If you wanted an example of a great congregational rabbi, you couldn’t do any better than Rabbi Elazar Muskin of Young Israel of Century City (YICC). Forty years into his job, he still exudes purpose, passion and astonishing IQ. He’d be the ideal Jew to write a Judaic version of Rick Warren’s classic, The Purpose Driven Church: Every Church Is Big in God’s Eyes. Warren’s books have shaped how many rabbis, including Orthodox rabbis, run their congregations.
Even though I haven’t seen the rabbi in years, if he entered my vision, I would immediately straighten up and fly straight. For example, I’d be ashamed to walk past him on Shabbos not wearing a suit. I couldn’t tell a dirty joke for at least an hour afterward. Everybody transmits a force field, but Rabbi Muskin’s force field pulses at 50,000 watts. He lives in LA, but you might feel him in Chico at night if there aren’t too many clouds.
If R. Muskin hadn’t become a rabbi like his father and grandfather, he may have ended up as a professor of history or literature.
As he wraps up one chapter of his life (rabbi of YICC), I wonder what he’ll do next?
