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When the pioneers of our congregation are enumerated, my dad Morrie Rischall is right there at the top of the list. So, in reflecting on the Rischalls’ role in building a congregation engaged with the Jewish people, near and far, past and present, I don’t feel compelled to speak of my dad. His memory is alive, as is proven to me every time I pass through our halls and am reminded by passers-by how much he is missed. No, for this vignette I’d like to write about Morrie’s better half, my mother Ruth (a.k.a. Rebecca) Rischall, known by my dad as Rifkah, who in her own right played a pivotal role in shaping who we are as a congregation.
As we sit in the round, all facing each other and Beth Jacob’s thrust beemah, with light pouring down through the cupola that adorns the roof of our building, we are experiencing an atmosphere envisioned by Ruth as a member of the building committee. Her purpose was to evoke the synagogue of an Eastern European shtetel, a link to our ancestors, and our tradition, and to bring us closer to each other by enhancing participatory worship. But her contributions were more than architectural and aesthetic. Throughout her life she championed women’s rights and the idea of egalitarian ritual centered in the synagogue, and in our synagogue in particular, whose central space she would come to shape. She, with others, have created one of the most traditional, participatory and egalitarian congregations I have ever experienced.
In truth, my parents were a complete package. My mother, the intellectual, supported Dad’s devoted leadership in the Jewish community, educating him and influencing him to understand the need for co-equal participation by men and women alike, while my dad provided the spiritual, with his innate understanding of prayer and deep conviction. The two of them together, bound by their mutual love for each other, for the Jewish people, and particularly for this congregation, have enriched us all. In so doing they have helped forge a modern Judaism in the spirit of, and closely connected to, our tradition, its values, and spirit.
David Rischall
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