Rabbi Pinḥas said in the name of Rabbi Hoshaya: “While the king was at his feast,” while the King of kings, the Holy One blessed be He, was at His feast, in the firmament—He arrived early, as it is stated: “It was on the third day when it was morning” (Exodus 19:16). [This is analogous] to a king who decreed: On such and such day I will enter the province. The residents of the province slept through the night and when the king arrived, he found them asleep. He positioned trumpets, horns, and a shofar, the governor of that province awakened them and brought them out to meet the king, and the king walked before them until he reached his palace. So too, the Holy One blessed be He arrived early, as it is stated: “It was on the third day when it was morning,” and it is written: “For on the third day, the Lord will descend before the eyes of the entire people” (Exodus 19:11). Israel slept through that entire night because sleep during [the season of] Shavuot is pleasant and the night is short. Rabbi Yudan said: Not even a flea stung them. The Holy One blessed be He came and found them asleep. He began positioning trumpets; that is what is written: “It was on the third day when it was morning, there was thunder and lightning” (Exodus 19:16), and Moses was awakening them and taking them out to meet the King of kings the Holy One blessed be He. That is what is written: “Moses took the people out of the camp toward God” (Exodus 19:17). The Holy One blessed be He was walking before them until He reached Mount Sinai, as it is written: “The entire Mount Sinai was smoking [because the Lord had descended]” (Exodus 19:18). Rabbi Yitzḥak said: This is why He taunted them through Isaiah, as it is stated: “Why have I come and there is no man, I called and there is no one to answer? Is My hand insufficient for redemption?” (Isaiah 50:2).
I’d like to ask you to imagine being at Har Sinai. You’ve been freed from Egypt; you’ve experienced the miracle of crossing the Sea; you’re walking through the hot desert in the midst of about two million people.
If you were at Har Sinai:
- Would you have fallen asleep, needing a wake-up call, or
- Would you have been wide awake waiting with great anticipation for the ecstatic experience?
From: https://healthybodyathome.com/differences-between-introvert-and-extrovert-personality-traits/
"Our personalities also shape our social styles. Extroverts are the people who will add life to your dinner party and laugh generously at your jokes. They tend to be assertive, “dominant, and in great need of company. Extroverts think out loud and on their feet; they prefer talking to listening, rarely find themselves at a loss for words, and occasionally blurt out things they never meant to say. They’re comfortable with conflict, but not with solitude."
https://rabbiedbernstein.files.wordpress.com/2022/03/the-roar-of-the-cat-rabbi.pdf
Introverts and Extroverts in Torah and Rabbinic Literature
(27) When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the outdoors; but Jacob was a mild man who stayed in camp.
ויגדלו הנערים, as soon as they grew up their activities diverged completely from one another, one concentrating on mundane activities, activities which showed immediate profitable results, the other concentrating on the acquisition of knowledge, wisdom, i.e. abstract matters. One was (an extrovert) at home in the fields, mountains, etc, whereas the other was (an introvert) יושב אהלים, dweller of tents.
(יב) הִלֵּל וְשַׁמַּאי קִבְּלוּ מֵהֶם. הִלֵּל אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי מִתַּלְמִידָיו שֶׁל אַהֲרֹן, אוֹהֵב שָׁלוֹם וְרוֹדֵף שָׁלוֹם, אוֹהֵב אֶת הַבְּרִיּוֹת וּמְקָרְבָן לַתּוֹרָה:
(12) Hillel and Shammai received [the oral tradition] from them. Hillel used to say: be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving mankind and drawing them close to the Torah.
(Rabbi Meir would say: What do we learn from “he pulled back many from sin”?) When Aaron was walking down the road, and he came upon a wicked person, he would wish him Shalom. The next day, when that man wanted to sin, he would say: Alas! How will I be able to look Aaron in the face; I will be so embarrassed when he wishes me Shalom. And so this man would stop himself from sinning.
Similarly, when two people were fighting with one another, Aaron would go and sit next to one of them and say: My son, look at the anguish your friend is going through! His heart is ripped apart and he is tearing at his clothes. He is saying, How can I face my old friend? I am so ashamed, I betrayed his trust. Aaron would sit with him until his rage subsided. Then Aaron would go to the other person in the fight and say: My son, look at the anguish your friend is going through! His heart is ripped apart and he is tearing at his clothes. He is saying, How can I face my old friend? I am so ashamed, I betrayed his trust. Aaron would sit with him until his rage subsided. When the two people saw each other, they would embrace and kiss one another. And that is why it says (Numbers 20:20), “And the entire House of Israel wept for Aaron for thirty days” [after his death].
Extroverts and Introverts in the Talmud
Another time a non-Jew came before Shammai and said, "I will convert if you can teach me the entire Torah while I stand on one foot." Shammai pushed the non-Jews aside with the ruler that was in his hand. The non-Jew came before Hillel and Hillel converted him saying, "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor, that is the entire Torah, the rest is just commentary, now go and study."
