Rabbi for a Decade, Macklemore and Jonah Pesner

Today marks my first decade of being a rabbi. Rather than wax nostalgic about the past ten years of my rabbinate in which I still had my rabbi training wheels on, I'd rather use that significant day in my life to comment on two events in the news this week.

First, Jonah Pesner, a Reform rabbi, traveled to London to be a guest of honor at the Liberal Judaism biennial there. What happened to him at the airport, however, is something that has happened to many non-Orthodox rabbis in the past. The Jewish Chronicle reported yesterday that after Rabbi Pesner told an immigration officer at the airport that he is a rabbi, she looked at Rabbi Pesner and remarked, "You don't look like a rabbi." Perhaps, this comment could just be written off as ignorance, but comments like that are too problematic to just ignore.

Jewish Theological Seminary Rabbinical School/Cantorial School Class of 2004

It would be highly offensive if I looked at a female police officer (or a female airport immigration officer for that matter) and said, "You don't look like a police officer" because she's not a man. The comment made to Rabbi Pesner was made because he is clean-shaven and doesn't wear a black hat. What's interesting is that there are thousands of clean-shaven, non-black-hat-wearing rabbis in this world. In fact, the majority of rabbis represented in movies and on television are non-Orthodox rabbis. Look above at the photo of my classmates at the Jewish Theological Seminary. These are rabbis and cantors who graduated on May 20, 2004. While these men and women don't look like the stereotypical rabbi, we are the leaders of the Jewish community today.

Before making her offensive comment to Rabbi Pesner, the female immigration officer at London's Heathrow Airport should have considered that she doesn't have the traditional look of a law enforcement officer. Rather than make a snide remark to Rabbi Pesner, she could have engaged him in a conversation by explaining that the image of a rabbi that she has in her mind is a different representation than how he looks.

And that brings me to Macklemore. I'm a fan of Ben Haggerty's rap music. Better known by his stage name "Macklemore," the 30-year-old has gained fame in the past couple of years for his chart topping songs. In the past, I've praised Macklemore for his gutsy song "Same Love" that advocates for gays and lesbians, and is the first prominent rap song to condemn homophobia in hip-hop and in pop culture in general. This past January I was a guest at a private concert in Las Vegas featuring Macklemore and Ryan Lewis where I was very impressed with Macklemore's performance, humor and stage presence (after his first song of the show, Macklemore looked out at all the cellphone cameras pointed at him and commented that he hadn't seen that many cellphone cameras at a concert since the bat mitzvah he performed at the week before).

Macklemore wearing an anti-Semitic Jewish costume at concert in Seattle

Synagogue Becomes Gift Shop in Minor League Baseball Stadium

I love Minor League baseball stadiums. And I love synagogue architecture. But never did I ever think those two passions would connect. My colleague and teacher Rabbi Hayim Herring told me about an old synagogue building that has been incorporated to a new Minor League baseball park.

Jonathan Eig reports in the New Yorker that the Sons of Israel synagogue, which was built in 1901, is now the gift shop at Coveleski Stadium, home to the South Bend Silver Hawks (the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Class A affiliate). The former Orthodox synagogue is located just beyond the left-field fence at the ballpark.

Apparently the gift shop's doing pretty well and most Silver Hawks fans don't even notice that they're in a former shul when they're shopping for their souvenirs. Berlin is beginning to promote the space in new ways, too. The team's owner even wants to book weddings and bar mitzvahs in the off-season.

The gift shop at the Arizona Diamondback's Class A affiliate's ballpark was once an Orthodox synagogue

Andrew Berlin, who is Jewish, purchased the Silver Hawks in 2011 and didn't notice the old synagogue building. During renovations on Coveleski Stadium he wondered about the shul building which hadn't been used in years. That's when he decided to preserve it and incorporate it into the Minor League ballpark. When he bought the team, he held a meeting with members of the local Jewish community and proposed moving the perimeter of the stadium to enclose the synagogue. Berlin already pledged to spend $2.5 million of his own money on ballpark improvements so he decided he'd invest an additional million dollars on the synagogue building's restoration. The city of South Bend transferred ownership of the shul to Berlin.

