The scope of the traditional task of the rabbi is narrowing down in Israel, whereas his education continues along the same traditional lines.
The material he studies and on which he is examined has become less and less useful in terms of his real work, while the fields of operation that do engage him are quite outside the yeshivah curriculum of studies.
Furthermore, the whole field of relations with the large non¬religious public is a serious problem in itself.
The rabbi usually comes from a religious background, which is a different social and cultural milieu than that of most of his secular-minded community, and the gap between their respective views and values is often much greater than he can bridge.
Even the formal respect shown to clerics in other countries is relatively absent in Israel.
It is no wonder, therefore, that the rabbi in Israel is inhibited in his work, and his traditional title of mara d'atra (master of the place) has become an ironic reminder of his condition.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz
From "The Rabbinate in Israel" in The Strife of the Spirit by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz