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A:
Bobby Shalom!
In
a practical way Smicha is what you can get away with and I will explain.
If a Yeshiva student wishes to be a congregational Rabbi he will be asked
for his papers. If he has my name on his Smicha it will not help him get the
job. Congregations are careful to take students who have more official Smichos.
[Official Smichos are from official organizations
such as Yeshiva University or the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. Very
close to this kind of Smicha are the ones given by the more famous Rabbis
such as Rav Moshe Feinstein zz"l]
There are some Rabbis who have many requests to give Smicha to others. They
most often give tests. Some of them give oral and some written tests. Even
the ones with written exams sometimes allow you to do them at home. Any way
it is done the idea is that Rabbi has a standard and his signature on a
Smicha means that the holder of the Smicha has reached that standard.]
I once had a friend who worked in a bank and learned with me every evening
the material for Smicha. In the end he took a test by a Rabbi and passed
and got Smicha. He had two reasons to do this: (1) his bank recognized the
Smicha as a kind of higher education and raised his pay level slightly and
(2) in his synagogue there was no official Rabbinical authority but instead
somebody who learned a long time ago in Yeshiva was giving "psak". The Smicha he received was enough to make
his word at least equal to the other guy's.
In the past 15 years the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has succeeded well in defining what is
called Smicha. They give a battery of tests. Depending on which ones you
pass you can become a dayan in a Rabbinical court
or a Rabbi in a city or in a small town or in a neighborhood. Before taking
these tests you must have studied in recognized institutions for certain
numbers of years as well as recommendations from the heads of those
institutions.
One
of the institutions that has a program for
Ordination (Smicha) is the Diaspora
Yeshiva. The program is also recognized for the credits it gives at the
end of the course.
If
you have a specific request for a congregation Rabbi I recommend being very
careful before closing the deal with someone without maximum credentials
and recommendations. Don't be sorry later; be smart now. There are enough
stories around about bad Rabbis that you shouldn't feel rushed before a
decision is made.
There is a closely related Smicha you might not know about. Those who write
Torah scrolls, Mezuzot and Tefillin
must pass a test. Also those who CHECK Torah scrolls, Mezuzot,
and Tefillin. Also those who check shatnez. Also those who do ritual slaughtering and
those who check the slaughtered animals for Treifus.
There are now organizations that give courses that end in official exams
and give diplomas that are also called SMICHA.
For several years there have been Rabbis calling for Kosher supervisors (mashgichim) to take courses before beginning work. Even
though there is one official school doing this in Israel, the percentage of mashgichim
who have official recognition is tiny.
Thank you for asking your question. Feel free to ask another.
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