Rabbinate, Security for

Resolution Adopted by the CCAR

RABBINATE, SECURITY FOR

Digests of resolutions adopted by the

Central Conference of American Rabbis

between 1889 and 1974

1. Within recent years we have been facing a steady deterioration of the

position

of the rabbinate. The demands upon individual rabbis have grown enormously,

calling

for the highest competence in a great number of areas, while at the same time

there

has been neither commensurate professional advancement nor security. Rather,

in certain

instances, lack of concern for the well-being of the rabbi and for the dignity

of

his sacred calling have served to denigrate the entire profession.

The Central Conference has long been aware of the total situation. The

adoption of

the pension and placement plans has attempted to protect the profession

against some

of the more glaring inequities, and over the years various CCAR committees

have tried

to grapple with other phases of the problem, including that of rabbinical

ethics. In

effect, the Conference has accepted the principle that whatever works to the

disadvantage

of the individual rabbi affects the status of the profession as a whole and

vice

versa, and it has thereby agreed that collective action is essential here.

Operating upon these very assumptions, we believe that there is much more that

the

Conference must do to improve the dignity and morale of the individual rabbi

as well

as that of the profession as a whole. To this end we maintain that the

Conference

must involve itself more aggressively in the solution of some of the following

persistent

problems that work to the disadvantage of our sacred calling:

Rabbinical security, including such matters as annual elections, life

tenure, and

the like.

Rabbinical representation, involving the local rabbinate in key decisions

of the

Jewish community, including the allocation of funds raised by the community,

and

similar matters.

Professional advancement, seeking to develop more realistic answers to

current inequities

in the rabbinate in which advancement remains limited.

Financial protection for the rabbi, including a more adequate pension in

view of

continuing inflation, protection against disability, aiding the rabbi to carry

the

growing costs of college education for his children, support for the

emotionally

ill rabbi, etc.

Congregational structure, in which the tenure of the rabbis is not

determined by

either the board or a special committee, but by the membership as a whole; and

the

authority of the rabbi vis-a-vis all other synagogue professionals.

Rabbinical ethics, including relations among colleagues and between

rabbis and congregations,

the moral conduct of rabbis, etc.

Adequate job placement for older colleagues, particularly men in their

late forties

and early fifties.

Professional growth, in which sabbaticals, summer refreshers, graduate

study and

other educational opportunities are provided.

Upgrading of the rabbinate in non-congregational work, such as the

chaplaincy, Hillel

foundations, organizations, teaching posts, etc.

Congregational conduct, involving standards of congregational ethics that

must be

maintained in order to receive rabbinical placement.

Primary responsibility here belongs to the Conference, and it is within the

Conference

that genuine and united concern must be evident if real results are ultimately

to

be achieved.

To this end, we call upon the Program Committee to devote sufficient time at

the CCAR

Convention of 1967 to a full discussion of the situation in the Reform

rabbinate

today, looking toward the adoption of all measures necessary to improve

conditions

in the profession, including, if called for, the creation of a special office

of the Conference

devoted exclusively to this purpose. (1966, pp. 100-102)