Leadership hierarchies in Orthodox Judaism, Roman Catholicism, and Shiite Islam

Leadership in Shia Islam, Orthodox Judaism and Roman Catholicism

Orthodox Judaism, Roman Catholicism, and Shiite Islam

Some religions, such as certain sects of Protestantism, have a relatively unstructured leadership. However, three major religions, that of Orthodox Judaism, Roman Catholicism and Shiite Islam, have highly organized leadership bureaucracies. All of these forms of institutional authority demand complex initiation rituals for those who become members to the hierarchy. The religions are profoundly different, but share this common denominational tradition. Carrying on the legacy of the past is fundamental to the beliefs of all of these religions. In the case of Judaism, although some hereditary positions remain passed on, the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem brought about an emphasis on the role of great rabbis or teachers amongst the faithful. Through Apostolic succession, Roman Catholics venerate the Pope and his bishops as upholders of the legacy of St. Peter and his apostles. And Shiite Muslims believe in the power of imams, direct descendants of the family of the prophet Mohammed, although they venerate the advice of ayatollahs who offer them counsel as to how best to observe the law.

Orthodox Judaism

The figure most individuals are familiar with in Judaism it that of the rabbi. Unlike priests in the Christian tradition, a rabbi, "has no more authority to perform rituals than any other adult male member of the Jewish community....A rabbi is simply a teacher, a person sufficiently educated in halakhah (Jewish law) and tradition to instruct the community and to answer questions and resolve disputes regarding halakhah. When a person has completed the necessary course of study, he is given a written document known as a semikhah, which confirms his authority to make such decisions" (Rich 2008). When great rabbis are spoken of as "the sages," on matters of Jewish law, these are individuals who have won respect for their learning, not individuals with special qualifications. For specific congregations, "In this sense, the rabbi has much the same role as a Protestant minister, ministering to the community, leading community religious services and dealing with many of the administrative matters related to the synagogue" (Rich 2001). "It is important to note that the rabbi's status as rabbi does not give him any special authority to conduct religious services. Any Jew sufficiently educated to know what he is doing can lead a religious service, and a service led by such a Jew is every bit as valid as a service led by a rabbi. It is not unusual for a community to be without a rabbi, or for Jewish services to be conducted without a rabbi, or for members of the community to lead all or part of religious services even when a rabbi is available" (Rich 2001).

Originally, in Judaism there was a class of priestly individuals known as kohanim, although since the destruction of the Temple kohanim have become less important in the practice of the faith. The kohanim were identified as descendants of Aaron, chosen after the incident of the Golden Calf "to perform certain sacred work, particularly in connection with the animal sacrifices and the rituals related to the Temple" (Rich 2001). Despite the Temple's destruction and the ascent of the rabbinate, the lineage of the kohein is still recorded: "DNA research supports their claims: a study published in Nature in June 1997 shows that self-identified kohanim in three countries have common elements in the Y-chromosome, indicating that they all have a common male ancestor" (Rich 2001).

Thus in Orthodox Judaism, lineage still has a role, albeit a lesser one to play in the administration of official ceremonies. For example, members of the Kohanim are given the first opportunity to recite a blessing over the Torah reading on Shabbat and required to recite a blessing over the congregation at certain times of the year. "The term 'kohein' is the source of the common Jewish surname 'Cohen,' but not all Cohens are koheins and not all koheins are Cohens. 'Katz' is also a common surname for a kohein (it is an acronym of 'kohein tzaddik,' that is, 'righteous priest'), but not all Katzes are koheins" either (Rich 2001). Another common 'Jewish name' that may contain special hereditary significance pertaining to the hierarchy of the religion's leadership is that of Levine. The tribe of Levi was also given sacred duties pertaining to the temple, such as saying the second blessing over the Torah reading on Shabbat. As with Cohen, "not all Levins or Levines are Levites and not all Levites have surnames that suggest the tribal affiliation" (Rich 2001).

The destruction of the Temple brought forth other hereditary positions within the Orthodox community, within the specific subset known as the Chassidic Jews. While rabbis are not hereditary positions in Orthodoxy a rebbe or "Grand Rabbi," among the Hasidim is the term for the spiritual master and guide of a Hassidic community. As the term is sometimes translated as "my rabbi," outside of the Chasidic community, the term "rebbe" is sometimes used simply as a term of respect. But formally, a rebbe is a person also considered to be a tzaddik and to assume the role of rebbe is to follow in a hereditary tradition. The word tzaddik literally means a 'righteous one' so a tzaddik is supposed to be a righteous individual with special mystical insight into the teachings of the Torah, along with spiritual and mystical powers in addition to following a father who was also a rebbe. One can become a rebbe or tzaddik by demonstrating great knowledge and insight, as the "tzaddik is not necessarily a rebbe or a rabbi, but the rebbe of a Chasidic community is considered to be a tzaddik" (Rich 2001). Outside of Hassidim, great rabbinical scholars are given special veneration in the tradition of Judaism, and although Torah commentaries on the first five books of Moses (known as the Pentateuch) are not venerated as much as the Bible itself, great rabbis of old have a special place of respect in Judaism because of what they said and wrote, not because of an inherited position.

