WHAT DO RETIRED RABBIS DO?

Rabbi Rifat Sonsino, Ph.D.

In the States, many Rabbis retire at the age of 65 in search of other adventures. However, they do not give up their title. They remain “Rabbis” for the rest of their life.

In July of 2001, after 35 years on the pulpit, I, too, at the age of 65, retired from Temple Beth Shalom, Needham, MA. , a medium size congregation of about 600+ families (now, we are close to 1000 families), and became its first Rabbi Emeritus. I simply needed a change of venue in my life. I have a wonderful relationship with the leadership of my temple and my successors, and they include me in major functions of the synagogue.

As I survey what my retired colleagues are doing with their lives now, I find that some have totally withdrawn from congregational work, whereas others have assumed part-time positions in smaller temples, or have taken jobs unrelated to their training. Some take it easy and spend their time traveling around the world. Many take classes at local universities, and others, like me, become part-time professors at a local college. I first taught at Boston College, and, for the last 5 years, I have been teaching Ethics at Framingham State University, closer to my new home, and I love it. I do it, not necessarily for the remuneration, which is small, but for the love of interacting with the faculty and my students. For fun, I go to the gym every morning at the Willows, in Westborough, where I live; I publish a blog (SONSINO’S BLOG, rsonsino.blogspot.com) with more than 475,000 viewers around the world; I work on my family tree, spend time with our grandchildren, and travel with my wife. Not bad for an 81 year old guy! I am blessed.

I have also chosen to remain with my study group, the Hevrah, which has been meeting on a regular basis for more than 30 years. Even when I was a congregational Rabbi, I used to join others at the house of one of our colleagues every Monday morning to study rabbinic texts for a couple of hours. Then, we moved the location to my synagogue in Needham, MA, and have been meeting there ever since. 

A rabbinic text (Avot d’Rabbi Natan, ch.4) tells us that, just before the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem in the year 70 CE by the Romans, Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai obtained permission from the Romans to set up a new religious and cultural center in the city of Yavneh, in the central district of Israel. There the sages assembled in order to set the foundations of rabbinic Judaism that still guide us today. They believed that, with no temple, biblical Judaism had run its course, and they needed a community of scholars, for their own growth as well as for the sake of preserving biblical teachings for the future, this time in a new setting. Together, they adapted traditional Jewish teachings to the new conditions of their time. Thus, they edited the Mishnah, the Talmud and other texts. Later on, in Spain, they developed medieval Jewish philosophy; in many parts of Europe, they forged new religious and literary paths within Judaism. In the modern world, the effort continues in various centers of Jewish studies, where scholars debate the issues of today. 

As a retired Rabbi, I, too, need a community of my peers to keep my mind active, to exchange ideas, to study new texts, and to learn from one another. In one rabbinic text, we are told that Rabbi Eleazar ben Arakh (1 cent. CE) withdrew from the community of his fellow sages, and, consequently “he forgot his knowledge of the Torah” (Eccl. Rabba, 7:7, No.2). I don’t want to do that. 

Right now, in our Hevrah meetings, about 8-10 of us, all retired Rabbis from the greater Boston area, are going through a difficult text called Shir Hashirim Rabba, an aggadic Midrash of the 10^th cent. CE (Palestinian), which attempts to reinterpret the Song of Songs. In our discussions, we try to find its relevance for today. For me attending these sessions is a top priority. I am glad I can continue to be part of this energizing and stimulating group.

Dec. 2019