1 00:00:08,680 --> 00:00:13,080 Speaker 1: When I was five, or even thirty, or even thirty five, 2 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:16,159 Speaker 1: If you asked me what was more likely, would you 3 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:18,040 Speaker 1: be a rabbi or would you walk on the moon? 4 00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:22,239 Speaker 1: I would have said walk on the moon because I 5 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:24,479 Speaker 1: had no inclination to be a rabbi. I had no 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,200 Speaker 1: desire to be a rabbi, and it just was this 7 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:32,080 Speaker 1: path that I started on. I had no concept, probably 8 00:00:32,120 --> 00:00:34,639 Speaker 1: for the first of the journey that I was on 9 00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: a journey. It's a total surprise. Careers often take surprising turns. 10 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: Before j schue Back became a rabbi, he sold life 11 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: insurance and worked as a psychologist, and before all that 12 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 1: he was almost a professional actor. Now he's been a 13 00:00:52,600 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: rabbi in Central organ for the past eighteen years, by 14 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: far his steadiest job. On this edition of On the Job, 15 00:01:00,760 --> 00:01:04,280 Speaker 1: brought to you by Express Employment Professionals, we'll hear his 16 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: story of finding meaningful work in the last place he 17 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: would have thought to look. I'm your host, Steve Mencher. 18 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: If you want to find your next job, or if 19 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: you're a company hoping to grow your workforce, Express Employment 20 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: Professionals is for you. Find more information at express pros 21 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:27,800 Speaker 1: dot com. Now among those surprised by j Schupak's decision 22 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:31,920 Speaker 1: to become a rabbi, his son, producer Joel Shupac, who 23 00:01:31,959 --> 00:01:47,080 Speaker 1: brings us this story. It's Friday afternoon, just before sunset, 24 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 1: and I'm running down a quiet street in Bend, Oregon 25 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:57,200 Speaker 1: with Jay, my father. Why are we running? We're running, 26 00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:01,880 Speaker 1: We're not interviewing seventy have to count my steps. This 27 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:05,240 Speaker 1: is new. He's always been a serious walker. He walks 28 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,320 Speaker 1: every day for at least an hour. But now running, 29 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: that's good. Earlier in his office, I did notice a 30 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: small sign on his desk that my mom must have painted. 31 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:21,399 Speaker 1: She's an artist. It read Jay can run. Why Why 32 00:02:21,400 --> 00:02:24,000 Speaker 1: did I make you that sign? Because I asked her. 33 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: I wanted an affirmation that says Jay can run because 34 00:02:30,040 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: I was always told I couldn't run when I was little. 35 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: When my dad was a kid, he had asthma that 36 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: was so severe he really couldn't run. On the other hand, 37 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: if you tell J. Shoepack there's something he can't do, 38 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:44,360 Speaker 1: there's a good chance will make a special effort to 39 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: prove you wrong, even if it takes fifty years. It 40 00:02:47,520 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: doesn't say how far. On the side steps at least 41 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:56,840 Speaker 1: After the short run, we're back to walking off of 42 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:00,560 Speaker 1: the neighborhood streets and into a park, although it's less 43 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:02,920 Speaker 1: of a park and more of a sliver of undeveloped 44 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:07,360 Speaker 1: land full of juniper trees, sage brush, and craggy volcanic 45 00:03:07,440 --> 00:03:10,640 Speaker 1: rock outcroppings. Is this always where you write your sermons 46 00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:17,320 Speaker 1: when you're walking? Um? Ever since I got a smartphone? Yeah, 47 00:03:17,480 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: if I wasn't there walking with him, my dad would 48 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: certainly be talking to himself. It's a trade I've picked 49 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:26,080 Speaker 1: up too. He uses this time alone to compose his thoughts, 50 00:03:26,480 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: speaking them into his phone. When he comes up with 51 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: something good, I just hit record and there it is, 52 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: and it automatically saves it into a file. He shows 53 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: me an example of the sermon he's working on, and 54 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: God says, come, I