Today would be my dad’s birthday.

My dad was ordained as a Rabbi and a Chazan (cantor) way, way back.  It was the goal of his parents- and his parents’ parents- and their parents… You get the idea.

My father was very bright.   Besides the TaNaCh (the tora, the prophets, and the writings), he knew the prayers and the various tunes to use for each occasion.  He mastered the Talmud at an early age.

My father had a pulpit for a while, but he really had no desire to be a rabbi.  No, my father’s love was biology- and he desperately wanted to be at an institution that simply would not hire Jews.  So, he stayed with his position in the rabbinate.

But, he also traveled with friends who also were granted s’micha (ordained as rabbis), but didn’t serve in the rabbinate.  Stanley Schechter, Stanley Jarrett, and Sam (Red) Beer, along with Fred Meshikow were all dating women they were about to marry.  And, among their future spouses’ friends was Estelle Kuchlik- who stole my father’s heart.

He quit the rabbinate (both because he was unhappy and because my mom was irreligious and that would be unacceptable for the wife of an Orthodox Rabbi).   And, jointed his brother in a fur-matching business.

My father became the sales/office manager for the firm.  Eventually, it became one of the largest such outfits.  (A fur matcher will collect a series of pelts that another furrier will make into a full coat, stole, or other object.  Often, this involves staining the pelts to make them more uniform.  The other thing fur matchers do is repair objects made of fur- so they look like nothing ever happened to them.) This firm made most of its money by supplying rabbit fur (tons and tons of them)  to (what is now known as) Xerox, which used the fur to keep the copy drum clean and static free.

My father stayed active in Jewish affairs.  Serving as an officer for a few synagogues.  And, arranging for a massive rally (and fund-raising event) right after Shabat Yom Kipur (1973)- to raise millions of dollars to assist Israel in its fight for existence against the entire Arab panoply of nations- Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, among others. His speech was instrumental in raising the funds needed to help Israel turn that corner.

My father managed to live long enough to see his two grand-daughters.  But was dead by the time my oldest was 6 and her sister was 2.  On the holiday of Sukot, the harvest festival of booths.

Share this: