By Zach Patberg
And everyone, from the executive director to the parishioners, has welcomed the zephyr of diversity.The sole Indi-Jewish member of the 300-member Ashkenazi (of Eastern European heritage) synagogue for the last seven years, Daniel became president on Aug. 3 after the previous president, Jay Parker, resigned after 1 1/2 years over conflicts of interest. According to synagogue officials, Parker was pushing to sell the center at 97-30 Queens Blvd. when its members voted not to.In his new post, Daniel outlined his first task of reviving the 65-year-old center's membership, which in the last few years has dwindled from 1,200 to 300. He attributed this dive to a migration of neighborhood Jews to Long Island and New Jersey, where roomier houses have attracted newly married couples discontent with the cramped apartments of Rego Park.One solution Daniel offered was recruiting some of the growing number of Russian Jews in the area, saying, “I want to target them to be part of our community as an outreach to the many young Russians.”That is no easy task. As executive director of the center, Norman Dicker, observed that “the Russians have their own synagogue and they tend to go with other Russians.”Still, Daniel's new face could draw other non-Ashkenazi Jews to join.”(Daniel) adds another dimension,” Dicker said. “But as for bringing in new members, that is yet to be seen.”The ease with which Daniel transitioned first to the United States and then into an influential role in the Queens community was surprisingly smooth, given that the 62-year-old Bombay native has been part of a tiny minority all his life.Born into a Jewish family, Daniel grew up among 5,000 other Jews who comprise a sliver of India's 1 billion, predominately Hindu population. From those outside that margin, however, Daniel said he felt no prejudice, adding that India “was the only country I can think of where Jews weren't discriminated on.”After graduating from the University of Bombay and moving on to Massachusetts for a master's degree in chemistry at Brandeis University in 1964, Daniel worked at a textile company in Ahmedabad, one of India's largest cities. For the next 15 years, he said he was solely “career-minded” and despite his family's longtime devotion to Judaism, did not become religiously involved until 1980.Since then, he's been hooked. He learned Hebrew and studied the Torah. From 1986 to 1990 he was president of the Magen Abraham Synagogue in Ahmedabad and conducted services for the transient Jewish population there. For “mainly economic reasons and to provide better opportunities for my sons,” Daniel immigrated to the United States in 1994, where his fluency in English and exposure to Western culture while in India made the move a “very easy one.” Within a year of living in Rego Park, Daniel was simultaneously working in Manhattan as an import director for importing apparel and giving High Holy day services at a rented-out Village temple in Manhattan during the two biggest Jewish holidays, Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana.Trained as a cantor at Yeshiva University's Belz School of Music, he has been able to lead the song-soaked services for around 100 of the 300 Indi-Jews living in the tri-state area, most of whom never having before witnessed the Oriental style of a Jewish service.The center, which Daniel labeled “Conservodox,” has a slightly more relaxed atmosphere than Orthodox synagogues, Daniel said, which allowed him to color parts of the services with an Oriental tint. As “honorary” rabbi for the past two years (a permanent rabbi has yet to be found), he reserves this style – which only alters the tone of the sung prayers, not their content – for readings from the Book of Prophets. The rest of the service he conducts in Ashkenazi.”They now love and prefer the Oriental readings,” Daniel said of the members. But, he warned, “you have to continue to give the melody that they know or else you take over the service and they feel left out.”Along with work and religion, Daniel, whose wife and two sons also live in Queens and Long Island, has given more than 100 lectures around the country on Indi-Jewish culture.Still attached to India, Daniel returns with his family at least once a year.Reach reporter Zach Patberg by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
