Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Daniel Pressman hits a milestone as he marks his 18th year as rabbi at Saratoga's only synagogue




Spiritual Leader

He walks the walk and talks the talk with a love for his rabbinic role

By Michelle Gabriel

The significant milestones in life are often reflected by numbers, such as a first birthday, sweet 16, turning 21, or celebrating a 50th wedding anniversary. In the Jewish tradition the number 18 is also particularly significant because it represents chai, the Hebrew word for life.

So when Rabbi Daniel Pressman's tenure as spiritual leader of Congregation Beth David reached 18 years this month, congregants planned a Music and Memories dessert evening to honor the occasion.

The hors d'oeuvres and dessert event, held on Oct. 17 at Beth David, featured music provided by Silver Moon, dancing, and a presentation to Pressman of a scrapbook filled with photos and anecdotes collected from congregation members and friends.

"Because the number 18 has a specific significance in Judaism," says Ann Tavan, co-chairwoman of the event and longtime Beth David member, "we felt it was a perfect opportunity to gather together the many people whose lives he has touched as our rabbi and spiritual leader."

For Pressman, the tribute was a positive reinforcement of all he has tried to accomplish over the years. "I get intrinsic satisfaction from what I do, but not a lot of quality feedback, so this was indeed wonderful and very meaningful," he says.

Tavan points out that Pressman has been their rabbi half as long as the congregation has been in existence and that he has made his mark on the congregation as well as the community. "My family and I have known him a long time and one of his strengths as a rabbi is that he is very approachable and down to earth."

Not surprising, considering Pressman's interest in people, immense appetite for learning and passion for teaching. "One of the things I like about being a rabbi is the social contact and the joy of being part of so many life cycle events," he says. "In fact I'm often officiating at bar and bat mitzvahs of children whose parents I married. That's the blessing of being in one place for several years."

Pressman, who describes his weekly sermons as more study and discussion than lecture, admits he has an opinion on almost every subject, although he says he tries to bring more to his teaching than just his opinion. "I believe a rabbi is a teacher and as a teacher of Jewish text I never walk in unprepared," he says. "I love the learning. To me it is never a chore to prepare."

As a rabbi and as a teacher, Pressman says, one of his goals is to raise the bar of Jewish learning and spirituality. "Our congregation is diverse," he says. "We have a wide range of members with different backgrounds, ideas, interests and levels of knowledge. My purpose is to try to empower people so they can study and learn at their own levels of comfort and understanding."

A strong, hands-on individual, Pressman as a spiritual leader often takes on different roles. Besides officiating at all life-cycle events he teaches in the congregation's high school program, conducts classes for adults, including an introduction to Judaism, meets with families in crisis, attends congregational board meetings and is actively involved in the Executive Council of the Rabbinical Assembly. He's served as president of both the Pacific Northwest Region of the Rabbinical Assembly and the Rabbinic Association of Greater San Jose.

He has also been involved in the formation of the Saratoga Ministerial Association where local clergy meet monthly to talk about general interest in the community.

"The purpose," explains the Rev. Alexander Larkin, pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Saratoga and another member of the Ministerial Association, "is to develop a better understanding among all the clergy in this area and to increase awareness on the part of city leaders as to what the local churches and synagogue do in terms of our community."


Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Rabbi Pressman's parents, Rabbi Jacob and Marjorie Pressman, were the first guests in the "It's Your Life" program presented to the Rabbi.




Larkin credits Pressman with being an instrumental force within the association. "Rabbi Pressman has provided strong leadership to our community. He's very straightforward and speaks his mind, but at the same time he listens to what other people have to say and has been very helpful in creating an openness among all of us in the association."

Beth David congregants agree. "He is a good listener," says Saratoga resident and artist Bonnie Stone, who adds that Pressman is often the inspiration for her Judaic imagery. "When you approach him, you don't feel as though you have to fit into his agenda. He'll make room for you, for your ideas, and your feelings."

Sheila Fernandez, another longtime Beth David member and Saratoga resident, adds that Pressman is "always there for you in troubling times. He listens to you and really cares."

The fact that Pressman walks the walk and talks the talk of a dedicated, spiritual leader with a passion for the study of Judaism and a love of his rabbinic role is not too hard to understand given his background.

Pressman is the son of a prominent rabbi who was a major force in the formation of Conservative Judaism in Southern California, where Pressman was born and raised. A graduate of UCLA (he majored in English), the University of Judaism in Los Angeles, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, Pressman grew up in a religiously observant home, attended Jewish camps, and was active in many Jewish organizations. Between spending summers as a counselor at Camp Ramah (a Jewish camp in Southern California), taking supplemental courses at the local Hebrew High School, and being an active participation in Hillel throughout college, Pressman describes himself as having been very Jewishly plugged in. "Around my junior year in college it occurred to me that I really enjoyed it, so why fight it? That's when I started to focus on a pre-rabbinic track," he says.


Photograph by Kathy De La Torre

Rabbi Daniel Pressman is the spiritual leader at Temple Beth David. He is celebrating his 18th year with the congregation and has been the Rabbi there for half of the congregation's history.




Along the way, Pressman, as a 17-year-old camp counselor at Camp Ramah, met his future wife, Beverly, now an elementary school teacher. "It was 1964, I had recently learned a new camp song and was looking for volunteers to help sing the song," he says. "Beverly was one of the volunteers."

The Pressmans married in 1969, before heading off to New York for Pressman's rabbinic studies. After he completed the seminary, the Pressmans returned to Southern California, where he became senior rabbi of a local Conservative congregation. After seven years, during which time membership grew, new programs were started and an onsite preschool was formed, the Pressmans decided it was time to move on.

In 1981 they relocated to the San Jose area, where Pressman became senior rabbi at Saratoga's Congregation Beth David.

As the congregation grew under his leadership, so, too, did his family. Today the Pressmans have three children: a daughter, Aliza, who is in her junior year at Barnard College in New York, a son, Benjamin, a freshman at New York University, and a 9-year-old daughter, Rebecca, a student at Yavneh Day School, a private Jewish elementary school in Los Gatos.

Pressman credits a supportive collaborative effort between lay leaders, the congregation and the rabbi for the many achievements and continuing growth of the congregation. "There is virtually no politics here; leadership is very supportive and always willing to try new ideas," he says. "I get to say 'great idea' to a lot of things brought to my attention."

Pressman lists with pride some of the accomplishments of the congregation, including a membership that has increased from 400 to approximately 650 families, new family service programs that have been added, the expansion of their high school program that now includes 11th and 12th grades, Jewish Cub Scouts which meet regularly at Beth David and many social action activities geared towards helping the neighboring communities.

"There is something going on here all the time," says Pressman, who looks forward to his congregation's continued growth. "We will build upon what has already been successfully accomplished with the hope to do even more in the years ahead."

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