“HE LOVED TO SING,” said Shirley Church, his secretary for 13 years. “Even if it was a bit off key, that didn’t matter. He just kept singing”. 😉 Arnold Fink was the Rabbi at Temple Beth-El — where Tom and Diana were cantor and cantoress until about a year or so before she and i met.
“Beth-El was a reformed synagogue and, when Diana and Tom retired, they gave them a beautiful white elliptic plate with gold glyphs in Hebrew as well as a bread knife. beautiful carving knife and a white elliptic plate with gold glyphs in Hebrew.
The three glyphs on the plate say “Shabbat”, which translate to Sabbath. They are also the last three glyphs on the knife handle which translate to Holy Sabbath so they (along with the pictographs within each glyph on the plate) signify the holy bread, or challah.
Because of Diana’s education at Nazareth Academy and her Arch-Bishop great-grandfather — to say nothing of her enjoyment of cooking and baking — this retirement gift was selected for her as a form of hat-tip to the “Bread of Life” (Book of John).
When Diana and I visited Washington, DC, in October 1990 (either the 27th or 28th) — the last time (a few days after the photos were taken for the piece in the PDF section on Tip O’Neil) — she introduced me to “Arnie” who told her he was backstage at the JFK Center for the Performing Arts a week before Leonard Bernstein died. Bernstein had gone backstage to say hello to Rostropovich (then conductor of the National Symphony) as well as some of the orchestra folks.
What i still remember over a quarter of a century later is that Rabbi Fink said he couldn’t believe Bernstein had an oxygen mask in one hand so he could breathe and, in the other, a cigarette upon which he was puffing as much as he could.
The (now retired) organist at Beth-El who Diana’s piece mentions was Ted Gustin. He still keeps in touch. Below is a commemoration piece written by Diana in honor of Rabbi Arnold Fink.
That’s all i remember of the story nearly a quarter century later.
April 2017
When Temple Beth El in Alexandria, Virginia, was undergoing a transitional period, during which time a new Rabbi was to be installed, my former husband and I were soloists in the Beth El Choir. Having led the Congregation for a number of years during the High Holidays, we were well acquainted with the liturgy and thus became Cantors.
During this time we met and worked with Rabbi Fink … “Arnie”, as we lovingly called him. Our apprehension turned to pure love of the man, for he brought a warmth to the congregation and ourselves that was nothing short of incredible.
Thanks to Arnie, the Beth El Congregation grew and grew and grew! In fact, when my present husband surprised me with a trip back East for my 68th birthday, our good friend, Ted Gustin (organist at Beth El), took us to Beth El to say hello to Arnie.
This was in 1990. And it was then that Arnie told us about Barbara, and we were so happy for him! You can imagine my surprise recently to learn from Mr. Gustin that Arnie was given the terrible news that he had an inoperable tumor in his lung.
Of course we hoped against hope that he’d be able to overcome this hurdle. We prayed very hard that this good man would be spared, and that his family would be also spared the anxiety and finally, the grief, of his ordeal.
To his loving family … please know that we hold him forever in our hearts and minds as the good friend and leader he was. We grieve with you and give you all our love!
Sadly,
Diana C. Pezzi-Kade
(Mrs. Richard Kade)
Sunnyvale, California
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11 Apr 2005 — 1:13 AM