I wonder how the community would react if an
Arbitrator said, I want
to take a 6 month break but not give up my seat entirely; and would
Jimbo appoint a replacement for that 6 month period.
There is precedent for resigned arbitrators being allowed to retake
their positions any time until they would have expired normally, even
after a replacement has been elected (not appointed, and not just for
the length of the break, so the original arbitrator returning would
increase the size of the committee temporarily). I don't believe
anyone has actually done so, but Mindspillage and Filiocht have the
option to for another year (according to the timeline on WP:ARBCOM).