Shiite Islam

To Western eyes, Islam often seems like a homogeneous 'block,' an idea encouraged by the reference to the 'Islamic world' in the popular press. However, this is a profound misunderstanding of the seismic divisions within the Islamic world, most notably that of Shiite and Sunni Islam. To understand the fractiousness that has characterized Middle Eastern politics, it is essential to understand the historic nature of the split between Sunni and Shiite Islam.

All Muslims obey the five pillars of Islam, which include praying facing Mecca five times daily, fasting from sunup to sundown during the entire holiday month of Ramadan; giving to the poor (much like the Christian or Jewish concept of 'tithing'); making at least one pilgrimage to Mecca during the month of the Hajj if the believer is physically and economically capable of doing so; and belief in the one, unitary God and Mohammed as his Prophet. The Koran is the sacred text for both Shiites and Sunni Muslims. However, over 1,400 years old after the death of the prophet Muhammad, the religion experienced a fundamental fissure in terms of the question of succession, and to how the religion should be structured in terms of its subsequent leadership (Murphy 2007). Some of Mohammed's followers believed that his descendants alone should become caliphs, the leaders of Islamic world. "They were known as the Shiat-Ali or 'partisans of Ali' after the prophet's cousin and son-in-law Ali, whom they favored (Murphy 2008). These adherents became the present-day Shiites. Sunnis, supported Abu Bakr, convert who had married into Muhammad's family, and said that a man's righteousness not his parentage should determine who became caliph. 'Sunni' is derived from the Arab word for 'followers' or 'followers of the prophet' (Murphy 2007).

Today, Sunni Muslims vastly outnumber Shiite Muslims amongst the faithful. "Shiites make up just 15% of the world's Muslims," although they dominate Iran and Iraq (Murphy 2007). Because it is based upon a less centralized system of authority, Sunni Islam was a more 'portable' faith, causing some observers to make an analogy between Protestantism and its faith in the authority of the Bible over Church hierarchies, versus Catholicism's emphasis on institutionalized authority. Shiites venerate descendents of the holy family of the Prophet and Shiites must "observe the advice of an ayatollah on how to follow the law of Islam, or sharia, in the modern context" (Murphy 2007). These ayatollahs might be analogous to rabbis in their authority in that they provide advice that binds a community together, although in Iran ayatollahs have additional authority because of the theocratic nature of the state. Worldwide, the history of defeat and frequent subjugation of Shiite Islam and the greater poverty of many of its adherents as minority communities within a larger Sunni fold has often lead a cult of death and martyrdom within the Shiite tradition. "The major Shiite holidays celebrate the glorious defeats and martyrdoms of Imam Ali and Imam Hussein, Ali's son, as typified by the preeminent Shiite holiday of Ashura, which marks the slaughter of Hussein and his followers outside the Iraqi city of Karbala by a Sunni caliph in 680. In Iraq and Iran, the holiday is marked by elaborate processions of men reenacting their own passion play, many of whom self-flagellate with chains to the beat of drums" (Murphy 2007).

As in Christianity's vision of a final judgment day and some strains of mystical Judaism, there is an especially strong strain of apocalyptic rhetoric in Shiite Islam: "Most Shiites believe that there were twelve legitimate successors to Muhammad as caliph, and that the final imam, now called the Mahdi, disappeared when he was taken up in the arms of God. Many Shiites believe the Mahdi will return to earth one day and play the role of savior. A battle between the forces of good and evil will ensue, ending in a thousand-year reign of peace and the end of the world" (Murphy 2007).

Conclusion comparison between all of these different traditions yields some surprising similarities. All traditions have some place for revered authorities with special insight along with hereditary traditions. For Judaism, a religion whose primary place of worship was destroyed, this authority became predominant in the persona of the rabbis, although some communities such as the Hassidim created their own hereditary tradition parallel to the now largely irrelevant priestly, hereditary classes in most of Orthodox Judaism. Catholicism, a religion that venerates chastity, creates a hereditary tradition through apostolic succession instead, venerating St. Peter's spiritual descendants, rather than physical descendants -- and the spiritual legacy of Rome and its importance in the church. And finally, while Shiite Islam venerates the descendants of the Prophet Mohammed, it also has a place for the advice of ayatollahs. All traditions make a place for wisdom and tradition, innovation and respect for legacy through these various structures.