will take your hand, and we 55 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:48,520 Speaker 1: won't go together to see. So this is kindness taking 56 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:52,320 Speaker 1: my hand. Right. But long before Rabbi j was talking 57 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: to himself in a tiny stretch of wilderness, he was 58 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 1: a boy, a boy who was told he couldn't run. 59 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: I was born in Berwick, Pennsylvania, and we lived on 60 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:06,440 Speaker 1: a nice little street, very middle class. Berwick is a 61 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: small town on the Susquehanna River. A few years after 62 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:12,560 Speaker 1: he was born, they moved up to Kingston, Pennsylvania, about 63 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,880 Speaker 1: thirty miles upriver. His father, my grandfather, Charlie, had his 64 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: own business. He was good with numbers, and he was 65 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:24,960 Speaker 1: good with people, and he was persistent, and he worked 66 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: hard and and he made a living. He didn't make 67 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:32,000 Speaker 1: a great living, but he made a living. And that 68 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:34,640 Speaker 1: work ethic really made an impression on my dad. It 69 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:39,279 Speaker 1: was a particularly entrepreneurial work ethoic that you that you 70 00:04:39,440 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: created something out of nothing, that you saw an opportunity, 71 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: or you risked your time and your money to multiply both. 72 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:50,719 Speaker 1: I mean that's the idea. When Jay was quite young, 73 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 1: he took that spirit and started selling TV guides throughout 74 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:56,280 Speaker 1: the neighborhood. He could buy them in bulk for thirteen 75 00:04:56,320 --> 00:04:59,039 Speaker 1: cents apiece and sell them for a quarter. Was that 76 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 1: your first job. It wasn't a job, it was a business. 77 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: I mean, that's the difference, you see. Because I was 78 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:10,120 Speaker 1: responsible for ordering them, and I was responsible for they 79 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: would deliver them once a week to my house, and 80 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:14,120 Speaker 1: I had to count them and make sure if I 81 00:05:14,200 --> 00:05:16,479 Speaker 1: ordered twenty seven, I got twenty seven and let's say 82 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:18,920 Speaker 1: two of the covers were ripped. I had to get 83 00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: credit and then I would deliver them, and then I'd 84 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,000 Speaker 1: have to collect at the end of the month. I 85 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,279 Speaker 1: had to keep records. I had to keep track. I hadn't. 86 00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,040 Speaker 1: I had to understand, you know, the profit and laws. 87 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:33,719 Speaker 1: Now these are very small numbers. You understand a TV 88 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: guy was a quarter. But it's the same exact idea. 89 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:39,719 Speaker 1: You just add a few zeros and you got a 90 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:42,640 Speaker 1: real business. You know. So, how old were you when 91 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: you were doing that? I think I was eight. Later 92 00:05:46,920 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: he mowed lawns, old flowers. I worked at restaurants. I 93 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,520 Speaker 1: was scrubbing pots and dishes, and you know, I did 94 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,239 Speaker 1: bus boying where I would clear the tables and scrape 95 00:05:56,279 --> 00:05:59,160 Speaker 1: all the food they didn't eat. I worked in a 96 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: shoe store for a while. Um, and then I ran 97 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:05,040 Speaker 1: the bowling alley at the j c C for a while. 98 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: These were all just summer jobs that he did up 99 00:06:07,200 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: through high school, a way to make some spending money, 100 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: but nothing he was ever very excited about. But then 101 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,520 Speaker 1: in his senior year he tried something new. He went 102 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,080 Speaker 1: out for the school play Fiddler on the Roof. You know, 103 00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: I almost didn't go into that play because they were 104 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,840 Speaker 1: going to do tryouts or something. I couldn't. I didn't 105 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:27,360 Speaker 1: know where they were, you know, they were, they were 106 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: like downstairs. All the other doors were locked except one 107 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: door was opened in the whole high school. And I 108 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: almost went home, and I wouldn't have been in the play, 109 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 1: but I just like went. I tried one more door 110 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:40,039 Speaker 1: and it was open, and I walked in and I 111 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,000 Speaker 1: heard voices, and there they were, and you know, he 112 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,719 Speaker 1: found the audition and got himself apart very little. Nowadays, 113 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: my dad has a saying, the most securely locked door 114 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,560 Speaker 1: is the one you don't even try to open. Good advice. 