When I was living in Jerusalem, there was a retired rabbi who used to host rabbinical students in their home who were alumni of the AEPi fraternity. As the girlfriend of an AEPi alum I was invited to join in the Shabbat dinner. When we arrived to the apartment we were greeted with a big smile from a gregarious man and his wife.
As we waited for others to arrive I was looking around at the beautiful art and of course the pictures of kids and grandkids that sprinkled the apartment. Pretty soon into my exploration I picked a photo up and showed it to the rabbi.
I said, “hey, are these your grandkids?”
“yes”
I responded, “do they live in Los Angeles?”
“yes”
Again I share, “well would you look at that, I was their Sunday school teacher last year!”
We would go on to enjoy some Jewish geography and a beautiful Shabbat dinner. We sang Shabbat dinner table songs – loud enough that the neighbor downstairs came knocking on the door yelling at us to keep it down, to which the rabbi responded with one word, “Shabbos!!” before closing the door and continuing our songs.
Friends, that AEPi alum was Rabbi Max, and that retired rabbi was Rabbi Stanley Davids and his wife, Risa Davids.
It turns out that my connections to Temple Emanu-El started long before the rabbinic placement process.
I hope that you too will be able to enjoy the energy, charisma, and liveliness that Rabbi Davids brings to Shabbat by joining us for his Rabbi Emeritus in Residence Shabbat on Friday, May 19th and Saturday, May 20th.
May 19th Rabbi Stanley Davids Shabbat Dinner
May 19th Rabbi Emeritus in Residence Shabbat
May 20th Rabbi Stanley Davids Extended Chevrah Torah
Let’s bring out the Shabbat joy then,and join me this Shabbat for a little extra dose of joy.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Rachael
