Q: Are there some elements of JW culture shared with Jewish culture? For instance, is the elder arrangement and how brothers view "appointed men" in the org very similar to how Jews revere their leaders?
Judaism, as you are probably catching on, is more of a culture with religious elements than a religion. But it is not so easy to define (or dismiss) Watchtower religion as a culture in the same way because it is not a civilization. Judaism has four unique languages (two forms of Hebrew, Ladino, and Aramaic) and the JW religious community had no languages unique to its religion. Judaism and Israel are very much synonymous. Jehovah's Witnesses do not have a political country. We Jews have cultural dishes, create art, music, unique forms of dress, and of course celebrate holidays--something Jehovah's Witnesses are known to avoid like the plague.
On top of that, our members are related by DNA, not belief. We are a tribe of blood relatives. Jehovah's Witnesses call one another "brother" and "sister" but will disfellowship--sorry--remove a member who no longer simply believes or practices the doctrines (so much for being a "sister" or "brother"). You have to join the JW religion. Judaism, well, you don't have to practice the religion, but you are stuck a Jew whether you like it or not because that is what you were born.
As for Jehovah's Witnesses and their elder arrangement, and how does this compare with the rabbi among the Jews...
The word rabbi means "my teacher" or "my master," and the word "elder" comes from the Greek word presbuteros as used in Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3. The term is the Greek word for a Jewish a man who sat on a beit din. This was (and still is) a panel that precides over serious matters for a Jewish community as well as sits before an individual who is presenting themselves for conversion. This panel is usually made up of rabbis.
But that word "rabbi" does not mean "elder." It is more similar to the English term "my mentor" as in "not your mentor but my mentor." I learned two trades growing up, one of which required an old-fashioned type of apprenticeship program. You literally had to have a hands-on mentor teach you the trade or you could not learn how to do what you want to do. Each person learning got a specific mentor, but you had to be picked by someone and you had to earn your spot. If you did not get picked because you did not show that you had "the stuff" to enter the program, then too bad. Then once you got picked, that mentor taught you. Some mentors were just far better than others, and this meant some people would end up being far better at the trade than others in the end. You were proud of your mentor (and the mentor their student). You would say: "That is MY mentor."
That is what "rabbi" means. They are an institution for the Jewish community. They can be and generally are leaders. But they are often teachers and guides in life, passing on what it means to be Jewish, not just in the faith, to you and your community.
Generally speaking, nothing but the law of the land stops the average Jew from officiating at weddings, leading services, and performing any other rituals. So rabbis are not like elders in these matters. They do not necessarily take the lead in worship. Any Jew may do so.
Rabbis can however act more like leaders in some denominations as opposed to others and in Israel as opposed to in America. In Israel, Jews are basically divided into two groups: religious and secular, whereas in the United States Jews live in a spectrum of beliefs and practices. The rabbis in the US range from leaders to people who are equal with lay persons. Whereas in Israel the divide tends to make most of the rabbinate either part of the governmental arm or at least involved with the politics (though there are few representatives of denominations similar to what we have in the West), the US rabbis can often be viewed as leaders mainly because in the West people judge everything through Christian tropes or motifs (i.e., Christian priests, elders, pastors=leaders and thus Jewish rabbis must be leaders too).
There have been some problems with a few rabbinical leaders who have created movements that have developed into cult-like denominations in Judaism. Some of these leaders have been accused of wielding power and being abusive. Many of their stories have made the news and some have been recreated in film and television stories.
How much this is like (or unlike) the elder arrangment of the Jehovah's WItnesses, well, you will have to determine yourself. There are similarities and vast differences. There could be more I am sure or a far greater divide the more information I add. But the same could be said about any group of leaders, secular or religious. The Scout Leaders of the Boy Scouts of America are, for example, very similar to the priesthood of the Roman Catholic Church in their CSA history.
