the rabbinate in Israel. This monopoly on opinions and interpretations of Talmudic texts prevents individual rabbis from creating their own independent positions out of fear of critique. The current structure gives a negative impression on the rabbinic establishment. The Good Rabbi tries to describe and delineate key requirements for a good rabbi, i.e., one who can give socially acceptable halachic solutions within the parameters of Orthodox thinking. In order to do this, Sperber points out the halachic techniques and mechanisms that may be used toward this goal. These are illustrated with stories from rabbinic literature and examples from the responsa literature.