115 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 1: I couldn't have a big part. I didn't want more 116 00:06:56,360 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: than a few lines because I didn't have time to 117 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:00,520 Speaker 1: learn it and I wouldn't be able to reheard. He 118 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 1: was on the gymnastics team and their practice was at 119 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:05,839 Speaker 1: the same time as the play rehearsal. So I had 120 00:07:06,720 --> 00:07:10,160 Speaker 1: the smallest part, which is the Rabbi. That's right, the Rabbi. 121 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 1: He only had a handful of lines, all of them 122 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:17,360 Speaker 1: comic relief. In the opening scene, someone asked the Rabbi 123 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:20,360 Speaker 1: if there's a proper blessing for the Czar, the ruler 124 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: of Russia, who was certainly no friend of the Jews. 125 00:07:23,760 --> 00:07:27,920 Speaker 1: The rabbi says, of course, make God bless and keep 126 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:32,720 Speaker 1: the tzar far far away from us. The rabbi role 127 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: is a very minor role, so that could go like 128 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 1: from the gym, and I could run down the hall 129 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:41,760 Speaker 1: and you know, jump on stage and do my little 130 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:43,760 Speaker 1: thing and then run back to the gym. I mean 131 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: when you when you talk about father on the roof 132 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: when I was a kid, you talked about it like 133 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: you were you were like, you stole the show. I 134 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:52,640 Speaker 1: think it's a strong statement to say I stole the 135 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:55,920 Speaker 1: show because there was some wonderful actors, but I was special. 136 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:59,680 Speaker 1: I had a special presence. Um. You know how in 137 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: everyone comes out for the for the final bow, and 138 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:06,200 Speaker 1: everybody comes on to stage and and there was a 139 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:13,120 Speaker 1: very very significant rise in the level of applause when 140 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 1: I came out. You know, that was that's for sure. 141 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: And then when people wanted my autograph, that was a 142 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: big deal because I was like, what are you kidding? Autograph? 143 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: What I'm I'm Frank Sinatra. All of a sudden, you 144 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: know what is that? He thought that theater could really 145 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:31,960 Speaker 1: be something to pursue. Well, I really like theater. I 146 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:35,440 Speaker 1: mean it was it was great. I could learn lines 147 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,840 Speaker 1: really well. It wasn't a problem for me. I'm good 148 00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: with my voice, you know. So I after we graduated 149 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:44,520 Speaker 1: from high school, he saw an opportunity and he took it. 150 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 1: There was a traveling Shakespearean company that they would once 151 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 1: a year, they'd come through. They'd go through all the 152 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: little towns and they'd look for talent. They came to 153 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:55,280 Speaker 1: Wikesparian and they had to try out at the y 154 00:08:55,360 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: m c A. And I went there and I tried out. 155 00:08:58,920 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 1: I sang something for them, and I did a little 156 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:04,320 Speaker 1: monologue thing, and they said, great, you know you're in. 157 00:09:04,400 --> 00:09:06,360 Speaker 1: We'd like you to come back to New York. But 158 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:09,160 Speaker 1: his acting ambitions were about to collide with one of 159 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: the biggest natural disasters of the time. And then I 160 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: drove home and it might have been nine o'clock at night, 161 00:09:14,040 --> 00:09:16,160 Speaker 1: and my tires got wet on the Pure Street bridge. 