(טו) שַׁמַּאי אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה תוֹרָתְךָ קֶבַע. אֱמֹר מְעַט וַעֲשֵׂה הַרְבֵּה, וֶהֱוֵי מְקַבֵּל אֶת כָּל הָאָדָם בְּסֵבֶר פָּנִים יָפוֹת:
(15) Shammai used to say: make your [study of the] Torah a fixed practice; speak little, but do much; and receive everyone with a pleasant countenance.
(יז) שִׁמְעוֹן בְּנוֹ אוֹמֵר, כָּל יָמַי גָּדַלְתִּי בֵין הַחֲכָמִים, וְלֹא מָצָאתִי לַגּוּף טוֹב אֶלָּא שְׁתִיקָה. וְלֹא הַמִּדְרָשׁ הוּא הָעִקָּר, אֶלָּא הַמַּעֲשֶׂה. וְכָל הַמַּרְבֶּה דְבָרִים, מֵבִיא חֵטְא:
(17) Shimon, (Rabban Gamliel I's) son, used to say: all my days I grew up among the sages, and I have found nothing better for a person than silence. Study is not the most important thing, but actions; whoever indulges in too many words brings about sin.
עצרת הוא. עָצַרְתִּי אֶתְכֶם אֶצְלִי; כְּמֶלֶךְ שֶׁזִּמֵּן אֶת בָּנָיו לִסְעוּדָה לְכָךְ וְכָךְ יָמִים, כֵּיוָן שֶׁהִגִּיעַ זְמַנָּן לִפָּטֵר, אָמַר, בָּנַי בְּבַקָּשָׁה מִכֶּם עַכְּבוּ עִמִּי עוֹד יוֹם אֶחָד, קָשָׁה עָלַי פְּרֵדַתְכֶם:
The congregational rabbinate is designed for dog rabbis. A good rabbi must behave like a dog, loving everyone, greeting each person with enthusiasm, rounding everyone up and metaphorically wagging his tail. Right or wrong, this is ultimately what congregants want: a rabbi must be friendly and public-spirited, he cannot be a solitary recluse. (Rabbi Dan Cohn-Sherbok, “Dog Rabbis and Cat Rabbis,” CCAR Journal, 42:1 (Winter-Spring, 1995) 21-23.)
Rabbi Brad Artson: "To be a good rabbi, you must love and identify with your congregants. No gift of eloquence, administrative skills or bedside manner can compensate people when they sense a rabbi’s disdain, distance, disinterest. When you love your congregants unconditionally you feel their pain. When you go to someone’s home who suffered a loss, and you have to be there for them and to help make a Shiva minyan, you cry when you see them crying. When you stand by their hospital bed, it can be wrenching. When you hear their family troubles, your heart can break."
Rabbi Bradley. Shavit Artson, “My Life As a Dog Rabbi,” Jewish Spectator , Spring, 1998, p 13.
Rabbi Edward Bernstein:
I agree with Artson completely. The rabbi must be both authentic and present for the congregation. However, both extroverted and introverted rabbis must relate to congregants in the way that Artson describes. Authentic relationships are not the exclusive domain of extroverted dog rabbis. These qualities are equally achievable by extroverts and introverts. They may even come more naturally to many introverts.
Keeping Faith in Rabbis: A Community Conversation on Rabbinical Education (Kindle Locations 2710-2713). Kindle Edition.
From: Susan Cain, “Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a world that Can’t Stop Talking
https://books.apple.com/us/book/quiet/id422523392
This material may be protected by copyright.
Lockdown was supposed to be an introvert’s paradise. It’s not.
Calendars cleared by coronavirus are filling up with virtual happy hours, and some people are starting to feel exhausted.
by
April 2, 2020
BY ASAF SHALEV JANUARY 31, 2022
https://www.jta.org/2022/01/31/culture/the-great-resignation-is-fueling-a-rabbinic-hiring-crisis-that-could-leave-synagogues-without-leaders
In early December, Judaism’s Conservative movement sent a disquieting message to dozens of synagogues looking for a new rabbi: Many of you won’t make a hire this year.
At least 80 Conservative synagogues anticipated rabbi vacancies — approximately one of every seven affiliated with the movement, the email said. At most, 50 to 60 rabbis would be looking for new jobs.
Sztokman, Elana. When Rabbis Abuse: Power, Gender, and Status in the Dynamics of Sexual Abuse in Jewish Culture (p. 490). Lioness Books . Kindle Edition.
Sztokman, Elana. When Rabbis Abuse: Power, Gender, and Status in the Dynamics of Sexual Abuse in Jewish Culture (p. 483). Lioness Books . Kindle Edition.