If I weren't a rabbi

Reprinted with permission from the Jewish Ledger June7, 2005

‘If I weren't a rabbi'

By Stacey Dresner

Rabbis share their fantasy jobs

Hoop dreams

If he were not the spiritual leader of Beth David Synagogue in West Hartford, Rabbi Yitzchok Adler might be another Jim Calhoun.

"If I were not a rabbi, I think I would have loved to have become a basketball coach," Adler said.

"When I was in my final years of rabbinic studies at the Yeshiva in Memphis, I also, as a volunteer, coached the yeshiva's high school basketball team and we even won the league championship one year," he recalled.

So if he were not leading services and handling important issues of kashrut as administrator of the Hartford Kashrut Commission, Adler might be running drills and creating game plans.

"I found it tremendously gratifying and enjoyed it a great deal," Adler said of his hoop days. "And I would have loved the chance to do it again."

Craving the limelight

Imagine if you will, Rabbi Alan Lefkowitz all decked out in a dapper suit and bow tie, belting out "Mammy."

That is because if he had his druthers, the rabbi of Congregation Beth Ahm in Windsor would want to be "Al Jolson reborn."

"I would want to be a big singer, a Broadway performer, bringing joy to the world," he elaborated. Lefkowitz gets to fulfill that fantasy a bit.

"I do the nursing home circuit," he explained.

For many years he has performed at nursing homes around the state singing Al Jolson songs and tunes from the 20s, 30s and 40s and bringing joy to hundreds of folks who appreciate the tunes of yesteryear that he performs.

Lefkowitz began his career as a cantor, so he certainly has the pipes for it. And performing also is in his genes -- His grandfather actually performed in black face in the 1930s.

But although he craves the limelight, Lefkowitz said he wouldn't do it for the fame and fortune.

"Just being out on the stage would be great."

Art frees the soul

If only the call of Judaism hadn't beckoned her, Rabbi Debra Cantor might be selling funky jewelry on the craft show circuit.

When asked what she would be if not a rabbi, she didn't skip a beat n "A polymer clay artist," she said matter-of-factly.

"Polymer clay is like Femo. You can make jewelry with it. You make it in the oven. It is a very creative material," Cantor explained.

"I am artsy," she continued. "When I sort of need to go ‘some place else' I make things. A lot of my job is very intellectual and others are very practical and problem-solving. Doing crafts uses different parts of my brain. When I escape into this, it seems to free my soul up and nourish me. It enables me to love my day job."

When she was growing up, Debra Cantor says she didn't want to be a rabbi or an artist.

"When I was a kid, I wanted to marry a rabbi, because women were not rabbis at that time."

Now that she has gone beyond that illustrious dream n to become an esteemed spiritual leader herself n she dreams of making jewelry, and plans to turn part of her home's basement into a craft studio.

"If I weren't a rabbi I could see myself selling my stuff and going to workshops," she said wistfully.

‘If I were a rich man…'

"That's easy," said Rabbi Jon Haddon when asked what he would love to be if he were not a rabbi. "A philanthropist."

"As much as I love being a rabbi I wish I were in a position to be more of a mover and shaker in the Jewish community," Haddon explained.

But alas. He adds that the salary he makes as rabbi of Temple Shearith Israel in Ridgefield does not put him in the philanthropist category.

So how would this philanthropy be funded?

"I would have had to inherit some money," he laughed.

"Rabbis are able to have a certain amount of influence, but no power," he added. "If you needed a new senior center at a Hebrew Home, I would like to be able to say, ‘Forget about all the committee meetings, here is the money, build your building."

Living his fantasy

For one Connecticut rabbi, his fantasy job for years was to be …a rabbi.

"I always, always, always wanted to be a rabbi. Even my high school year book said it," Andrew Hechtman recalls.

But despite working for a time for United Synagogue as a youth director in Washington and Boston, Hechtman decided he needed to enter the business world after the birth of his first son for financial reasons.

Hechtman worked in the wine import business for 15 years, then owned his own restaurant for five years before realizing "I wasn't fulfilled."

He entered The Academy for Jewish Religion and was ordained in 2003. He now leads Congregation Kol Ami in Cheshire and teaches Bible and rabbinics at Ezra Academy in Woodbridge. So for Hechtman, "My fantasy is being a rabbi," he laughed.