162 00:09:16,360 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: His tires got wet because the Susquehanna River had risen 163 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:22,720 Speaker 1: to the height of the bridge. It was Hurricane Agnes, 164 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: which was flooding much of the East coast. That night, 165 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:30,760 Speaker 1: the river continued to rise, and the next morning Pinky 166 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: shim Will came over and knocked on our door very 167 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:36,760 Speaker 1: loudly to wake us up and to tell us that 168 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: we had to evacuate, that we were being evacuated. And 169 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: then we went to Hazelton, which is where my parents 170 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: are from, and we had a place to stay there, 171 00:09:47,800 --> 00:09:50,520 Speaker 1: and we lived in Hazelton for three months until we 172 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: could go back home. Yeah, the destruction of his town 173 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:57,360 Speaker 1: was severe. We had twenty one of water on my 174 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: street and and there was someone else's if was on 175 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:02,880 Speaker 1: our front yard when we came home, and our garage 176 00:10:02,920 --> 00:10:05,679 Speaker 1: had floated and turned around so that we're used to 177 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: drive into it was now you know, a wall you 178 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:11,679 Speaker 1: could I mean, it was uninhabitable and we had to 179 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:16,400 Speaker 1: clean everything out, wet carpet with six inches of mud 180 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:21,199 Speaker 1: on it. Everything was ruined. It was a biblical end 181 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:24,240 Speaker 1: to his acting career. Instead of moving to New York 182 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:26,840 Speaker 1: and joining the Shakespeare Troupe, he stayed home with his 183 00:10:26,880 --> 00:10:30,079 Speaker 1: family and helped them rebuild their lives. He never got 184 00:10:30,120 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: back into theater. This was also a time he grew 185 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:36,599 Speaker 1: further away from the religion. He grew up with. You know, 186 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:40,520 Speaker 1: I was raised very Orthodox, and then I really went 187 00:10:40,640 --> 00:10:43,080 Speaker 1: very far away from it. You know, I didn't really 188 00:10:43,120 --> 00:10:44,800 Speaker 1: want much to do with it. I didn't go to 189 00:10:44,920 --> 00:10:48,520 Speaker 1: services for a long, long, long time. Despite that, he 190 00:10:48,600 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: did have a strong connection to Israel and lived there 191 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:55,000 Speaker 1: in his early twenties. Then he met my mom in California. 192 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 1: They got married and moved to Israel together, where my 193 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:00,520 Speaker 1: dad worked as a psychologist and I did. I was 194 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 1: licensed there as a psychologist, but then it didn't it 195 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:07,079 Speaker 1: just wasn't that fulfilling and it didn't pay very well. 196 00:11:07,120 --> 00:11:10,000 Speaker 1: I made like three a month. Then we came back 197 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 1: to America. I didn't really have a path. I didn't 198 00:11:13,760 --> 00:11:16,520 Speaker 1: really I want to be a you know, fill in 199 00:11:16,559 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 1: the blank. I didn't want to be as something. I 200 00:11:18,559 --> 00:11:21,680 Speaker 1: never really wanted to be as something. Then what what 201 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:28,360 Speaker 1: motivated you? What do you mean what drove you? If 202 00:11:28,400 --> 00:11:31,000 Speaker 1: you didn't have some passion to be something, then what 203 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:36,040 Speaker 1: was motivating you? Um? So my motivation was money, I guess. 204 00:11:36,080 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 1: In other words, I had to pay for things had 205 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 1: I had a wife and a kid and we had 206 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,160 Speaker 1: basically no money. So I had to find a job. 207 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: So I I joined this thing called Haldane, and they 208 00:11:49,960 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 1: taught you how to find a job, how to network 209 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,839 Speaker 1: that you write letters, you tell people. I understand you 210 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 1: don't have anything for me, but I'd like to come 211 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 1: in and show you what I'm trying to do, and 212 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:03,240 Speaker 1: maybe you'll know someone who might or maybe you could 213 00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,400 Speaker 1: prefer me. It was this whole referral network thing, and 214 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: I borrowed money to do it. That was like three 215 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 1: thousand dollars in two That was a lot of money 216 00:12:13,679 --> 00:12:16,199 Speaker 1: for us. And one thing led to one thing led 217 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,120 Speaker 1: to one thing, and I got into the insurance business 218 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:23,920 Speaker 1: at Northwestern Mutual. All these insurance agencies will hire anybody 219 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:26,400 Speaker 1: because if you work out with them, then they make 220 00:12:26,440 --> 00:12:28,199 Speaker 1: money from you. And if you don't make commissions, you're 221 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:30,640 Speaker 1: gonna quit and they don't care. They it's a mill. 222 00:12:31,920 --> 00:12:34,439 Speaker 1: The guys are gone within a year and a half. Anyways, 223 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:36,839 Speaker 1: I made a living selling life insurance for a while. 