I got to talking about Rabbi David Small yesterday--the hero of Harry Kemelman's series of detective novels. I am now lending Friday the Rabbi Slept Late to my friend at work with whom I've been discussing Jewish matters.
I have read these little gems for many years--since I was a teenager, I think. David Small is a young rabbi who's just arrived at a suburban Massachusetts congregation. He's wise, and besides dealing with his congregation, who fight amoug themselves and often want to do things contrary to Jewish law and practice, he ends up helping the local police chief (Catholic) to solve crimes. He uses his developed skills from Jewish Talmud study as his weapon.
In the first novel, he's actually a suspect, which starts out the relationship with the chief. This is the first novel, but there's a Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and more from Kemelman, and in them we see the rabbi mature, become a father twice, and even watch him spend a year in Israel at one point.
But what a hero he is. He's like Detective Columbo, quietly finding the truth while others blindly stumble along. He doesn't care about status, regular haircuts or fancy clothes, but he gains the respect of his congregation as he becomes a fixture of the community.
My copy of Friday the Rabbi Slept Late is a tired, fragile paperback--the kind that used to sell for 50 cents. Its pages may be yellowed, but the book is still relevant--almost 50 years since it debuted in 1964.
Rabbi Small is still a hero for every smart, glasses-wearing Jewish kid.
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