Rabbi Adlerstein is not the first Haredi blogger to pontificate on the downfall of the rabbinate based on this argument. One needs only to think seriously about this argument to realize its intrinsic flaws and shortcomings. There are people who have devoted their lives to talmud Torah and the institutional framework of kollel. Then there are people who have devoted their lives to the institutional framework of the congregation and serving the community. Both are pursuing paths of avodat kodesh. To argue that a rabbinical school that devotes time to training their future communal rabbis in how to be compassionate counselors, effective communicators and trained administrators is in someway forming a mediocre rabbi is ludicrous. That is not to say that many rabbis who did not receive this training do not function as wonderful congregational rabbis - it only means that their rabbinical school essentially hopes they are natural prodigies in counseling, communication and administration (among many other areas) instead of providing the actual education. We do not place our bet on the prodigy factor in any other profession and we should not make that bet on a profession that serves for many people as the front line responders to a whole array of life challenges and difficulties.
So yes, Rabbi Adlerstein, let us not institutionalize a mediocre congregational rabbinate. Let us continue to support institutions such as RIETS and YCT that believe a Modern Orthodox congregational rabbi today needs to be able to counsel a couple; work with a suicidal teenager; recognize eating disorders before its too late; balance budgets and understand P&L reports; communicate in a language that can reach and inspire the Jews of today and so many other dimensions that it would take pages and pages just to list them.
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