224 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: It was hard, you know, it's prospecting and calling people 225 00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:46,199 Speaker 1: making appointments. Nobody wants to see about life insurance. So 226 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: I shifted my focus from death benefit to life benefit. 227 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:53,679 Speaker 1: In other words, that's why I shifted into pension planning. 228 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:56,800 Speaker 1: I started to do pension plans because you were not 229 00:12:56,840 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: talking about they didn't have to die to get the benefit. 230 00:13:00,440 --> 00:13:03,000 Speaker 1: They could live and get their benefit. How much better 231 00:13:03,040 --> 00:13:05,679 Speaker 1: is that? It would still be over a decade before 232 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,439 Speaker 1: he would find his true calling. In a moment, you'll 233 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:10,600 Speaker 1: hear about one night that sent him on a very 234 00:13:10,640 --> 00:13:14,440 Speaker 1: different path and what his life sounds like today. After 235 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: the break, you're listening to independent producer Joel Shupac and 236 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:24,080 Speaker 1: his father, Rabbi J. Shupac. On the Job is brought 237 00:13:24,080 --> 00:13:30,880 Speaker 1: to you by Express Employment Professionals. One company is on 238 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:33,600 Speaker 1: a mission to put a million people to work each year. 239 00:13:34,040 --> 00:13:36,800 Speaker 1: Sounds like a big number, doesn't it not to Express 240 00:13:36,800 --> 00:13:41,600 Speaker 1: Employment Professionals seeking a skilled labor position or administrative work. 241 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:45,080 Speaker 1: Maybe you're an executive looking for a career that fits supporting. 242 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:48,000 Speaker 1: We take pride in connecting the right people with the 243 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:51,640 Speaker 1: right company. Express Employment Professionals is on a mission to 244 00:13:51,679 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: put a million people to work each year. Let us help. 245 00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 1: We'll open doors for you to go to express pros 246 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:00,280 Speaker 1: dot com to find a location near you. And back 247 00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 1: to Rabbi J. Shupack story of finding meaningful work. When 248 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: we last heard from him, he was selling life insurance 249 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,560 Speaker 1: to support his young family. My dad sold life insurance 250 00:14:10,559 --> 00:14:13,440 Speaker 1: for ten years. At some point during that time he 251 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 1: started to fill a poll back to Judaism, the religion 252 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:21,280 Speaker 1: of his childhood. I was twenty eight and it was 253 00:14:21,360 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 1: Jung Kipoor and I hadn't been to services maybe in 254 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:29,960 Speaker 1: a decade, and I wanted to go to services. Yum 255 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: Kipoor is one of the most important Jewish holidays. If 256 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:36,600 Speaker 1: you're Jewish and not religious, but want to do something, 257 00:14:37,000 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: you'll probably go to services on Yom Kipor. Some synagogues 258 00:14:40,600 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: even have these removable walls that they open just so 259 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: they can fit all the people that only come once 260 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: a year. And Ela is the name of the service 261 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 1: that concludes Yum Kipor after a full day of fasting 262 00:14:52,720 --> 00:14:56,640 Speaker 1: and prayer. It's the final hour of the holiest day 263 00:14:56,720 --> 00:14:59,240 Speaker 1: on the Jewish calendar. I went from the Eli went 264 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: for the last hour of film Keyport, the most holy 265 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 1: hour of the year, the most powerful hour of the year, 266 00:15:06,560 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: and I had a very strong experience. I really felt 267 00:15:10,840 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: a connection to God. I felt communicated with In other words, 268 00:15:15,800 --> 00:15:18,080 Speaker 1: a lot of times you pray, or at least in 269 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:21,520 Speaker 1: the tradition, you pray, which means you're sort of talking 270 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 1: to God, and that's a one way conversation. That's that's 271 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: a monologue. And you don't know if you've heard. You 272 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:33,720 Speaker 1: don't know what it means, you don't know if there's 273 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,200 Speaker 1: any connection. You don't know anything. But on that day 274 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 1: I felt that I I asked and I got an answer, 275 00:15:43,560 --> 00:15:45,440 Speaker 1: and I said, you know, God, this is what I 276 00:15:45,480 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 1: need in my life, and I felt I got an answer. 