The Church Needs Rosh Gadol ראש גדול
Words which reflect culture
Some cultures have patterns of behavior or an outlook on life which is so distinct that they create words which at times are either extremely hard to translate, or words which reveal a deeper meaning in context. For instance, ennui is more than ‘boredom’ in the French language. It denotes a deep, existential dissatisfaction with life, bordering on disgust. Saudades in Portuguese is more than just missing someone or something, it is a deep yearning for something lost, a bittersweet look into the past which is deeper than nostalgia, but with an element of looking forward to the future. So one may even have saudade for something not present, because it is in the future. There are so many other examples from other languages that could be supplied.
One particular cultural and linguistic concept I would like to visit today is the Israeli concept of Rosh Gadol, and what it means for today, and why the Church especially needs it.
Rosh Gadol literally means “Big Head”, Rosh meaning “Head” and “Gadol” being the adjective, “big”. There is an opposite concept, Rosh Katan, which literally means “small head”. In the English language, if we say that someone has a “big head”, usually that would mean, depending on the context, that a person is proud, intelligent, ambitious, obstinate, or any combination of those qualities.
In the context of Israeli culture and Hebrew language, however, Rosh Gadol is not only something that is not bad: it is a sought-after trait. My first encounter with the idea was investigating the aptitude tests that the Israeli government administers to youth, both male and female, who are about to enter into compulsory military service. The Israeli state and military really are something that, to use the overused expression, “punches above its weight”. A lot of the reason it does this is due to their dogged resourcefulness. With limited manpower, land and natural resources, everything must be used well, and not squandered. This is especially true of the men and women who make up the Armed Forces.
What happens when the tests indicate that you may have Rosh Gadol? You may be invited to study cryptology, or be considered for leadership, or for intelligence work in general. Rosh Katan is not wasted, either; there are plenty of positions where the military needs people who are stable, system-minded and control-minded. But the Israeli government and military thrive also on people who tend to buck established systems and ways of thinking. And such controlled chaos is often rewarded, and not punished, as it would be in some countries or organizations.
Is it possible to have it in the Church?
One of my friends is the retired president of a major American University. He was fond in his retirement of teaching graduate business students classes on Human Resource Management and Business Modelling. Over the years, he told me that he would invite Catholic Priests to sit in on the class for free, hoping that he could do them a service for when they had to manage parish or school finances. As part of the class, everyone had to take psychological exams to help reveal what core values all those men and women had, so that they would know what they sought out of their work, and also know how to appeal to other workers and their own goals and gifts.
His testing was on several core values, such as ‘competence’, ‘autonomy’, ‘security’, ‘relationships’, and so on. These categories were partially based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. His findings, after almost fifty years in education, was that the vast majority of the Priests he had filter through his classes valued security above all. Such people tend to be extremely loyal to the institution they serve, and are generally contented with being employed and useful. They don’t tend to be original thinkers, and they like work that has clear parameters. The teacher never released his findings. The other students, largely entrepreneurial and youthful, tended to score low on security, and valued competence and autonomy.
Although this data is unofficial, I think it points to one of our greatest strengths and weaknesses in the institutional Church over the past fifty or sixty years: we have a complete oversupply of men who are well-suited to institutional maintenance, but we have a severe deficit of men who, for lack of a better term, have Rosh Gadol. Let’s be clear: one can have Rosh Gadol and be intensely dedicated to an organization or an idea. To have it is not to threaten the Church, her teachings or her binding precepts. But to lack it, especially when we speak of the Church as an institution, exposes her to critical danger and a deficit of credibility and competence.
As you may imagine, there are cultures, governments and organizations which severely punish Rosh Gadol. There are many historical precedents for this. One can readily think of the leadership of the Soviet Union as it neared its collapse. This was very well portrayed in the HBO Mini-Series Chernobyl. Men and women without any expertise in the fields which they were supposed to lead got their positions primarily because they were persons who valued professional security. That is, firstly, they wanted a job to feed their families. Government jobs tend to be the most stable, and they tend to find reasons to perpetuate their ‘necessity’. Secondly, the maintenance of their job required a high degree of loyalty to the Communist Party and to its leaders. The pursuit of this core value of security above all else, ironically, made the institution of Soviet style governance extraordinarily brittle. Its collapse stunned the world by its speed and its totality.
As Alexander Solzhenitsyn and other commentators have said, this system collapsed because it was founded on lies. People wanted to keep saying the same tired nostrums to keep the system afloat, but with every lie, to borrow again from the series Chernobyl, “a debt was incurred to the truth. And that debt must, sooner or later, be paid.”
