(courtesy of: COMPACT, a publication of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism)
(This is a tongue-in-cheek list, of course, of what we expect from our spiritual leaders, teachers, role models of Jewish living, decisers of Jewish Law, inspirational community organizers, passionate Zionists, friends, confidants, mediators of Jewish ideas, celebrants of life-cycle events – and more.)
• To be more spiritual and at the same time to be more of a businessman
• To put in an honest day's work and at the same time, be available and on call twenty four hours a day
• To attend each and every social function and to find time for scholarship, research and reading of books
• To share everyone's troubles in private, and in public to exude optimism and cheer
• To tell everyone else what to do, but certainly never the person who wants you to tell everyone else what to do
• To have compassion for all men, but not to possess those weaknesses which endow you with compassion for and understanding of your fellow human beings
• To inspire the congregation to action, but never at the expense of discomfort or sacrifice
• To know everyone's name, although they come only a couple of times each year to hear your address
• To have the courage of convictions and the diplomacy and the tact not to utter them
• To relate well to young people, to be under thirty years old, with at least twenty years experience, to be deeply religious in an unobtrusive way
• To be an effective leader, but let laymen run the congregation
• To be eloquent, yet excel as a listener, to be a natural mixer, a "regular fellow," but also refined, spiritual and dignified.
Rabbis perpetuate Jewish life and are to be respected, admired, appreciated and loved too!