Rabbi David Teitelbaum

Not long after I arrived in SF to serve part-time in a SF pulpit (Ner Tamid) having taken early retirement after a very serious cancer diagnosis, I was asked by the SF Police Dept to become their new Jewish Chaplain bc Rabbi David T was retiring. I had served as a chaplain for 2 years in southeast Asia during Vietnam and followed that as a volunteer Police Chaplain when I was discharged and took a pulpit in Los Angeles. !0 years later San Diego PD, and then in about 2002 or 03 here in SF. So they had my name. I knew David from years of conventions for the RA and got to know him better through the Board of Rabbis of No Cal, and appreciated his calm demeanor and wise perspectives about all things Jewish, the rabbinate, interfaith activities and balancing all that with a commitment to justice and social action. So before accepting the appointment I went to visit him at his home in RC. He encouraged me to take it, promised it would not take too much time from my schedule. I was no longer showing signs of the disease so I told David I'm open to accepting the position as his replacement. He went to the closet and brought back two sets of his police uniform - they were my size. "Moshe," he said, you can have it all, even the hat and belt. But you can't have my star. I'm going to keep that as a reminder of having been a part of the establishment at least once in my life!" I still have David's uniform (see in photo above worn for my swearing in ceremony by the late Jewish Assistant Chief Morryie Tabak), and I'm still active as a SFPD chaplain - in fact I've joined the faculty at the SF Police Academy, lecturing (non-Covid) weekly on Police Ethics & Minority Communities Relations to experienced officers and recruits. We were about the same size, but it turns out that, while its as fancy as the Police Chief's, with stripes on the cuffs etc., it never gets worn except at memorials like the one for 9/11. The Department sent me to their uniform supplier for my own, but I said I'd prefer to wear Rabbi Teitelbaum's - but I took the new shirt! I got to know David better when he became the p/t director of the Board of Rabbis and kept the organization running. But wearing his uniform has always made me feel closer to him. Unfortunately, we never got to share experiences we each had as chaplains for the Police, but I'm sure he had many interesting stories as I did over the years. Zeher Shoter Livrakha!