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Rav Mordechai Avromovsky has never missed a levaya in Zichron Yaakov since becoming the�city’s Chief Rabbi decades ago. When an elderly, barely-frum member of his shul passed�away a few years ago, as usual Rav Avromovsky attended the levaya and then was�menachem the aveilim at the family’s home. Rabbi Avromovsky led the minyan there and�even showed the niftar’s son, a secular man, how to put on tefillin and say Kaddish. At the�end of the shiva, the secular son asked if he could come to shul the next day and continue�saying Kaddish for his father there, and Rav Avromovsky said, “Of course! Yes!” The secular�man joined the minyan for several days, and then one morning asked another member of�the minyan if it would be okay if he davened from the amud. The secular man wanted to�lead the minyan for the zechus of his deceased father. The member of the minyan pointed�towards the shtender at the front of the shul, and the secular man led Shacharis for the first�time in his life. Immediately after the last Kaddish, a visibly upset member of the shul�approached the secular man and began rebuking him: “How can you be the shaliyach tzibur�when you are mechallel Shabbos publicly! Do you think you can be motzei us in your�brachos?!” The secular man stood aghast, feeling all eyes in the minyan were watching the�public rebuke. He looked around, and he saw Rav Mordechai Avromovsky, his Rav, his�friend, also watching. The secular man interrupted the shul member and said, “Let’s ask the�Rav.” The shul member turned, saw Rav Avromovsky watching, and said, “Gladly!” And the�two men approached the Rav. The shul member made his case, and Rav Avromovsky�responded powerfully, “Of course he can daven from the amud! Of course he can be the�shaliyach tzibur! He must be the shaliyach tzibur!” The shul member was completely�confused. Unable to understand the reason for the Rav’s psak, but clear that the Rav�permits this secular man to lead davening, the shul member just walked away. The secular�man also shifted to depart, but Rav Avromovsky called him back and whispered, “Do you�know why I poskined you can daven from the amud?” The secular man, who now realized�that a mechallel Shabbos really can’t lead a minyan, responded, “No, Rav, I don’t�understand.” Rav Avromovsky explained, “When that man rebuked you and told you that�you couldn’t lead the minyan for the zechus of your father because you are a mechallel�Shabbos, I saw your face change. I saw the regret you felt. I understood that for your�father, you will never be mechallel Shabbos again. Since I knew that now you are a Shomer�Shabbos, I poskined that you can and should lead our minyan.”

As he concluded recounting this story to the avreichim of the Center for Kehillah�Development, Rav Avromovsky added: “He was never mechallel Shabbos again, and for�years he has been a frum member of our kehillah. That hanhaga is found only in the fifth�chelek of Shulchan Aruch.”

The CKD trip to Zichron Yaakov in December was part of the program’s shimush component,�a component that brings the CKD avreichim into close, personal contact on a regular basis�with some of the most influential rabbonim in Klal Yisroel.

Rav Avromovsky, who also serves as the acting Chief Rabbi of Haifa and is in charge of�Rabbanut Kashrus, then took the avreichim on a daylong�tour of Tishbi Winery, the Beit El industrial food manufacturing facility, and Eden Hotel � all�of which are under his hashgacha and meet “B’datz” standards. The avreichim learned first-�hand the subtle but significant differences between ordinary Rabbanut hashgacha, Rabbanut�Mehadrin hashgacha, and the various “B’datz” hashgachos.

“Everyone knows from hearsay that their standards are different,” said Rav Leib Kelemen,�Dean of the CKD, “but very few rabbonim really understand what those differences are and�what the implications are for someone who is makpid on eating only mehadrin.” Rav�Kelemen explained that kashrus is not a game, and genuine psak can’t be based on hearsay�or politics. “You’ve got to know the facts on the ground,” he stressed, “and the only way to�know those facts is real shimush, seeing what is actually happening in the field.”

After the tour, Rav Avromovsky sat with the avreichim for an hour, telling stories from his�many years in rabbanus. He concluded with a story about one of the first drashos he ever�gave on the Yamim Nora’im: “It was erev Yom Kippur, and the shul was packed. Secular�Jews I had never seen before even filed in and filled up the back rows. I gave a mussar�shmuess full of fire to try to wake them up from their slumber. When I was leaving the shul�that night, a secular woman approached me. She was so upset. ‘Rabbi,’ she said, “We came.�We are the ones who came. Why did you yell at us?’ I realized she was right. The next day I�welcomed them all and tried to show them the beauty of teshuva. Everyone could hear�that. I learned then that even with good intention, I make mistakes. Rabbis make mistakes.”

Rabbi Avromovsky looked out at the faces of the CKD avreichim, all of whom will soon be�rabbinic leaders, and he concluded, “Don’t forget that even with the best of intentions, you�can be wrong. Don’t be afraid to admit when you are wrong.”

The Center for Kehillah Development is a five-year, post-kollel program for English speaking�avreichim between ages 25-30 who are committed to serving Klal Yisroel. They are now�taking applications for a limited number of spots for this coming Elul. To find out more�about the program, visit www.c4kd.org, or apply by emailing [email protected].