Hello,
I wanted to ask you if a rabbi who received an orthodox smicha and unfortunately is not going to the derech Hashem anymore (mekhalel shabat bepardesia, lives with a non jewish woman or other averot) and because of these is not anymore the rabbi of the town/congregation; do we still consider him as a rabbi (as he physically has the paper of the smicha); and if he comes to make tshuva, could he goes back to his tafkid a being a rabbi of a congregation/town? Thank you to answer me with mekorot.
Kol Tuv
Answer:
Of course, while he is not keeping the mitzvot he cannot be a rabbi.
If he has done teshuvah sincerely, and the observant people of the community accept him once again as a rabbi, he can return to his job. However, if people still speak about him as somebody who went off the derech, and his appointment will therefore be disrespectful to the institution of the rabbinate, he should not be re-appointed to the position.
The fact that he still has his “papers” doesn’t make a difference.
Best wishes.
Sources:
There are many sources concerning a Torah scholar who “leaves the path,” most of them explaining that he does lose his credentials, and we await his repentance; see Berachos 19a; Menachos 99b; Chagigah 15a; Sotah 21a.
However, the Rambam (Shut no. 173), discussing the question of a Chazan who went off the derech, appears to write that even if he repented, his is not permitted to continue his work as a chazan.
This is because of the disgrace to the position that this will involve. Therefore each case much be judged individually, a ruling giving based on the particular circumstances of the case.
Best wishes.
