The Rabbi’s Role in Judaism

May 15th, 2007 | Category: Judaism Guide

As rabbi, I serve two basic roles in this process. On the one hand, I am the representative of the Jewish community. I have the responsibility to ensure that any individual who joins our community embraces a quality of commitment, a set of values and an attitude towards Judaism that benefit the Jewish people.

On the other hand, I hope to serve as teacher, counselor and spiritual companion on the individual’s journey towards Jewish identification. At first

glance, these two roles might appear to be in conflict. But it has been my experience that if I fulfill both roles well, on those occasions when a prospective Jew does NOT become Jewish, the decision usually grows from a shared recognition that conversion would not be the right choice for that person at that time.