The same phenomenon just unfolded, as far as we can tell, in Wuhan, China, these past few months. The Chinese Government spends almost as much money on ‘internal security’ as it does on its own Armed Forces, and this was once again very obvious as they desperately tried to airbrush their mismanagement of the crisis. Key whistle blowers in the beginning of the pandemic, those who demonstrated true Rosh Gadol, have disappeared. Everything must be made to make the Communist Government of China to appear in control, and competent. Due to their obsession with domestic security, they bungled the management of a contagion which could kill millions of people worldwide. Coupled with that typical Asiatic, honor-shame society terror of losing face, the Chinese Government is paradoxically both strong and brittle.
Rosh Gadol as key to spiritual zeal
The Church in the West in 2020, by all metrics, is extremely brittle. Dioceses in Western Europe and America are facing massive budget deficits, as parishes cannot pay their assessments due to loss of parishioners, or in some cases, are already in massive debt themselves. Putting aside the matter of settlements for sex abuse, it is becoming increasingly clear that most American Dioceses are circling the fiscal drain. Unprecedented sales of assets such as real estate (especially in commercially valuable metropolitan areas), stocks, and other things cannot stem the bleeding which will end, and has ended for some, in bankruptcy.
It is well known that for most First World Dioceses, the personnel crisis is synchronized with the fiscal one. More and more clergy assignments resemble a frantic game of ‘whack-a-mole’, as they seek to extinguish problems and fill vacuums. All in the name of providing the same degree of ‘services’ with less true faithful and less resources. And almost all these movements are too little, too late, and with little vision.
Let’s take as an example the Diocese of Camden a decade or so ago, where then Bishop Galante, to fill his parishes, pulled most of his Priests from the educational apostolate. He could not justify in his mind ‘staffing’ schools when so many parishes were in need of Priests. Within a few short years, Camden’s Seminarians were in the single digits. His successor, Bishop Sullivan, reversed the trend by not seeking short-term security and institutional maintenance at all costs, and he redeployed his Priests in schools. Vocations, understandably, have increased. All across the country and even the world, having Priests in schools is the single greatest source of vocations. Yet for some Bishops and their supporters, Catholic Education is first and foremost a burden, not an asset. In the defense of those who say that Catholic Education is a burden, I would venture to guess that these same people are primarily those who have the experience of a heavily bureaucratized Diocesan system. What are Priests with Rosh Gadol doing today? Many are starting independent classical academies with a sound Catholic identity, and also Pre-K and other programs which are not just profitable, they can be run with both inexpensively and with clarity of vision.
I recently spoke with another friend who manages a charity which primarily benefits Hispanics and the urban poor, with an operating budget of over a million dollars. All of that money comes from private donations. I am always amazed at the love and the resourcefulness which permeates their work, and so I asked her, “What is the secret to your success?” After keeping God and the Faith first, she said, “Keep the Diocese out of it.” She saw great want in her community, and it took her real Rosh Gadol to strike out and do something new, even if she risked the ire of diocesan officials. Now her charity is so successful, it is indispensable. In contrast, I once heard an official from a Diocesan Charity boast that they had just hit a new milestone: 80% of their funding was coming from the Federal and State governments. While I think his perspective was that more people could be helped because they had more money, I found that statistic alarming, because we all know and have seen charities largely closed and controlled, because the government never gives money without strings attached; and this creates more bureaucracy, more unnecessary rules, more inertia. I am convinced that government grants are the opiate of the bureaucrat.
Where does the cultivation of Rosh Katan begin? I argue that it begins precisely where it shouldn’t, in the Seminaries. Seminaries by their nature are institutions where a certain degree of military-like conformity is necessary: dress codes, appointed times for worship and class, and other rhythms of work, leisure and study. All these things have a praiseworthy objective: to cultivate discipline in the thoughts and behavior of the aspiring Priests. Everyone needs discipline in life to thrive. But what can go wrong here is that discipline can become not the precondition of true interior liberty, but a cover for mandated conformity. The spiritually abusive say that this is in fact preparing the seminarian for a life under obedience, but the truth is that is only preparing him for a life of compliance. Often times, the evangelists of this approach will say they are training the men for ‘unity’ when in fact they are being trained for uniformity. I have heard boomer Priests say that their Seminaries “trained sheep, not shepherds”, and younger Priests call their Seminary a “puppy mill”, or a “cookie cutter factory”.
There are plenty of books, articles and blogs detailing all the ways in which some Seminaries resemble not enclaves of prayer and study, but indoctrination camps. The prize of Ordination is reserved for those who do not challenge the status quo. In saying this, I do not intend to say that challenging the moral or dogmatic status quo by immorality or heresy is good in the slightest. What I refer to is the imposition of moral, ecclesiastical, dogmatic, and liturgical aberrations on Seminarians as the price of their ‘ordainability’. How many Priests have stories of how they had to ‘submarine’, or hide their true personalities and beliefs, or other such behaviors which are bound to cause lasting psychological harm? How many Priests and Seminarians have been told they have a ‘problem with authority’ when they ask legitimate questions? The absolute authority formators have over Seminarians is parallel to the quasi-absolute authority Bishops and their chanceries have over Priests. Sycophants, the two-faced, and the weak are not begotten, but made to be so, mostly as reactions to years of psychological abuse in these institutions. Of course not all are like that to this degree, but I think it would not take much searching to see these problems resurface in diverse places.
