The Rabbi and The Rebbetzin (4 page)

Just
before 8 PM, Rabbi Weiss turned off the highway at Dunberg and drove through
the commercial area of the city. He pointed out the Telacomp Company to the
passengers and they were surprised at its appearance. It looked more like a
school building than a factory, rising three stories on a fairly narrow base. “The
shipping area is on the first floor and the executive offices are on the third.
The middle floor is for customer support and research.” The rabbi explained, “I’ve
only been here twice since I met Abe Levine. I usually see him at the buying
office he maintains in Pittsburgh. Both Dunberg congregations are located near
here. Beth Moshe was established long before World War Two, but Beth Israel is
only fifteen years old.”

By
the time Rabbi Weiss finished his comments, he was turning into the synagogue
parking lot. The shul was a low brick building on a plot that was slightly
under an acre. The building itself occupied a corner of the lot and the parking
area surrounded the building on two sides. On the other side of the parking lot
was an older colonial home. As the group walked toward the entrance, the director
told them that the home belonged to the shul and that it was occupied in part
by the caretaker and his wife.

Adler
and Pinkes had never seen a suburban synagogue and were surprised by its size. “You
mean that a shul for 200 families is this big?” Pinkes asked.

“Wait
till you see Beth Moshe.” Rabbi Weiss answered. “This is comparatively small.”

Two
men and a woman met the visitors as they entered the lobby. At the end of the
lobby were two sets of double doors leading into the main worship area. The lobby
itself was flanked by rooms on either side.

“Welcome
to Beth Israel,” Abe Levine greeted them. “I didn’t know that one of our
candidates was married.” Levine had surmised that the woman in the party was
Mrs. Weiss, but he was flattering her by suggesting she looked young enough to
be the wife of one of the students.

Rachel
smiled happily. “Oh, no,” she remarked. “I’m not married to any of the boys. I
just went along with ‘my father’
for the ride.”

Levine
introduced his committee to the guests. “This is Cynthia Farber, president of
our sisterhood, and next to her is Joe Feinberg, chairman of the Ritual
Committee. That’s what they call a Gabbai at the yeshiva. Al Goldstein and
Reverend Martin, our Chazzan, the other members of the committee, are waiting
in the main synagogue.”

Rabbi
Weiss did the honors for his group. “This is my wife, Rachel, and the men with
us are Shalom Pinkes and Aaron Adler.”

“Let’s
take a look at the shul, before we get down to business,” Levine suggested. He
led them through the double doors to the worship area. “We can seat about 200
men up front and 150 women in back. We could vary that by moving the curtain
forward a few rows, but, as for now, the division seems about right.” The Ark
was fairly elaborate and was flanked by two chairs on either side. The platform
before the Ark was about two feet above ground and featured a speaker’s stand. “That’s
where the rabbi speaks,” Levine explained as he pointed to the lectern.

After
returning to the lobby, Levine described the rooms on either side of the
entrance. “On the left, as you enter, we have a small chapel for daily prayers
when we have them. We also have a meeting room and a business office. On the
right we have a classroom, restrooms and the synagogue kitchen. When we have an
affair, the benches are moved towards the front and tables are set up in the
back. I want you to know that our kitchen is strictly kosher.”

When
the tour ended, Levine led the visitors into the chapel. “One of you may wait
in here while we interview the first candidate in the meeting room. Have you
decided who will go first?”

Rabbi
Weiss felt that it would be wise to lead with his best, so he scheduled Shalom
first and then Aaron. “I would prefer that you talk to Shalom Pinkes first if
that is all right with you.” When no objection was heard, he asked Shalom to
join the members of the committee as they headed towards the meeting room.

The
room had been set up for an informal gathering. The sisterhood president and
the Gabbai sat on a couch, while Levine sat on an easy chair. Shalom was
directed to a seat facing the committee.

“Before
we ask you any questions, rabbi,” Abe Levine led off, “we would like you to
take to take a few minutes to tell us about yourself. Make sure to tell us of
any special experience that will qualify you to serve as our holiday rabbi.”

Shalom
was not caught by surprise with the first request. He had prepared a brief
biography which stressed his youth work activities, his tutoring, and his being
an organizer of student affairs. His delivery was smooth but not polished. When
he finished, Levine started the questioning. Abe Levine was a tall man with thin
lips and angular cheeks, and gave the impression of certain hardness. Shalom
guessed that he was only in his early forties.

“Tell
us, Shalom,” Levine ventured, “do you have any higher education?”

“If
you are talking about higher secular education, I can tell you that I am now
enrolled at the local community college and taking courses in business and
computers. I have more than forty credits at this time. If I transfer to a four-year
college, I may receive additional credits for my religious studies at the
yeshiva. I am taking these courses even though my future career will be in
Jewish communal service.”

The
chairman responded, “This is a highly educated congregation. Many of our
members are professionals
―
doctors, lawyers and the like. Our past rabbi had a heavy Israeli accent, but
he was university-trained. Do you feel you have enough education to perform as
a rabbi?”

“I
will have no trouble with the religious content. As far as style and eloquence
is concerned, I will seek the help of people at the yeshiva who have had pulpit
experience. The yeshiva has promised to release the chosen candidate from all
other studies before the holidays to permit him to prepare for this assignment.”

 After
another few questions, Levine turned to Mrs. Farber and asked her to continue.
She was a good-looking woman in her thirties and dressed in high style. Her
hair was covered with a hat, following instructions to that affect by Levine,
although she always covered her hair for religious services. She asked a few
general questions to start with and an unusual one.

