A Rabbi Walks Into a Bar…

By Joe Roberts
University of Maryland

Picture this: a rabbi, wearing an undershirt and carrying a guitar covered with Grateful Dead stickers, walks into camp. Or this: I’m sitting with my friends, when in walks a rabbi carrying a huge orange flag. Or this: There’s these two rabbis arguing by a tree. One thinks that the Yankees will win the World Series, the other is pulling for the Cubs.

This could be a jumbled series of really funny jokes. However, it’s the reality of my Jewish educational experiences with rabbis. This doesn’t mean that my Jewish education is a joke, though. It simply is a statement from lil ol’ me on what I picture when someone says "picture your favorite rabbi." Say what you will, some rabbis are really down to earth people. And that’s what this spark of Joe is about, what rabbis (in my opinion) should be. Down to earth, really cool teachin’ Jewish dudes.

Don’t get me wrong -- there is a place for boring- but-mega smart and studious rabbis. But in the world of Jewish education, these rabbis should be for reference only. Not the rabbi you glance over, check out from the library and take home with you. I truly believe that a rabbi who expresses him/herself within her/his Jewish identity is required within a Jewish educational setting. A person who only spits out quotes from a book of Jewish theology is not needed. We have the book. What we need is a person. A personality. A human being living as a Jew in the real world. Most of the students in our Jewish educational institutions are looking for how Judaism can fit into their lives. A person who has created a life for themselves with Judaism woven through that life will be able to reach out and connect to those students. A person who has handed their life to the Jewish theology machine and only studies or preaches or davens all day will be, at best, a far off option that some students might consider while enjoying a meal at Waffle House.

Those rabbis who have really been able to connect to students looking for true life guidance (not to be confused with ‘which candle do you light first on the 3^rd week of the 5^th month when the moon isn’t full but the dog is constipated’ guidance) have been rabbis who live in the real world. They know and recognize everything that is out there. They are the rabbis who you can ask "should I say hamotzi over a bacon-cheeseburger?" without worrying about getting the response "it doesn’t matter because that is treif (unkosher)" They are the rabbis who might say things like "well, here’s what Judaism says, here’s what I think, and here’s how I reconcile the two." After all, those who are already committed to a halakhic life aren’t always asking these questions and won’t need a rabbi of this type. They might be satisfied by going to the reference rabbi. But those with a life that isn’t there yet, trying to work in a bit of Judaism, will continue to need a rabbi that can also be a gesher mikodesh l’khol (bridge between what’s holy and everything else). So when you see that rabbi walk into a bar, don’t ask "Hey, is this some kind of joke?" Instead, ask for a shot of whatever the rabbi is having, then ask why he’s having it.

[Posted 8/4/05]