According to the article, "on May 16th, the Silver Hawks will unveil a new plaque near the entrance to the gift shop, calling more attention to the synagogue's heritage, including its recent addition to the National Register of Historic Places. The team, which reached the league’s championship series last year, and has started strongly this season with twenty wins and seventeen losses, will be playing the Fort Wayne TinCaps that night. Berlin hopes that fans will come for the ceremony and stay for the baseball, the free Gallo wine tasting, and the post-game fireworks. That day also happens to be a Friday, which means that if Jewish fans would like to visit the gift shop at sundown to offer their private Sabbath prayers, they’re welcome to do so."

Ten Thoughts for the Week

It's been over a week since my last blog post, but it's not because there hasn't been anything to write about. I've just been busy lately and haven't had time to type out the various thoughts running through my mind. So, here are ten news items I've been thinking about. As always, feel free to weigh in on these topics in the comments section below.

1) Rolling Stones and Jay Leno to Visit Israel

As the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement continues to encourage musicians to boycott Israel by not playing concerts there, a fake quote attributed to Mick Jagger continues to circulate the Web. The quote, which is made to look like a tweet says that the Rolling Stones have "been slammed and smacked and twittered a lot by the anti-Israel side. All I can say is anything worth doing is worth overdoing. So we decided to add a concert on Tuesday." Well, the quote is from a Purim hoax published by The Jewish Press. The truth is that the Rolling Stones are actually going to perform in Tel Aviv in June for a reported $4.5 million, but there will not be a second concert just to spite the BDS supporters. Despite the fact that it was a Purim joke, the not-Mick Jagger pro-Israel quote will likely continue to make its way around the Internet as fact... at least until next Purim when something else replaces it. It really is a strong show of support that the Rolling Stones will perform in Israel and ignore the criticism from anti-Israel protesters.

In addition to the Rolling Stones, Jay Leno has announced that he is pro-Israel and will be visiting there this summer for the first time. The former late-night talk show host agreed to emcee the inaugural awarding of the “Genesis Prize” to former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In response to pressure on international artists and public figures to boycott Israel and to avoid performing there, Leno explained, “It’s a great honor. It’s a great country. It’s a great people.”

2) Detroit's the Ideal Place to Raise Jewish Children

I'm a proud Detroiter and I've long maintained that the Metro Detroit Jewish community is one of the best Jewish communities in the world. It might be a well kept secret, but Detroit's a nice combination of strong Jewish values and strong Midwest values. Well, I guess it's not such a well kept secret anymore since Matthew Casey Williams named Detroit as the most affordable place to raise Jewish children. Buffalo came in 3rd with Cleveland finishing at #2. Williams wrote of the #1 pick Detroit: "Not only was it the most affordable on the list, it was by nearly 100% less than the second place. Is the Motor City ripe for a Jewish revival or is it on its way out?" I can say with certainty that Detroit is ripe for a Jewish revival.

3) Jerry Schostak's Legacy of Philanthropy and Business Acumen

One of the main reasons that Detroit is such a great and affordable place to raise and educate Jewish children is because of Detroit's rich history of Jewish philanthropy. The list of Jewish philanthropists in Detroit who have invested millions of dollars in Jewish education reads like a Who's Who of 20th century business leaders. Max Fisher, David Hermelin, Bill Davidson and Sam Frankel, all of blessed memory, and Bill Berman, Gene Applebaum, Gary Shiffman, Bill Farber, Alan Kaufman and Al Taubman just to name a few have all made Jewish education -- both formal and informal -- affordable for Metro Detroit families. One of the pillars of Detroit's Jewish community who is part of that auspicious list was laid to rest yesterday. Jerry Schostak, the grandson of an Orthodox rabbi, had a strong ethic for philanthropic giving and many local Jewish schools and agencies benefited from his generosity.

