HOW TO RESPECT A RABBI

To get to know a Rabbi, to be a member of a synagogue with a Rabbi. What are we expected to follow, is there a special protocol to obey as we become close, in good standing with our Rabbi at our Temple? What does he expect from you and what can you expect from him. And why?

In the Mishnah Torah, written by Rabbi Maimonides, it says never to turn your back on a Rabbi even when just walking away, to step backwards, not to ever give your Rabbi your back. I spoke to a Rabbi concerning this Maimonides rule, and she said it was excessive. That she would never mind if someone walked away from her. But, I understand the reasoning for his statement. To always protect, obey, respect, honor, and trust your Rabbi, not to turn away your heart from his words, his design for you as his pupil. A Torah student, a pupil of the Torah, the deep pupils of a Rabbi's eyes. Never to betray him.

To give your Rabbi a gift? How sweet! Some gift for him and his wife, his wife who we call our Rebbitzen. But, to ask first if they want it, so you are not giving them something they cannot use or do not want. To bestow an object of great beauty for them, maybe a book? Maybe some jewelry? Are you an artist? Can you paint them a picture? Write them a poem? Some thing they both would appreciate and adore. 

If not to directly give the Rabbi a gift, but to donate money towards the operating expenses of the Temple building. To donate this money in Honor of the Rabbi and Rebbitzen. 

To ask your Rabbi to perform funeral services or a Bar/Bat Mitzvah for your loved ones. A wedding? To have a beautiful wedding under a canopy in a park garden or in a Temple. 

To have a Naming Celebration for your new born girl baby. To have a Brit Mila, [circumcize] your baby boy, eight days after he is born. 

To ask a Rabbi to give you "The Priestly Blessing" in front of the congregation on a Friday Shabbat evening. To look deeply constantly into his dark peaceful brown eyes as he holds your shoulders and recites the blessing, as God goes into your souls as his eyes penetrate yours, captivated. To listen to him speak his beautiful Hebrew as he bestows holiness upon you, and to therefore understand this Greatness of the Hebrew God.

Can we shake the hand of a Rabbi? The females cannot shake the hands of a male Orthodox Rabbi. Why not? Because he usually has a wife. A female Conservative or Reform Rabbi? Conservative or Reform male Rabbi? Sure, they shake the hands of anyone who comes as a friend, not a foe.