Those were the days. I reflect upon them often lately. They occurred more than sixty years ago when I and about a dozen of my fellow Yeshiva classmates were preparing for our semicha examinations. A committee of several esteemed rabbis helped us prepare for and eventually administer the oral examinations. Ultimately, they signed our semicha documents, ordaining us as full-fledged Orthodox Jewish rabbis.
In every group, there is one person who stands out as special. In childhood, it is often the kid with the greatest athletic prowess. Later in life, different attributes begin to qualify a person to become the group’s star.
The custom is fairly prevalent nowadays, but it was not a common practice thirty years ago when my friend raised his sons. He would seek out especially pious rabbis, generally quite elderly ones, to request that they bless his children.
Although many of his adherents deny it, he definitely had an anti-Semitic streak and was at least, for a time, sympathetic to the Nazi cause. Yet he was one of the major psychological theorists of the 20th century, and I personally have found his insights into the human mind both fascinating and practical.