Rabbis of LA | Rabbi David Mendelson’s Journey to HaMakom

Like many other young Jews, a Birthright Israel trip he took before his senior year was not only a life-changing experience, but one that had a major impact on his career.

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Ari L. Noonan

July 27, 2023

Rabbi Daniel Mendelson

In the nearly 10 years since David Mendelson — now Assistant Rabbi at HaMakom, the new congregation formed when Temple Aliyah and Shomrei Torah Synagogue merged earlier this month — graduated from Georgia’s Kennesaw State University, there have been, he says, three main influences on his life: His father, his mother and God.

Like many other young Jews, a Birthright Israel trip he took before his senior year was not only a life-changing experience, but one that had a major impact on his career. When the Israeli official greeting Mendelson and his traveling mates said “Welcome home!” it struck the intended chord in the young man’s heart and mind. “That simple phrase brought a lot of emotion,” he said. “I did not realize Israel would mean so much to me. As a child in religious school, Israel was a far-off land. I never thought I would get to go there. My family never talked about it, and we never planned a trip.” Strolling through the Old City on Friday afternoon in Israel, seeing the Kotel a couple hours before Shabbat, Mendelson was “blown away.” While in Israel, Mendelson made up his mind to spend his life teaching Jewish children.

His mother helped him along that path. When he came home determined to teach, his mother — a lifelong educator — told him about a classroom opening at a nearby temple. A month after his return from Israel, he got a job teaching fourth graders. “I wanted to share my experience with the next generation,” he said of his passion for education. But Israel made him think about joining the rabbinate. At the synagogue where Mendelson had grown up, he was told — flatly and without apology — that he did not nearly know enough about Judaism and given his complete lack of knowledge of Hebrew, he might want to find a different career.

Mendelson was shocked. But he was also stubborn. He persisted, confident in his career choice. “Most of the time. I was thinking about Jewish education,” he said. “I love teaching, I love seeing the looks on students’ faces when they understand something they did not realize was a part of Judaism. Teaching b’nai mitzvah students was amazing. I got to have a really in-depth conversation about what it means to be in this transitional period from childhood to being a teenager.”

It was Mendelson’s father who helped him this time. “It was my Dad who made the decisive difference,” he told the Journal. Two years after David’s Birthright trip, he began thinking more seriously about a life in the rabbinate. While he loved the classroom, he needed to figure out what was next. He scouted out teaching positions and Master’s programs both abroad and across America. “For years, even before I went to Israel, [my father] would joke around — based on my conversations with him. He would say ‘Maybe you would make a good rabbi.’” The remark spurred the young Mendelson to ask himself what being a good rabbi meant.

Unbeknownst to his son, in 2015, the elder Mendelson reached out to the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) in New York. So David was surprised when, out of nowhere, he received an email from Rabbi Joel Alter, Director of Admissions at JTS. “The rabbi said he was very excited that I was interested in pursuing the rabbinate at JTS. I was shocked, and a little mad at my father. We exchanged some words.” Looking back, he calls it “the best thing he has done for me, honestly.” When he attended a JTS open house, Mendelson “absolutely loved it. I got to meet Rabbi Alter and JTS students and the faculty. An amazing time. Now I knew, this was what I wanted to do.”

But there was a roadblock. When he returned home to Atlanta, Rabbi Alter sent a message that Mendelson’s Hebrew and knowledge of the Talmud fell short. He should take a year off and study. To help, Alter connected him with a rabbi teacher, and they met regularly. Alter also found a job for the young man.

Then the hand of God seemed to enter. “The rabbi of my (childhood) shul was thinking of stepping down. They brought in a young rabbi to fill in. He had recently graduated from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies (at American Jewish University). He raved about the school.” Intrigued, contacted the school. He spoke with Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, dean of the Ziegler school. “I met with him on a monthly basis until I applied and was accepted.”

He has been busy ever since. He taught at IKAR for three years, studied in Israel for a year, and taught at Congregation Tikvat Jacob in Manhattan Beach, where the education director had once been his boss in Atlanta. Rabbi Mendelson then served as a rabbinic intern for a year at Temple Aliyah. Upon ordination in May, he was happily promoted to assistant rabbi.