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Rabbi, Run
Rabbi David Chazen is a man who loves to run. When the demands of his hectic schedule as a congregational rabbi become too much, he dons his running gear and races through the streets of his suburban Philadelphia town.
In this and so many ways, David Chazen seems to sail effortlessly through life. Hand- some, boyish, and charming, he is the popular spiritual leader of Temple Emmanuel. His wife Sharon is a beautiful, intelligent woman who writes for the local newspaper. Their son Ari has just turned sixteen.
David loves being a rabbi but he sometimes feels that he has not experienced the kind of spirituality that he entered the rabbinate to find. That changes when he meets Lisa, a young woman rabbi and single mother, who offers to teach him to meditate at her house. David soon looks forward to his sessions with Lisa as the highlight of his week, while the relationship raises questions in the minds of his congregants and his wife.
Meanwhile Sharon’s frustrations with their marriage, her small-town job, and her role as a rebbetzin (a rabbi’s wife) are building. She begins writing a novel she calls “Rebbetzin,” describing some of the same events that David narrates, but from her sardonic point of view.
Before long, David’s problems – with his congregation, his wife, his son, and his personal life -- begin to overwhelm him. How he copes with these challenges while trying to maintain his integrity and his relationships with the people he loves forms the heart and soul of this “peak behind the ark curtain.”
In this and so many ways, David Chazen seems to sail effortlessly through life. Hand- some, boyish, and charming, he is the popular spiritual leader of Temple Emmanuel. His wife Sharon is a beautiful, intelligent woman who writes for the local newspaper. Their son Ari has just turned sixteen.
David loves being a rabbi but he sometimes feels that he has not experienced the kind of spirituality that he entered the rabbinate to find. That changes when he meets Lisa, a young woman rabbi and single mother, who offers to teach him to meditate at her house. David soon looks forward to his sessions with Lisa as the highlight of his week, while the relationship raises questions in the minds of his congregants and his wife.
Meanwhile Sharon’s frustrations with their marriage, her small-town job, and her role as a rebbetzin (a rabbi’s wife) are building. She begins writing a novel she calls “Rebbetzin,” describing some of the same events that David narrates, but from her sardonic point of view.
Before long, David’s problems – with his congregation, his wife, his son, and his personal life -- begin to overwhelm him. How he copes with these challenges while trying to maintain his integrity and his relationships with the people he loves forms the heart and soul of this “peak behind the ark curtain.”
254 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 17, 2015
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March 9, 2016
If you're interested in learning more about the "real" life of some rabbis, this book is for you. The stresses, the pressures, the time commitments, the costs to family life, etc.----all are covered in this book by a retired Reform rabbi. Yet, he still manages to retain a sense of spirituality and even "love" for his congregants.
Displaying 1 of 1 review