Looking
at Shalom, she asked, “You were told about this position sometime yesterday
afternoon?” When Shalom assented, she continued, “Would you care to tell me
what you did in the last twenty-four hours in preparation for this interview
and for the possibility that you would be chosen for this position?”

Shalom
could not sense any significance in the question and answered truthfully. “I
consulted with the Mashgiach about the propriety of accepting the position.
After that, I reviewed all the holiday prayers in case I would be asked to
offer a few selections. I then prepared information about myself in order to
answer any other possible questions.”

Mrs.
Farber seemed satisfied with the response and moved to a different area. “You
know that I was invited tonight to look after the interests of the women of the
congregation. Our women are highly educated in worldly subjects, some of them
are not versed in Jewish affairs and some can’t even follow the services. What
will you do to help these women to benefit from the services?”

Shalom
had expected a question of this nature and had raised the point with the
Mashgiach. “I think the women will gain by the services. The sermons are
delivered in English. I have checked with the Mashgiach, and he said I am
allowed to announce pages and explain the significance of the prayers. This is
particularly true on the first day of the holiday, because the shofar is not
sounded on the Sabbath.”

The
Gabbai explained that it was not permitted to converse between the first
sounding of the shofar and the second sounding somewhat later.

“That
is true,” Shalom said, “but many authorities feel that if the conversation is
for the purpose of understanding the services, it is permissible.”

Joe
Feinberg then took over the questioning. He was a man in his sixties and quite
familiar with the holiday services. His discussion with Pinkes was entirely of
a technical nature and dealt with the specific religious practice at the
congregation. “If you are selected, Shalom,” he said, “we will have to go over
the prayer book that we use here and make sure that we coordinate our
practices. I hope you are aware that we don’t check for Sabbath observance
before we call people to the Torah.”

“So
I heard,” Shalom said. “Rabbi Feinstein has ruled that in certain cases we may
include non-Sabbath observers in parts of the services. I would request,
however, that on Yom Kippur you avoid calling blatant Sabbath violators to the Torah.”

Al
Goldstein and Reverend Martin did not ask any questions. Instead they requested
Shalom to sing a few of the standard holiday prayers. Here, Shalom was
completely at ease. His rendition of “
L’Kel Orech Din
” (“The Lord who
sits in judgment”) was almost cantorial, and evoked a deep response from all
those present.

After
the recitation, Abe Levine said that he had one final request. “Shalom, I know
that we didn’t ask you to prepare a formal sermon. If we had done so, you would
probably have made use of a sermon book or asked one of the senior rabbis to
help you. What we are looking for is someone who has his own thoughts on Jewish
subjects and can express them without extensive preparation. Our past rabbi,
Ilan Solomon, was excellent in this regard. For many in the congregation, the
holidays are the only time that they take the opportunity to learn about their
religion. They questioned the rabbi on a wide variety of subjects and he was
able to answer their inquiries forthrightly and adequately. What we would like
you to do now is deliver a short sermonette on any religious topic of your
choice. If you need a few minutes to organize your thoughts, we will be happy
to wait.

 Shalom
was somewhat taken aback by the request but he retained his poise. No one had
warned him that he might be asked to speak. Nevertheless, he did not panic.
While realizing that his efforts would not be the highlight of the evening, he
was determined to do his best. He decided to relate the story of the rabbi of
Nemirov who chose to help a poor widow on
Selichos
night rather than
attend the services at the synagogue. In preparation for the winter, he chopped
a supply of firewood for the woman. Shalom had told this story on other
occasions and did so dramatically. The moral of the story was the prophetic
message that worship alone, no matter how sincere, is not enough to assure a
Divine response. Prayer must be accompanied by spiritual integrity and
charitable deeds.

When
Shalom concluded his sermon, Levine advised him that his interview was
completed and asked him to call in Aaron Adler. Despite attempts by Rabbi Weiss
to keep him calm prior to his interview, the student was quite anxious. In
fairness to the students, Levine had urged the committee to keep the questions
similar for both candidates so that there would be a true basis for comparison.

Aaron
presented his personal background well, but had virtually no practical
experience to relate. He described the valiant efforts of his parents who,
despite grinding poverty, were able to provide him with Torah education until
the end of high school. Thereafter he was the beneficiary of a full scholarship
at the yeshiva in Pittsburgh, where he had since completed five years of
advanced study.

 In
response to the higher education question, he stated that, while he did not
have a BA degree as of yet, he had accumulated about 85 credits at Duquesne
University. The yeshiva allowed him to take six credits a semester in the fall
and spring and nine credits during the summer. The summer credits were taken
either in New York or Pittsburgh. Aside from the required courses, he studied
philosophy, literature and political science. His high school SAT scores were
more than sufficient for admission to any of the Pittsburgh Universities. He
chose Duquesne because he felt that the students were more serious about their
studies and less distracted by sports and social activities.

Mrs.
Farber was happy to hear that he had enough secular education to serve as a
rabbi, but she was concerned about Duquense. “Did it bother you that you were
attending a strictly Catholic College?”

“Not
at all,” Aaron replied. “There was no attempt at missionizing, and the display
of Catholic symbols was minimal.” Many of his professors, in fact, were Jewish,
as were a large number of the students. Although he did not participate in student
activities, he was aware of one Jewish student organization on campus.

When
the sisterhood president asked him what he did after being notified by the yeshiva
that he was a candidate, he told of two sessions in the playground. The first
was to decide whether he should accept the assignment, and the second was to
map out a program of preparation for the interview. He added that he had
offered some special prayers and read appropriate psalms seeking Divine
blessing and guidance.

 “Maybe
I should do that before my buying trips,” Levine commented. “I doubt that God
was much of a help to me on my last trip to Taiwan.”