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THE PROFESSIONALIZATION OF THE RABBINATE in the Talmud and the Halakhic Commentaries of Rambam and Karo

Richard Rheins

Te modern rabbinate, with its array of professional organizations, pension plans, tenured positions and complex contracts, hardly seems concerned with the halakhic justification for rabbinic salaries and financial compensation. And yet, the question of whether the office of rabbi should be an unpaid position or one entitled to financial emoluments was once the center of a passionate halakhic debate. By reviewing halakhic evidence for the “professionalization” of the rabbinate, we can gain both a greater understanding for the foundations of the modern rabbinate, as well as an appreciation for the courage and insight of our sages as they employed halakhic principles in order to span the gap between an ethical ideal and a moral responsibility.

It is popularly held that the office of rabbi originally was strictly an honorary position and that rabbis did not receive salaries prior to the fourteenth century.! If it is true that, as Ephraim Urbach states:‘The acceptance of remuneration from the public was forbidden,” then how did the later rabbis justify their salaries and fees? What is the halakhic foundation of the professional rabbinate?

In order to understand the key halakhic issues that affected the development of the professional rabbinate, we will first examine several Talmudic passages which address the question of awarding financial compensation and benefits to the earliest sages and rabbis.® Second, we will turn to the twelfth century comments of one of the last great authorities who opposed rabbinic salaries, Moses Maimonides (Rambam ). His remarks, quoted at length, effectively sharpen the focus of the halakhic debate. Finally, we