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Ramblingsofatexanrabbi.Pdf Ramblings of a Texan Rabbi Jimmy Kessler Jimmy Kessler Ramblings of a Texan Rabbi © 2020, Jimmy Kessler, All Rights Reserved Not for Publication. E-mail: [email protected] Web: http://www.jimmykessler.com Design and formatting by K.L. Thompson Dedicated To Shelley, My Better Half Contents Birth...................................................................2 High School .......................................................3 UT Undergraduate Recollections......................40 HUC Recollections ...........................................53 Hillel‘s Director‘s Recollections ......................95 Alexandria, LA Recollections .........................120 Road to the Island, Twice ..............................130 Biographies ....................................................174 Ramblings of a Texan Rabbi Birth Just for the record I was born on December 10, 1945 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Houston. I’m told that in those days almost all the nurses were Roman Catholic Nuns. It is interesting that so many Jewish kids were born in that hospital that they had a “bris room”. Actually it was a large meeting room where not only could the circumcision take place, but so could the reception afterward. I attended Sutton Elementary, Roberts Elementary, Pershing Jr. High and San Jacinto Senior High, graduating in January, 1964. I attended the University of Texas and graduated with a major in Zoology and minor in Chemistry and Psychology. I then attended the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati and Jerusalem, 1967-1972. 2 High School YOU JUST NEVER KNOW Over the past 29 years of serving Congregation B’nai Israel in Galveston I’ve been privileged to speak in various churches in the area. Once in a while I’d see someone I had encountered before or on the Island. Then there was the Sunday I was asked to speak at a Methodist church in Dickinson. I shall not mention the name on purpose but I was the guest speaker in place of the sermon. I sat through the service and then the pastor introduced me. My topic was Judaism and the Bible. The real topic, however, of most of these visits is usually “ask anything and everything you ever wanted to know about Judaism or the Old Testament since we have a Rabbi captive.” Candidly, I love it. It’s a wonderful way to teach and more over to correct misconceptions. That given Sunday was no exception. There were about 100 or so folk present and there was no shortage of questions. To establish my legitimacy, I usually note that I am a native Houstonian, I went to San Jacinto Senior High and I graduated from the University of Texas when it was “THE” University of Texas and had no “at” in the title. As I was proceeding into my standard spiel about my Rabbinic 3 training, a lady in the back of the room raised her had with a question. I couldn’t see her well, but I readily called on her. In a loud, clear voice, she asked, “So why did you go to San Jac?” It immediately struck me that I was in trouble cause no one would use that phrase “San Jac” unless they had been there as well; and, I never remember names or faces as my wife can attest to. Before I could get out much of an answer, she continued by asking, “and why didn’t you ever go out for drama if you were going to become a Rabbi?” Thankfully before I could get both feet in my mouth to bite down, she walked down front and with a broad smile said, “Hi, I’m Bennie Nipper, your 10th grade English teacher.” I was dumbstruck. After a big hug, I stood back and declared, “you don’t look any older than you did in your class room.” I then continued to sing her praises to those who were present. Mrs. Nipper was a wonderful teacher. She used to remind us that Gale Storm had gone to San Jac and hanging in that classroom was the plaque given to the school by the “This Is Your Life” television show for the outstanding drama student each year. More over she went on to mention the names of a dozen or so folk with whom I had gone to school. I remember that she always attracted the “most different” kids in the school. They were the folk who wanted to be in theatre and dressed for it on a daily basis. My great daring was that I 4 played the oboe in the band with Mr. Elkins. Bennie Nipper explained that she stayed in the area and founded and was the director of the Bay Area Harbour Playhouse in Dickinson. Thankfully she is still going strong in her 80’s. It’s one of those funny things in life that we at various times encounter folk with whom we have walked in the past. Clearly this was a wonderful blessing for me. Fortunately, she had some nice things to say about me. SO WHERE WERE YOU? I’m sure that everyone already knows that this question refers to where you were when President John Kennedy was murdered. I was in my last semester at San Jac. Those were the days of mid-term graduates for us who were born after September. I was headed to the University of Texas which was/is located in Austin in January. However, before then I was still in high school. The day before the President was shot, I was in a mass band on the field of Rice Stadium playing Hail To The Chief as he was driven around the field in an open convertible. Given the location our band director, Bill Elkins, obtained for us, the Golden Bear Band members could reach out and touch the 5 President if we had the nerve. On the next day, Friday, November 22, 1963, I was sitting in Mrs. Margaret Moore’s Civics’ class. A notice came over the PA system of the shooting and Mrs. Moore rushed out of the classroom. In a while she returned with very red eyes, a handkerchief over her face. I later learned that she had been a part of his welcoming committee the day before when he was in Houston. She was very active in the Texas Democratic party. I remember that she didn’t say much. Now and then one of us would talk to each other. I really don’t remember if we got out early and I don’t remember much more about the time in the class. However, I do remember how upset Mrs. Moore was, as she was one of my favorite teachers. It’s funny how we remember significant events. A goodly number of those in my life took place in my three years at San Jac. If you permit, I’ll share some more. J. P. Finfrock Lore Though I sat in J.P.Finfrock’s chemistry class in 1962, I am sure that many other Golden Bears from decades back will remember him well. A very thin, skeletal looking gentleman, his gentle approach to the vast world of chemistry was incredibly seductive. In college, I minored in that field at UT because of him. Interestingly Mr. Finfrock went to college before atomic energy 6 was described. As a result, he never taught that unit to us about nuclear energy. Instead his inorganic lectures and most especially his organic chemistry presentations were memorable. More over while many of my college classmates struggled through organic, I found it easily manageable thanks to Mr. F. Mr. Finfrock was obviously one of those devoted to teaching. He graduated from Rice in the days when it was Rice Institute and was tuition free. Though he didn’t complete his master’s degree, his thesis was a collection of high school classroom experiments on how to teach inorganic and organic chemistry. After a brief conversation, Mr. Finfrock allowed me and Jack Izakson to sign up for a two-person study hall with him. During that hour we set up demonstrations and experiments for future classes. In addition, he gave us more advanced experiments to try. I tried one. I tried it during a parent’s night when he asked Jack and me to come in and run some experiments for visitors to the lab. Unfortunately, I forgot to turn on the exhaust fan that was to pull out the blue vapors the chemicals produced. As a result, not only was there cloud of blue smoke in the room, but it stained the inside of the vent hood a deep blue. Thankfully Mr. F never said too much about it. My class was one of those mid-terms graduating groups. As our gift to the school, we established the J. P. Finfrock Award for the graduating senior who demonstrated a particular interest in science. The last time I visited the campus, I was pleased to see 7 the plaque on display with the names of the students so honored. Over the years, I have encountered numerous San Jac grads that had similar memories about Mr. Finfrock. Certainly, he was one of the many outstanding teachers that kept San Jacinto in the forefront of Texas high schools. WHAT DOES YOUR FATHER DO? I’m sure you know about the National Honor Society and it’s importance in high school. Well, some of us who weren’t sure we’d ever qualify for NHS membership discovered that there was also a National Spanish Honor Society. It was called Circulo Amistad and if you were a member, it was recorded on your transcript. So, we persuaded our Spanish teacher, Ms. Esther Trevino, to become the sponsor and San Jacinto High School had a new honor society. As one of our programs, we organized a tour of the Houston port on their tour ship, the Houston.
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