Posted By James Besser
Longevity in a Taxing Profession / Rabbi Gerald C. Skolnik
The Jewish Theological Seminary awards Doctor of Divinity degrees honoris causa ro Rabbinical Assembly members who have been "in the field" for at least twenty-five years, and I, among others, was privileged to be awarded such a degree yesterday.
Among my colleagues, the joke was that the DD stands for "didn't die," and we were being recognized for our longevity in a notoriously taxing profession. Like others, I'm sure, I was prepared to be underwhelmed by the event. But, I am obliged to admit, I found it extraordinarily touching.
As I move well into my twenty-seventh year in the pulpit, I find that one of the not-so-wonderful long-term effects of my work is that it's gotten progressively harder for me to feel appreciated and understood.
Don't get me wrong. I am blessed with congregants and friends who are wonderfully reinforcing and supportive. In no way do I lack for people who say the most wonderful things to me about my work.
But after so long in the rabbinate, I find that, while criticism still stings, praise all too easily rolls off my back. That which I and most rabbis tend to crave the most- a deeper understanding of the nature of our work, and what it takes to be the strong one for so many who are hurting- is the most elusive. It's taken me a long time to reach this insight about myself and my work, and it's not something I'm particularly happy about.
A friend and colleague who spoke yesterday representing all of us somehow managed to penetrate that inner core of need, most probably because he feels it too, as do all of us who are long-term rabbis. He spoke of what it means to be the person to whom everyone turns in their worst moments, to be on 24/7, to live constantly with the knowledge that, particularly in this age of cellphones and dataphones, you're never really away or "off," no matter where you are.
I listened to him express his appreciation for the honor bestowed by the Seminary on all of us, and I realized- I felt truly honored in a way that only a colleague who "gets it" could make me feel. And I have to say that it felt awfully good…
Rabbi Skolnik on the Occasion of his latest Honor
12/19/07 @ 05:19 PM | Posted By Andrea Novotny For 18 months I have been privileged to be a member of Rabbi Skolnik's Forest Hills Jewish Center congregation, as well as a student in the Talmud class he conducts here. I have participated in his Hebrew poetry series, and have heard him sing and play guitar and chant Torah to our greater ecumenical community. He is the prototypical "Renaissance Rabbi". I have the good fortune to daven with Rabbi Skolnik almost daily in our morning minyan. He has brought me into the Conservative fold, and has taught me much about being a Jew, a Jewish woman, and a mensch. It will take a little practice to get my mouth around the words, "Rabbi Doctor Gerald C. Skolnik", but I think I'll manage.