277 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:51,160 Speaker 1: Pretty Soon, our whole family was going to services every week, 278 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: and pretty soon the rabbi there was asking you to 279 00:15:53,760 --> 00:15:56,440 Speaker 1: take part in the service. After all, he knew how 280 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,120 Speaker 1: to read Hebrew and had a great singing voice. Even 281 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:00,880 Speaker 1: though it had been ten years since he'd been to 282 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,680 Speaker 1: a service, he still remembered all the songs and prayers. 283 00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: Eventually he became what's called a cantor, someone who leads 284 00:16:08,280 --> 00:16:12,359 Speaker 1: the prayer and song. Meanwhile, he continued to sell life insurance, 285 00:16:12,720 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 1: then got into some other business ventures. Many years passed 286 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: and one day he was asked to lead a service 287 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: at a Jewish retirement home and I let it. And 288 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 1: then I did another one and another one, and I realized, 289 00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 1: oh that this is what I want to do. I 290 00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:30,520 Speaker 1: really like to do this. I don't want to be 291 00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:34,720 Speaker 1: a cantor so much, which is just someone who sings. 292 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: Turned to page sixty four. The cantor will now sing law. 293 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: You know, I didn't want to do that. I wanted 294 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:43,640 Speaker 1: to I like being the rabbit. I decided what was 295 00:16:43,680 --> 00:16:46,640 Speaker 1: in the service, what wasn't in the service, the pace 296 00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 1: of the service, the jokes, the whole thing, the style, 297 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 1: and I wanted to do that. And before then it 298 00:16:54,480 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 1: was just whatever was convenient, whatever worked, whatever I can 299 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:00,520 Speaker 1: make a buck at. It didn't matter to me. I'd 300 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:04,280 Speaker 1: sell flowers, I'd sell shoes, I'd cleaned pots and pans, 301 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:07,600 Speaker 1: i would sell life insurance. I didn't have any passion 302 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,520 Speaker 1: about any of it, really. But then the rabbi thing 303 00:17:10,880 --> 00:17:13,439 Speaker 1: was different because it was like, oh, this is what 304 00:17:13,520 --> 00:17:16,920 Speaker 1: I want to do, this is who I want to be. 305 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: Because of all of the Jewish education of his childhood, 306 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 1: he was able to get into this sort of fast 307 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:26,280 Speaker 1: track rabbinical program, and in a few years he was ordained. 308 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:29,679 Speaker 1: He started looking for a small town that needed a rabbi, 309 00:17:30,520 --> 00:17:34,160 Speaker 1: and one of those places was Bend, Oregon. When your 310 00:17:34,240 --> 00:17:37,159 Speaker 1: dad first showed up the first time, when he interviewed 311 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: with us, This is Alice Husky. She was part of 312 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:43,000 Speaker 1: the synagogue and bend Ah. He and your mom came 313 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,879 Speaker 1: up and they had a thing that they did at 314 00:17:46,880 --> 00:17:49,600 Speaker 1: the Sunday school, and so your mom and dad were 315 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:52,479 Speaker 1: in my classroom doing a puppet show. It's true. My 316 00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: mom is known to do puppet shows. And I was like, 317 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 1: who are these people with puppets? And then I realized, 318 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:01,679 Speaker 1: Oh my god, people are fun. This is not the 319 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:05,679 Speaker 1: normal rabbi kind of guy you're expecting. I've been Jewish 320 00:18:05,680 --> 00:18:07,680 Speaker 1: my whole life. When I became about Mitz for the 321 00:18:07,760 --> 00:18:10,320 Speaker 1: rabbi was this lofty person who you went into his 322 00:18:10,400 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: office and you sat across the big desk, and yeah, 323 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:15,920 Speaker 1: there was not a whole lot of warmth and connection. 