I distinctly remember showing my grandmother the semicha I had just received from R’ Zalman Nechemia Goldberg. She came from a proud family of Boyoner chassidim and he was the rosh yeshiva of Sadigur. It was my father’s idea to take R’ Zalman Nechemia’s test in addition to those at RIETS, and whether or not the Ruzhiner connection was known to him, her sense of pride at both the accomplishment and the connection made generations of mesiras nefesh for Jewish education come to life.
Semicha bridges the generations. It connects the chain of tradition that began with Moshe and Yehoshua and, while not officially so, each new class of budding rabbis who seek to serve the needs of the Jewish people in their generation. Those who have learned for semicha lead our shuls, school, and communal organizations with a profound sense of commitment to the authority of halacha.
Further, semicha inherently connects the generations through the careful study of halacha and psak. More than anything else, semicha is the living oral tradition shared from one musmach to another about how to approach specific circumstances, how to apply halachic principals, whom we follow in certain cases and how to analyze a question that is presented.
Semicha also connects the beis midrash to the home. Not only did semicha help me appreciate my roshei yeshiva, who served as rabbis and poskim for large Jewish communities, but it also connected the world of lomdus to the most practical of circumstances. I still remember R’ Zalman Nechemia’s smile when he asked me a creative question about the subjectivity of shekia in a case of oso v’es bno just to see how I would analyze the case and issue a psak.
