RICHARD RHEINS

halakhah is according to the words of our Rabbi [Rambam ] in his commentary to the Mishnah, then it is still possible to agree with all the sages of the generations[by recognizing that the sages simply followed the principle of]:‘It is time to act for the Lord: they have made void Your Torah ;"® i.e., current necessity knows no law. In other words, if there had not been support for those who study and teach, then no one would have been able to endure the hardship of Torah[study] as it is deserving[to be studied]. And the Torah would have been forgotten, God forbid!

In his concluding comments, Joseph Karo made three important points. First, Karo implied that Rambam 's opposition to rabbinic salaries was restricted to those defined in his commentaries. Was Karo insinuating that Rambam did not actively oppose rabbinical salaries in“the real world?” Was he suggesting that the Mishneh Torah was merely a theoretical work which only reflected Rambam 's ideal? Perhaps. In his second point, Karo noted that, at the very least, the halakhah concerning the propriety of rabbinic salaries is unclear(rofefet beyadekha). When an issue is unclear, we follow popular custom(minhag), and the Talmudically documented custom was to support rabbis with financial compensation, benefits and salaries. Karo 's third important point concluded that even if Rambam 's ideal was halakhically correct(i.e., that rabbis should not be supported by communal salaries), the Jewish community could not survive the consequences of such a strict interpretation. Because the survival of the Jewish people was threatened, the sages had the right to violate even a Toraitic law in order to protect the integrity of Judaism and*build a fence around the whole Torah. ”®

The driving force behind Karo 's entire argument, was that full-time professional rabbis were essential if Judaism was to continue to overcome the incessant challenges to its survival. It was quite apparent, even to the Talmudic sages, that it was incumbent upon the Jewish community to support the rabbinate.

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