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."
"The Roar of the Cat Rabbi: The Vital Role of Introverts in the Congregational Rabbinate"
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:
I tried and tried and tried--yet over and over again I failed to satisfy the demands of my congregation. I fell into every trap. I just couldn't be the friendly, enthusiastic, sympathetic, and attentive pastor that my congregation wanted...
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.
“Take the partnership of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr.: a formidable orator refusing to give up his seat on a segregated bus wouldn’t have had the same effect as a modest woman who’d clearly prefer to keep silent but for the exigencies of the situation. And Parks didn’t have the stuff to thrill a crowd if she’d tried to stand up and announce that she had a dream. But with King’s help, she didn’t have to.”
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
The Great Resignation is fueling a rabbinic hiring crisis
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.
According to the research, one of the items that distinguishes Jewish clergy from other religious leaders is how Jewish culture defines “charisma”. Jewish culture across denominations places rabbis on a pedestal for their abilities to hold a crowd and wow audiences. Whether this means skill in giving a sermon, singing a moving prayer, articulating uplifting words, playing the guitar, or comforting and inspiring people, rabbis are often venerated for their charisma on stage and in private. A rabbi who is adept at finding the words people want to hear is revered, idolized, and protected across denominations. It’s a starstruck combination of entertaining performance, scholar, and inspiring, feel-good camp leader. Jewish notions of charisma are not, by contrast, like evangelical preacher who speaks loudly and with great animation and elicits many “amen”s. They are also not monotonous, distant, choral leaders who build on fire and brimstone. The Jewish version of “charisma” is funny, personable, flirtatious, musical, sincere, personally engaging, intelligent, handsome, inspiring, and caring. The Jewish leader knows how to get their own audience gently nodding and feeling good, whether with words of comfort, a guitar, or a good joke. It’s a form of religious cultural performance. And when done well, it gains ardent supporters and loyalists.
Sztokman, Elana. When Rabbis Abuse: Power, Gender, and Status in the Dynamics of Sexual Abuse in Jewish Culture (p. 490). Lioness Books . Kindle Edition.
● Clearly the community is losing invaluable talent. For many victims, loss of community and loss of profession are devastating. But it is also a big loss for communal institutions that lost talent—often unappreciated talent, as well as members and connections. There is a lot of discussion among community talking heads about Jewish engagement and retention. And yet, this issue of losing members because of abuse is not discussed anywhere.
Sztokman, Elana. When Rabbis Abuse: Power, Gender, and Status in the Dynamics of Sexual Abuse in Jewish Culture (p. 483). Lioness Books . Kindle Edition.