324 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:19,800 Speaker 1: Rabbi j he is. He is really truly a good 325 00:18:19,880 --> 00:18:23,040 Speaker 1: leader in that respect that he's He's a person and 326 00:18:23,119 --> 00:18:27,120 Speaker 1: a rabbi. I have many rabbis that I loved, but 327 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,400 Speaker 1: Jay's my rabbi. He took that job eighteen years ago 328 00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:33,040 Speaker 1: and has been there ever since. What I really like 329 00:18:33,119 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 1: to do is to engage people in song and in 330 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:40,159 Speaker 1: prayer and and and a little talk and to and 331 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: to give people an experience that if I'm really lucky 332 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:51,359 Speaker 1: they get to experience what I experienced when I was 333 00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:55,359 Speaker 1: twenty eight on young poor. And I'm not even sure 334 00:18:56,080 --> 00:19:00,240 Speaker 1: if the people that come even of any idea that's 335 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:03,639 Speaker 1: what they're supposed to get. Some people go just because 336 00:19:03,680 --> 00:19:06,320 Speaker 1: their father went, or their mother winter, because their friend 337 00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:10,359 Speaker 1: is there or something else. But I go because I 338 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:16,159 Speaker 1: want to create the environment, create the space for people 339 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:20,639 Speaker 1: to get what I got so many years ago. And 340 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:25,359 Speaker 1: sometimes I succeed at it and sometimes I don't. What 341 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: Jay has definitely succeeded at is creating a welcoming synagogue 342 00:19:29,840 --> 00:19:32,680 Speaker 1: without any of the things that drove him away from religion, 343 00:19:33,119 --> 00:19:36,359 Speaker 1: which repeat flat on the floor from the reach and 344 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:40,280 Speaker 1: allow yourself to feel safe. I had memories of that. 345 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:45,800 Speaker 1: The rabbis were all about restriction. They were all about boundaries, narrowness, 346 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 1: all that stuff that I didn't like. And some things 347 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:52,680 Speaker 1: this week we gots on and some things we didn't 348 00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:57,000 Speaker 1: get time, and we forgive ourselves for what we didn't 349 00:19:57,000 --> 00:20:01,360 Speaker 1: get done. I mean, we had a service yesterday and 350 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:03,720 Speaker 1: we sang songs and we read from Torah and we 351 00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:11,040 Speaker 1: had a lot of joy. Yeah, and it didn't matter 352 00:20:11,080 --> 00:20:14,360 Speaker 1: how anybody was dressed Um, they were non Jews too. 353 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:16,639 Speaker 1: I mean there's Christians that prey with us. There's non Jews. 354 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: There's people that aren't sure what they are. They're kind 355 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: of becoming Jews, they're not sure, they're you know, very 356 00:20:22,880 --> 00:20:27,400 Speaker 1: interesting people. We have a wonderful cross section. Um, it's joyful, 357 00:20:27,920 --> 00:20:31,960 Speaker 1: it's humble, it's as they say in Yiddish, it's hamish, 358 00:20:32,440 --> 00:20:38,000 Speaker 1: it's warm, it's modest, it's not demanding. It's all the 359 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 1: things that were not there when I was a boy. 360 00:20:56,359 --> 00:20:58,639 Speaker 1: And in a certain way, it all connects back to 361 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:00,680 Speaker 1: the first time he tried on the role of being 362 00:21:00,680 --> 00:21:05,040 Speaker 1: a rabbi on stage, and it's high school musical. I 363 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:10,399 Speaker 1: see the rabbi work as theater. It's a one man show. 364 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:17,240 Speaker 1: There's blocking, there's stagecraft, there's props, and there's a script. 365 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:19,320 Speaker 1: I mean the script is the seedor the script is 366 00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:23,960 Speaker 1: the prayer book, creating the theater of communicating with God. 367 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:26,880 Speaker 1: And there's a lot of rigamar role. I mean we 368 00:21:26,560 --> 00:21:29,920 Speaker 1: we we take the tour out, we make a pronouncement 369 00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:32,240 Speaker 1: and we do a march with the Torah, and there's 370 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 1: a certain rhythm and a style about it. And the 371 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:38,719 Speaker 1: same thing with when you read from the chart has 372 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:41,760 Speaker 1: a certain melody. So so actually it's not just theater, 373 00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 1: it's actually musical theater. It's it's a musical every time. 374 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,960 Speaker 1: Did you know that my dad, after high school was 375 00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:53,520 Speaker 1: going to be an actor. This is Alice Husky Again. 