Welcome, Leo XIV! - Chronicle Online/The WORD 05/08/2025

Weekly On-line Rabbi's D'var-Torah

May 8, 2025

10 Iyar 5785

Parashat Achrei Mot-Kedoshim

I remember when I first became aware of how the Catholic Church chooses a new pope.  It was 1978, when Albino Luciani became Pope John Paul I.  He was pope for 33 days before he died in his sleep.  So, the College of Cardinals had to convene again to select a new pope and they chose Karol Wojtyła, who became Pope John Paul II.  In less than two months, the world got to see this process play out twice. We all became experts.

Of course, in Judaism we have no equivalent position.  Even in Israel, there are two chief rabbis – one for the Sephardi community and one for the Ashkenazi community.  However, in the early rabbinic period, the Jewish community did select a Nasi – which is usually translated as president or prince.

The Talmud (BT Berachot 27b) preserves a great story about Rabban Gamliel who held the title of Nasi shortly after the destruction of the Second Temple.  He got into a dispute over the calendar with Rabbi Joshua who was a well-loved and well-respected rabbi at the time.

On at least two separate occasions, Rabban Gamliel publicly humiliated him. One time he made Rabbi Joshua stand in front of everyone while Rabban Gamliel gave a lecture.  On a second occasion, he made Rabbi Joshua travel and carry money on the day that Rabbi Joshua believed was Yom Kippur because Rabban Gamliel thought it was the day before.  Rabbi Joshua took this abuse because Rabban Gamliel was the Nasi, but it did not sit well with all the other rabbis.   

The Talmud does not record the names of the rabbis who were upset by this, but it records an anonymous conversation among them about replacing Rabban Gamliel.  First they considered Rabbi Joshua, but they thought it was improper since he was a party to the dispute.  Then they considered Rabbi Akiva, who was wise enough to be Nasi – but he was poor with no family status or connections, and they didn’t think he had the gravitas for the position.  After all, Rabban Gamliel was a descendant of the great Hillel.

So, they ultimately settled on Rabbi Elazar ben Azariah.  He was smart, he was wealthy, and he was a descendant of Ezra the Scribe.  The only problem was that he was young – only 20 years old.  But, they offered it to him anyway.  After consulting with his wife (a sign of his wisdom) and sleeping on it, he accepted the position.  And, miraculously, overnight his beard went gray.  So, he famously said the line that is preserved in the Passover Hagaddah – “Behold, I am like a 70 year old man....”

In his first few weeks as Nasi, Rabbi Elazar made some changes – removing the guard and adding benches in the lecture hall so that more students could attend the lectures.  Rabban Gamliel believed that only the top students should be allowed to enter.  It created a great sense of enthusiasm.

Rabban Gamliel saw how things were better under Rabbi Elazar’s leadership, and he repented.  So, the rabbis accepted his apology and created a power sharing arrangement whereby Rabban Gamliel lectured as the head of the academy for three weeks and Rabbi Elazar for one week each month.  

As Cardinal Robert Prevost becomes Pope Leo XIV (the first American pope!), hopefully, he will bring enthusiasm, wisdom and compromise to his new position.

Shalom,

RAF.