Over the years I got to know Mr. Schostak (as I continued to call him despite him telling me to call him "Jerry") as both a long-time client of my computer company, Access Computer Technology, and as an active member of Adat Shalom Synagogue (where I taught his daughter and grandson... in the same class!). I looked up to him as a wise businessman, a patriarch who always put family first, a man who cared passionately about organization and details, and as someone who never compromised his values. His legacy will live on in perpetuity because of the way he lived his life, the way he built his family, the way he molded future business leaders, the way he competed (he was an accomplished sailor), and the way he supported the causes closest to his heart -- including Jewish education. May his memory be for blessings.

My Rabbi Myer Kripke Story

The first time I heard the name Rabbi Myer Kripke was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving in 1998. I had only begun my studies in the rabbinical school at the Jewish Theological Seminary three months prior and responded to an email message asking if any of the new students would be interested in guiding tours of the Seminary for visiting groups. My flight from New York City back to Detroit didn't leave until later that evening and I had nothing else to do before the Thanksgiving recess so I thought I'd check it out.

When I arrived to the Women's League Seminary Synagogue I met Rebecca Jacobs who at the time was in charge of arranging these tours for groups and donors visiting JTS. She gave the small group of us students a tour of the Seminary campus. Since I had done my fair share of research about the history of the Jewish Theological Seminary before applying to rabbinical school and since I had been living and studying there for the past few months, I figured there wasn't much I didn't know about it. Wow, was I wrong! Rebecca told some very interesting stories about the historical buildings that made up the Seminary campus -- the Schiff, Brush and Unterberg buildings as well as the Library building which was knows as the Boesky Library until Ivan Boesky was indicted for insider trading and the Seminary removed his name.

Rabbi Myer Kripke, of blessed memory

What really grabbed my attention was the way Rebecca told the story of the fire that ruined the Seminary's large brick tower that stood prominently on Broadway and had housed the Seminary's vast library collection. Rebecca spent a good twenty minutes talking about how the fire started, the NY Fire Department's response and the way the local Upper West community helped to save thousands of the books damaged in the fire. She explained that the fire had damaged many of the Judaica books that the Seminary had saved from Eastern Europe following the Holocaust. She concluded her story of the JTS Library fire by saying that the inside of the Seminary tower has sat vacant for the past thirty years with the charred remains of that fire inside.

Mourning 11 Days of Unclehood

I hadn't planned to walk 3 miles this past Sunday morning. It was not because I don't enjoy exercise. A 75-minute Spinning class is part of my typical Sunday morning routine. But on a cold and windy late April morning in Michigan, my wife, three children and I completed a 3-mile trek along a nature trail an hour from our home. It was an annual fundraiser walk to benefit the March of Dimes. My family unfortunately got to know the importance of the March of Dimes' newborn screening program late last year.

I've been a fan of SavvyAuntie.com since its early days on the web and always dreamed of being a Savvy Uncle though I know it doesn't quite roll off the tongue like "Savvy Auntie". While I have three wonderful children of my own, I have always looked forward to becoming an uncle. When my wife's sister announced she was due with her first child about a year ago, my excitement level rose. Unclehood was within reach.

Rylan Foster Gelb 12/3/2013-12/14/2013

On December 3, 2013 I became an uncle. I was ecstatic. On my personal blog I wrote about what a blessing it was for me to become an uncle. That might sound silly since I was already blessed with my own awesome and healthy biological children, but I enjoyed a wonderful relationship with my own uncle during my childhood and I was eager to try to replicate that special bond with my new nephew.

Sadly that high was short lived. Only a few days into my new role as an uncle I learned that my nephew Rylan Foster Gelb had been born with a rare genetic disorder. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law would come to learn more about that genetic disorder only because it was diagnosed through the newborn screening, which is a test researched, funded, and advocated by the March of Dimes. Tragically, my nephew was simply too sick to recover and he passed away on his eleventh day of life. He never left the hospital. He died cradled in his parents' arms. He died looking like a perfectly healthy baby.