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Community Corner

Temple Israel's Rabbi Allen Bennett

"Being willing to help when asked is nice. I think it's really important to find ways to be helpful or nurturing without being asked or before being asked."

From the age of five, Allen Bennett knew he wanted to be a rabbi. His family attended a Reform Temple in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. One day, his friend said, "Let's play Temple. Allen you be the rabbi." And Allen, unsure of the role but intimidated by the big kid, agreed. 

When Bennett got home that day and told his mother he was going to be a rabbi, her response was, "that's nice.  Now why don't you go out and play in traffic?!"  Over time, though, Bennett's interest grew and with his parents' eventual support, he attended Hebrew Union College, graduating in 1974.

For the past 14 years, Bennett, 64, has been the Rabbi at Temple Israel, Alameda's only synagogue. Located on Bay Farm, Temple Israel was founded 90 years ago and currently serves 140 families. About half of the couples are interfaith, meaning one partner is not Jewish.

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"We do our best to integrate everybody into the community," says Bennett. 

As the leader of a small congregation, Rabbi Bennett does it all: he conducts services, teaches classes, counsels members of the community, visits people in hospitals and nursing homes, and takes care of the nuts and bolts operational details of running the synagogue.  Jokingly, Bennett says he scrubs floors, does window, goes shopping, whatever it takes.

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What's the best thing about being a rabbi?  The unexpected opportunity to serve people in ways that I would never have guessed about. Over the years, finding that I was able to teach things I never knew I knew.  To connect people with each other. Discovering aspects of my own faith tradition.

The clergy is a helping profession. Being willing to help when asked is nice. I think it's really important to find ways to be helpful or nurturing without being asked or before being asked.

What do you think about Alameda? It's a small community, and I believe it is an island in space and time.  When you drive across the bridge, it's clean, well-kept and peaceful.  It seems like it's 1955 here.  Despite Measure E not passing, Alameda has been known for its support of the schools.

It's a small town where people tend to know each other.  People are involved in the community.  There are solid values of appreciating family, appreciating good education, hard work, community responsibility, neighborliness  and interdependence.

Take the situation with SunCal. There was a huge outcry on both sides because people are really invested in the future of this community. They care enough to scream a lot. That's small town. I like that and appreciate that.

Since I've been here, I've known each of the mayors in town.  That's much more likely in a small town than a big town.  For example, I really hit it off with Ralph Appezzatto (may he rest in peace) and that really shouldn't have happened.  He was a politically conservative ex-Marine, and I'm a solidly left-of-center liberal kind of guy.  I know several of the cops on a first-name basis.  Wherever I go—banks, post office, grocery stores—people know each other by name and they ask about family members by name. 

And that cuts across the political and religious lines? Yes, it does.  In Alameda, we have a ministerial association.  We appreciate each other and understand how important it is to be allies from the religious community. 

What do you do for fun? I love to travel and I love to learn.  Last year I went to Denmark, Germany and France.  My newest passion is photographing waterfalls.

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