376 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:55,920 Speaker 1: That probably doesn't surprise you at all, not at all. 377 00:21:56,200 --> 00:22:00,399 Speaker 1: Most most rabbis and teachers are frustrated performers. They have 378 00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,439 Speaker 1: a captive audience who have to put up with whatever 379 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:07,640 Speaker 1: they do. So I'm pretty sure that's part for the course. Yeah, 380 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:10,719 Speaker 1: and he could be a terrific actor. I think he 381 00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:14,440 Speaker 1: did play in Fit around the Roof at some point. 382 00:22:14,880 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: You know what his part was, the rabbi? It was 383 00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 1: it was typecasting or foreshadowing of things to come, I believe. Yeah. So, 384 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:26,560 Speaker 1: after all the years and different jobs and businesses, in 385 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,400 Speaker 1: a certain way, my dad did end up on stage 386 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:33,119 Speaker 1: with the only role he'd ever had. But instead of 387 00:22:33,160 --> 00:22:37,919 Speaker 1: playing the rabbi, he lives it. I've watched people grow up, 388 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:41,280 Speaker 1: I've watched people grow old. I've I've buried people's parents, 389 00:22:41,320 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: I've aremits for their sons. So there's a lot of 390 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:47,240 Speaker 1: deep connection and we get to share and we get 391 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:50,960 Speaker 1: to enjoy each other's lives, or you know, we get 392 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:54,280 Speaker 1: to cheer and laugh about our successes, and we get 393 00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:58,120 Speaker 1: to cry and and console each other about our losses 394 00:22:58,160 --> 00:23:01,199 Speaker 1: and our sadness. So it's very rich. It's a very 395 00:23:01,320 --> 00:23:31,640 Speaker 1: rich life. Walking is the single best thing you can 396 00:23:31,640 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 1: do for yourself. Three miles four miles a day cuts 397 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:39,160 Speaker 1: your mortality in half. Here what turned right? And we're 398 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:42,359 Speaker 1: back to where we started walking in the park behind 399 00:23:42,400 --> 00:23:44,800 Speaker 1: my parents house. And then I read another thing where 400 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:48,679 Speaker 1: if you take fifty a fiber a day that cuts mortality. 401 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:51,440 Speaker 1: I think it sounds like you're going to live forever 402 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:54,920 Speaker 1: if you do well, that's what I'm saying. You're stuck 403 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:56,800 Speaker 1: with me for a long time. The place where my 404 00:23:56,880 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 1: dad spends over an hour a day on a meand 405 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:04,160 Speaker 1: ring paths that always leads him home. This is where 406 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: I always say a blessing. Right here, Look at it, 407 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:10,040 Speaker 1: Isn't it gorgeous? See that bird just landing there in 408 00:24:10,080 --> 00:24:14,680 Speaker 1: the tree And the sun's going down. The sun's down already, 409 00:24:15,560 --> 00:24:19,439 Speaker 1: but there's light in the western sky, and the trees 410 00:24:19,520 --> 00:24:22,640 Speaker 1: are just you can't even tell they're green anymore, all 411 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:28,119 Speaker 1: the colors out of him. It's just so beautiful and 412 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:34,879 Speaker 1: I always say a blessing here a show of selling 413 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:39,919 Speaker 1: a niflat the one who makes for us wonders. And 414 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,000 Speaker 1: then I opened my arms wide. I just embraced the 415 00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 1: whole thing. I just love it so much. I'm so blessed. 416 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:56,400 Speaker 1: You've been listening to independent producer Joel Schupack presenting Mozeltov 417 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,760 Speaker 1: stories from a late in life rabbi. And that's all 418 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:03,720 Speaker 1: for this edition of On the Job from Express Employment Professionals. 419 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,119 Speaker 1: Find out more at Express prose dot com, and you 420 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,919 Speaker 1: can listen to every podcast this season at Express prose 421 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:15,119 Speaker 1: dot com slash podcast. This podcast is produced by your host, 422 00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:19,359 Speaker 1: Steve Mencher for Men's Media, I Heart Radio and Red 423 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:23,400 Speaker 1: Seat Ventures. You can subscribe on iHeart Radio and iTunes, 424 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,080 Speaker 1: where we hope you'll leave a nice review that helps 425 00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:28,960 Speaker 1: other folks find us. And of course you can listen 426 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 1: and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you next 427 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:34,200 Speaker 1: time On the Job