The Pastoral Face of the Rabbi: A Father’s Legacy of Love

The Pastoral Face of the Rabbi

I want to tell you about my earthly father. He lived to the month of his 93rd birthday. He was always there for me. He modeled the greatest respect for me, my mother, and my siblings.

My dad hit me only one time—just after I had made my younger sister cry by hitting her. He was always willing to help, present in my life as a young person, and he continued to be there as I grew into manhood, married, and became a father too. He and my mom were married for 68 years, both for the first and only time.

Papa Dave

My dad was a businessman, a manufacturer of construction materials. He was in business for over thirty years before he sold the business and retired. Many of his employees never left once they were hired. His legal name was David Slobin. The name given to him by many of his employees was “Papa Dave,” because he treated employees like they were part of his family.

When my dad retired and sold the business, he educated himself so he could better manage the proceeds from the sale and the other family assets. Because of what he learned—and his successful career—many friends came to him for advice. One day, my sister asked Dad if he would be willing to help her best friend who had received an inheritance. Her friend had no confidence or experience to handle this on her own. Dad met with her and, after the meeting, her friend said to my sister, “Your dad was more of a father to me than my own father!”

A Different Kind of Negotiation

When my folks sold the family home in New York City and headed west to sunny California for retirement, my wife and I convinced them to linger with us in the Midwest for a season. They stayed with us for quite a while and it was a wonderful blessing for all of us—parents, children, and grandparents.

During this time, an opportunity emerged in my secular work that would have been a great fit for my father’s financial talents. My business partner and I wanted to pay him a substantial compensation to accept the position. He refused! He said he would do it, but wanted to do it for less. There we were, arguing that he should take more than he was willing to accept. It was the reverse of what you would expect in the world of business.

A Father’s Gift and a Rabbi’s Calling

When I came to know Yeshua and started to understand who His Father is, I came to appreciate the great gift my dad gave me: the gift of himself. His openness and honesty, warmth and commitment to me and our family helped me understand the love our Father has for us and how we are to respond to that love. My dad was not a believer or a very religious person, but he exhibited the best qualities of any man I ever knew. If I have an earthly hero, it is my dad.

In my ministry, I see myself behaving the way I believe my father behaved in his relationships with people. As I strive to emulate Yeshua and, through Him, conform to the holiness that brings wholeness for myself, and hopefully encourages wholeness in those with whom I come in contact, I see my earthly father’s influence. He has passed on, but the gifts he gave continue to bless me.

I was the beneficiary of his selflessness. Therefore, I try to serve others in the same way. He taught me to be an encourager—amplifying the good in people—knowing that we all have weaknesses to be worked on and great things about us to be reminded of.

He gave me a foundation to build on. I now work to apply what he gave me in serving our Heavenly Father. I can take the gift my father gave me and enhance it with my own understanding of who HaShem is so that I can be a demonstration of His fatherly attributes to His children and hopefully bring them closer to Him.

Sent as an Emissary

I see myself as an ambassador of HaShem, an ambassador of the Messianic Age. Just as the Father sent His Son Yeshua to teach us about Him—and Yeshua sent His disciples out to do the same—I believe I am sent, as a shaliach, an emissary, a witness to the people. I try to be the best representative of HaShem I can be.

I try not to judge. However, when my experience gives me the credentials to speak out against something that is anti-Torah, harmful, and shows a choice of death over life, I must say something; but it is in the spirit of a father’s loving discipline for his child, not in condemnation.

I do my best to be transparent in all my dealings and still be respectful of relationships. I try to exercise diplomacy as a result. We must be sensitive to how we are perceived and try to see things from the other person’s viewpoint. It is good to remember that there are at least two sides to every story—and maybe three or four. And this: HaShem gave us two ears and one mouth.

Scriptures That Shape the Pastoral Face

Holiness Through Love

I strive to express holiness through love and compassion—the love of a father for his children—and the empathy and forbearance that come from patience, understanding, and respect for this truth: God created everything, especially His children, and therefore each child is holy and deserves to be regarded with respect.

The Father delights in His children who are striving, struggling, and working to achieve the potential of the gift of life He gave to each and every one of us. I think the rabbi, in this part of his calling, is to be a vehicle to transmit the Father’s care by helping His children achieve their potential. It is the Father’s will for the child; therefore, it is our holy responsibility to be an instrument of that will.

The Kingdom Is Here

The Father’s unconditional, superseding love for His children should serve as a great example for us. We need to respond in the same way toward His sons and daughters—our brothers and sisters. This is what we can expect in the Messianic Age: our relationship with HaShem will be a reflection of our relationships with each other. But we can start now! The Age has begun! I saw it in the way my father dealt with people and I see it in my own life.

Yeshua said to some Pharisees who accused Him of driving out demons in the name of Ba’al-Zibbul (Beelzebub):

The Kingdom is here! We are the pioneers—the point of the spear of the coming Age. We are all called to behave in this way. This is not just for the rabbis. It is for all of us. My hope and my prayer is that my witness will bring others to see this path and take it. God has shown me a way and blessed me for my efforts to turn and walk toward HaShem through His Messiah, Yeshua. If you are open to it, Yeshua can show you the way for you as well.

A Triple Blessing

The Father wants a relationship with each of His children. To have that is a triple blessing: (1) for the Father with each of His children, (2) for each of His children with their Father, and (3) for the children with each other. What a privilege it is to work to amplify and encourage these relationships and be a witness to the love the Father wants to see permeate all our relationships. The fullness of this is the fullness of the Messianic Age.

Gratitude and Dedication

One more thing about my father: when I became an adult, a sign of my maturity was an appreciation for how good a father my dad was to me and for me. Before that, I obeyed him (most of the time!), but when I came to love him for who he was, I started to do things out of a desire to please him. Doing this pleased me! I think he would be proud of the father (and rabbi) I am becoming.

I urge you to look at these attitudes that make up my pastoral life and use them to help you receive the joy God is yearning to give to each of us as followers of the Most High—whether we are called to spiritual leadership or not. I may be the rabbi, but it is not just the rabbi’s work. It is for all of us.

I dedicate this writing to my father who was so helpful in my coming to this understanding.