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David Small, America’s favorite rabbi — and most unorthodox sleuth — is back again in his best mystery yet. Somewhere between the Passover service and a plot to unseat part of his congregation, Rabbi David Small finds himself caught up with some very non-kosher characters in a baffling case of murder, marijuana, and militants. A superb blend of hair-splitting logic and hair-raising suspense, the Rabbi’s new adventure is indisputable entertainment. … More >>
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Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home
In this tale David Small is in his mid thirties. He has been at Barnard’s Crossing for six years. The rabbi is going away on a trip. He agrees to give Ben Gorfinkle’s son a ride back from college.
Temple politics are driving David a little crazy. He sees himself in the traditional role as rabbi– scholar and teacher. The man who speaks to the temple congregation in David’s stead urges the creation of a social action fund. His words do not please the older more staid members of the congregation.
David is substituting for Rabbi Dorfman at Hillel House. He draws about twenty five worshippers to the service. He explains to Father Bennett, a Catholic chaplain, that Jews are content with the human level, they do not aspire to sainthood.
Some of the issues vexing the members of the temple at Barnard’s Crossing are that Board Members under Wasserman, Becker, and even Schwartz were chosen because they worked for the temple or at least it was hoped they would work for the temple in the future. The new trend, derived from participation in large business orgnizations, of men such as Ben Gorfinkle the current president, is that majority stockholders take over all of the top jobs and fill the board of directors with their own men.
Wasserman reports to Rabbi Small that Gorfinkle’s committee arppointments are liable to start a fight. Some of the older members want to oppose the new people by founding another synagogue. By tradition the rabbi holds an open house for the returning college students. Stu Gorfinkle reports to his father that the rabbi has said in regard to an impending split of the congregation that he would serve neither group. Stu feels the rabbi is straight talking.
The rabbi had a personal friendship with the first president, Wasserman, and the support of the two subsequent presidents, Becker and Schwartz. Gorfinkle summons David to a meeting and his words seem to come directly from a personnel manual. Gorfinkle points out that sometimes originators of an organization get puffed up with their own importance. In the end David says angrily that he does not need a temple or synagogue to fulfill his function as the leader of the Jewish community of Barnard’s Crossing.
Gorfinkle is chided by his brother-in-law, a newspaper editor, over his treatment of the rabbi. A young man dies of alcohol poisoning or another cause in an empty house. For the sake of temple harmony Gorfinkle’s nominee to head the ritual committee declines to serve in the post. The structure viewed as a possible place to house the new synagogue is the place the boy died and is, thus, unsuitable. In any event, the congregation does not split.
I know I’m 40 years late reading these rabbi detective stories, but even back then there were better mysteries. Too much buildup, and very little mystery. And what an unpleasant buildup: paints a picture of Boston-area Conservative Jewish synagogues which is all infighting and very little Jewish spirit. Even the social activism is described cynically. If you’re writing fiction, there could have been other, better things to emphasize. I certainly hope that it was _not_ taken as “a primer to instruct the Gentile” (Anthony Boucher, New York Times Book Review, in the book jacket reviews)! Ok, the mystery was clever, with all the clues waiting the moment the first (and only) unsavory character appears. And I admit I read to the end. Maybe others in the series were better.
This 1969 story is the third in the Rabbi Small series.
It is springtime in Bernard’s Crossing and the local Jewish community is preparing for Passover, children are making plans to return for the holiday and it is also time for the Temple Brotherhood to begin planning for the upcoming year. The Temple has been growing and has begun to divide into two factions, one favoring social action and the other preferring the status quo but both united in their occasional frustrations with Rabbi Small. These matters of Temple politics are forced into a backseat when some college aged members of the congregation are implicated in the death of a young man. Rabbi Small again rises to the challenge of solving the crime and sorting out the various disputes within the congregation.
There are tell tale signs of the age of this novel, the spelling of ‘marihuana’as opposed to marijuana, referring to blacks as Negroes among others but overall the story has retained it’s appeal. As always with this series the mystery is secondary to the characters and depiction of life in the Temple and the small New England town. Most mystery fans will be able to pick out the culprit long before the final pages but the suspense of how the various Temple issues will turn out will continue to keep the reader guessing until the end.