A Jew has the right to be discerning in which Rav they choose to go to for advice and decisions in Jewish law. The criteria for choosing a Rav, either individually or as a community, can be influenced by many various factors. Automatically, the tendency is to first value the depth and breadth of the Rav's Torah learning. Then there is the length and the type of his experience, his reputation, and his communication skills.
Unfortunately, nepotism often plays a role in how a community acquires its Rav. This should not be so, but it is a fact of life, and one need not look far to find examples of how people who may not be the most qualified or suitable are nevertheless appointed to prominent roles.
However, being all that as it may, there are other qualities that one could argue are even more important than all the qualities mentioned above. Does the Rav have good judgement? Does he have a good understanding of people and situations, a good intuition? Is he a wise person? Is he moral?
Also, is he a person who will go with the flow to fit in, who will bend to the prevailing social pressures to be popular, or does he have the courage to stand on principle no matter the cost? In today's world with social pressures from an increasingly authoritarian government and intrusive social media, a Rav of strong character will easily find himself at odds with public opinion. Will he have the courage to do what is right or cave in?
Lastly, maybe the most important quality is humility. Can he simply admit he was wrong, or that he made a mistake? Or is he too arrogant to admit it, refuse to change his mind, and will therefore double down?
Any Rav who, during the covid hysteria, went along blindly with the mainstream lies and authoritarian government decrees without any critical analysis or discernment of his own, is a Rav who lacks good judgement, wisdom, and humility. An argument could be made that in the earlier days of 2020 there was not enough information yet, so one can be excused for believing the web of deceitful lies of the covid hysteria. However, by mid 2020 and onwards, anyone who was not too lazy and did some research instead of relying on hearsay and the mainstream news, and who had a modicum of intuition, good judgement, worldly experience, and intellectual curiosity, would have realised that something very fishy was going on.
Moreover, there is one more quality that must be added to this list, and that is the quality of compassion, along with it's associated quality of empathy. Any Rav who could call for the persecution, even the murder of fellow human beings who were discerning enough to question and rebel against the authoritarian covid lies, who were brave enough to refuse the experimental untested genetic altering drug they pretended was a vaccine, is a Rav who lacks both compassion and empathy. To call a Jew who decided to use their own intellectual faculties to do the research to find out the truth and therefore refuse to get the unsafe jab a rodef is unconscionable.
Furthermore, to double down on this smearing of millions of fellow Jews, and to refuse to admit it was a grave mistake, and to not offer a full and sincere apology shows an arrogance of the highest measure.
Today, there are verifiable reports of literally millions of vaccine injured people throughout the world. Athletes, the fittest among us in their prime, are having heart attacks and dying on the fields in larger numbers than ever before seen. Women are becoming infertile and having miscarriages in larger numbers than ever. Millions of people are maimed, and millions have died from this untested experimental genetic altering drug. This is an ongoing tragedy and no one can predict what effects this genetic alteration from this drug will have on future generations.
The truth is coming out as more and more experts in related fields, organisations and politicians can no longer pretend this is not happening, and they are speaking out that this a crime against humanity, and one can only pray the criminals will be brought to justice one day.
This leaves us with a deeply moral question. How qualified is a candidate for community Rav if he is still to this day doubling down on his most terrible immoral declaration? Can such a Rav be trusted to have the wisdom, the humility, the compassion and empathy to lead a community in Torah law?
