What exactly do you do?

The job of a Rabbi in early Judaism was to transmit Torah (teaching) to the next generation. Pirkei Avot, begins with these words, "Moses received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua (his disciple) Joshua to the elders; the elders to the prophets, the prophets to the men of the great assembly (Ezra's generation)."(Avot 1:1)

The Teacher-Disciple pattern of transmitting the Torah and the Knowledge of God was established as early as Moses and Joshua. The teacher's of each generation were entrusted with the task of raising up disciples and future teachers for the next generation. Generation after generation, from teacher to student, the teaching of Torah was passed on. A Rabbi of First Century Judaism was a teacher dedicated to teaching the Torah of God. His purpose in life was to explain the Torah in practical terms and to communicate the knowledge of God to the next generation.

Pirkei Avot continues, "The Men of the Great Assembly said three things, 'Be deliberate in judgement, raise up many disciples, and make a fence for the Torah." This was the job description of the First Century Rabbi.

1. Be deliberate in judgement: A Rabbi's job was to be careful when rendering a legal decision or when interpreting a passage of Scripture. He was to carefully weigh all the evidence. When asked a question regarding Scripture, when making a legal ruling, when hearing a court case as an elder or as a judge in a court of law or even when simply making a small halachic (observance) ruling, such as "Is it permissible to heal on the Sabbath?", the Rabbi was to be careful and deliberate. The Rabbi was to take the scriptures seriously, study them diligently and be deliberate in judgement.

2. Raise Up Many Disciples: A Rabbi's job was to raise up many students. He was to pass the teaching on to many students. If he did not, there would be no continuity from generation to generation. Without disciples, the study of Torah and the knowledge of righteousness would vanish within a generation, and the next generation would fall into apostasy. The Rabbi's job was to raise up disciples who would in turn become the teachers raising up disciples, so that the Torah would not be lost.

3. Make a Fence for the Torah: A Rabbi's job was to protect the Torah. He was to make a fence around the Torah in order to protect the commandments. For example, to protect the commandment forbidding adultery the Sages made a fence around that commandment by teaching their disciples a tradition that they should not even be alone with a woman that is not their wife, so that there was never even a possibility of transgressing that commandment. Such a prohibition is a called a "fence around the Torah." These are practical rules for life to assist the People of God in living out God's Word. The Rabbi's job was to protect even the least of the commandments and protect even the smallest jot and tittle of the Torah from being abolished.

In his Ministry, we see Rabbi Jesus fulfilling all three of the above criteria. He was deliberate in judgement, rendering well thought-out decisions and interpretations on a variety of points of law. He raised up many disciples. In addition to the Twelve he had hundreds of devoted students and thousands of people listening to his teachings. He made fences for the Torah. When he said things like "Anyone who even looks at a woman lustfully has committed adultery with her in his heart already," or things like, "Do not swear at all, let your yes be yes and your no, no," he was making fences around the commandments. In these two examples he fenced the commandment against adultery and the commandment against taking God's name in vain. Thus we see Rabbi Jesus fully engaged in the work of a First Century Rabbi.