Posted on November 28, 2025 by Rabbi Arnie Gluck
L’dor vador, from generation to generation, our people have been thoughtful and deliberate about ensuring the continuity of leadership as a sacred trust. Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t merely announce that Joshua would be his successor. He assembled the entire community and, in the presence of God, laid his hands upon Joshua’s head and blessed him. To this day, that laying on of hands, in Hebrew s’michah, is the means by which we ordain our rabbis, conferring upon them the authority to be guardians and teachers of Torah, to lead and to judge, and to shape the future of our people.
Today we call the ceremony that officially welcomes a new rabbi or cantor an “installation.” I’ve always thought this to be an odd name for this rite of passage, more descriptive of what one does with a household appliance than of sacred purpose. It would be more accurate to describe it as a “consecration,” the inauguration of a sacred partnership between k’li kodesh, one who is ordained to be a sacred servant, and a congregation. Like a wedding, it is the celebration of a covenant being forged between two parties.
Just as we call upon a rabbi or cantor to perform nuptials, it is customary for a seasoned senior rabbi or cantor to perform a ceremony of installation. In the case of Rabbi Diamondstein, this role will be filled, most appropriately, by Rabbi Jonathan Roos, the Senior Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Washington, D.C., who has been Rabbi Diamondstein’s mentor for the last five years. His role is not so much to speak of Rabbi Noah’s excellent qualities and qualifications, though I’m sure that he will. It is to remind us of the true nature of a rabbi’s calling — which is not to “work” for us so much as it is to serve God and the Jewish people.
This is a very important distinction, because sometimes the service of God demands that a rabbi tell us things we don’t want to hear. This tension between the rabbi’s role as pastor and as prophetic goad has aptly been described as the responsibility to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” How good it is, therefore, to have a visiting rabbi of considerable stature tell us that when Rabbi Diamondstein challenges us, he is truly fulfilling his duty.
It is also important for us to be reminded that a rabbi’s role is to serve not just their congregation but the Jewish People as a whole. Here, too, lies a tension. Because the Jewish People includes those long dead as well as those yet unborn, being a faithful rabbi sometimes requires doing, or not doing, what seems desirable to the congregation in the moment. We rabbis have millennia of rabbinic sages standing over our shoulders from whom we have received the tradition. Our task is to be stewards of that tradition in our time and to pass it on faithfully to those who will carry it forward into the future. Rabbi Noah will bear this responsibility as he lovingly and compassionately cares for us and responds to our needs here and now.
All of this adds both gravity and immense joy to the ceremony of installation that we will celebrate next week. I recall the great joy of my own installation at TBE 35 years ago. It was performed by my rabbi and mentor Chaim Stern z”l, who offered blessings and words of Torah to me and the congregation. It was moving and inspiring for all who were there, and it set a tone for what blossomed into a wonderful partnership that continued for 33 years. Now, the mantle of sacred leadership is being passed to the next generation as Rabbi Diamondstein is installed. I look forward to being there in a supportive role to celebrate the consecration of my chaver, my wonderful successor and dear colleague, Rabbi Noah, as we continue the shalshelet ha-Kabbalah, the chain of tradition, l’dor va-dor, from generation to generation.
I look forward to seeing you on Friday, December 5!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Arnie Gluck, Rabbi Emeritus