I am admittedly no fan of the Seminary system in itself, and I think it is largely inadequate to meet the demands of the modern world and modern Priesthood, but since it exists, I think there are ways in which we can encourage a true renaissance in Priestly Formation, with men who are intellectually prepared, morally upright, and brave. It is bravery, in my estimation, that is crucially lacking above all due to the Seminary system. Seminarians learn early on that a harsh word, an off-color joke, a ‘bad day’ or other routine, common mistakes, can earn a Seminarian an appointment with his Dean for discipline, or the Rector. The Seminarians are being trained to understand that what should matter to them ultimately are not matters like truth, justice or courage, but the feelings of other people. While it is important to be sensitive to people’s feelings up to a certain threshold, the Seminarian preparing for ordination is largely groomed for what we ought NOT to do or say, and usually that boils down to, don’t say anything that will provoke letters to the Bishop or your Superiors. This sort of system, which is predicated on mitigating risk and suppressing spiritual enterprise, is not the sort of training for heroes and saints.
Seminaries, in consultation with their sending Bishops and others, would do well to make very clear what aptitudes the men under their charge have. Innovation and zeal should be guided and cultivated. Much like in the late Soviet Union, institutional promotion is largely being reserved, not for the talented or the bold, but the safe. How many Pastors report not only not being praised, but actively persecuted, by their Dioceses when they attempt creative and evangelical ways of reaching out to people. Most tellingly, how many Priests are sick of being told how to celebrate the Mass according to the ancient custom ad orientem, with certain Bishops attempting to ban the practice, and meanwhile they turn a blind eye to patent liturgical abuses? Bishops often say in decrees attempting to ban or curtail traditional practices that things like ad orientem and traditional worship will ‘confuse’ and ‘divide’ people. Then, Bishop says he has to say or do something for the sake of ‘unity’. Again, this has nothing to do with unity, but uniformity: do what I say, because that is what “we” are doing.
It is not hard to see how this sort of groupthink can seriously endanger the Church as an institution once it reaches a critical mass. One need only watch the sessions of Bishops’ Conferences to see this broadcast live, for everyone to see. Notice the verbiage used as the men deliberate; they speak ad infinitum (perhaps ad nauseam!) of decrees, procedures, standards, norms, and other terms from the bureaucrat’s handbook. Very rarely do they speak of their sacred duties to teach, govern, and sanctify. Instead, they tend to deflect, delegate, and denigrate.
Leaving the Bureaucratic and Decline Management Mentality
Rosh Gadol as a mindset recognizes a place, as I have said, for structure and security. There is even a place for very limited bureaucracy, because some jobs demand it. But, to borrow the other values taken from my friend’s survey, what is missing? Competence, autonomy, and relationships. Ought any push away from our current malaise involve a cultivation of these three? As I have said time and again, what I call the Ecclesiastical Deep State, or the entrenched bureaucratic middle management cabal which in fact runs most local Churches, is often dedicated, in the name of risk management and security, to suppressing values or initiatives which challenge their authority or indispensability. Too much competence is an embarrassment to the top brass, and may endanger their positions. Too much autonomy may give presbyterates the dangerous idea that they can manage their affairs without much interference. If there are too many relationships, both between Priests and Priests and their Bishop, the Diocesan apparatchiks will be dismayed, because they can no longer control narratives or suppress information.
In my experience, many Priests who possess Rosh Gadol are unfairly maligned. I have heard these men called eccentrics, malcontents, crazy, abrasive, opinionated, or other insults designed to shut down thought and critical appraisal of their achievements. Almost all these men, some of whom are canonized saints, are the very ones who built some of the same institutions we take for granted today. But just as a building requires maintenance, an organization requires continued vision. Geniuses and visionaries of every type will meet criticism and rejection. Ostracism is often the price of excellence. But inevitably, and often grudgingly, dying or collapsing organizations often turn to inspired, dynamic and bold persons or groups in order to capture the vital force necessary for their rejuvenescence. And perhaps, with an irony only Divine Providence can intend, it is precisely in their resistance of, and rejection by, sclerotic and collapsing institutions, that these intrepid men and women with Rosh Gadol step out as founders, creators, and reformers.
One of the Psalms calls the Deliverer-God the “lifter up of my head” (Psalm 3:3). “Head”, of course, is Rosh here. That is, whatever our gifts and talents are, God’s constant action is to elevate us so that his Spirit can move uninhibited in the Church and in the world. How many are those in the Church, alas, who want those heads held low! How many merely pay lip service when they say they want a fervent, apostolic Church!
May Christ, who is head of the Church, his body, inspire us with more men and women eager to make disciples of all nations until his return, and may the number of those who measure our spiritual fecundity with paperwork and programs diminish!
