- Clergy
Avid UCLA Bruin, obsessive backgammon player, and culinary pioneer, unafraid to mix ketchup and chummus!
As the American born son of Israeli parents, Rabbi David Eshel blends his love of Israel and Israeli culture with his dedication to American Jewish life, specifically the Jewish summer camp movement.
Rabbi Eshel joined the Wilshire Boulevard Temple community in the summer of 2001 when, returning from his first year of rabbinical school in Israel, he served on the senior staff of Camp Hess Kramer. He has spent every subsequent summer working with our camps. Just look for the torn and tattered UCLA baseball hat. That’s him, walking the grounds, teaching, helping where he can and making friendship bracelets.
In addition to summers with the camp community and year-round working with the camp team, Rabbi Eshel officiates at every type of life cycle event in family life. He also leads prayer services on Shabbat, overseeing programs for the Men of Wilshire and entertaining nursery school children and religious school students with the wild stories of the Torah!
When not at the temple, Rabbi Eshel loves to spend time with his family in the deserts of Palm Springs, at the mountains and lakes of Mammoth, in the stands watching any of the UCLA Bruins or Nebraska Cornhuskers athletic teams, and — most important! — barbequing.
His father-in-law taught him how to make the perfect steak (medium rare, of course), and Rabbi Eshel has even mastered baking a pizza on the grill, although not at the same time as the steak.
When hosting families at their home for Shabbat, Rabbi Eshel and his wife Stephanie love to serve Israeli food with freshly baked homemade challah! You can bet on ample amounts of chummus being on the table — along with ketchup. Lots of ketchup.
Next time you see Rabbi Eshel, ask him about it!