Touring Seacrest Village with a beloved resident

By Donald H. Harrison

ENCINITAS, California – A visit on Monday at Seacrest Village Retirement Village to see Cantor Sheldon Merel, 94, the beloved emeritus cantor of Congregation Beth Israel, proved to be doubly interesting.  First and foremost, he’s always interesting to talk to.  And second, active and physically fit, Merel showed me around the premises, pointing out many examples of Judaica, the gym where he likes to work out, an exercise pool, the dining room, the synagogue-multi-purpose room, pleasant arcades, and his own “independent living” apartment.

Almost every other minute, a staff member or a fellow resident hailed him.  “Hi, Shelly!” they called to him.

Merel paused in front of a framed poster on a hallway wall, and told me: “I bought this picture at the New York Jewish Museum and it was an exhibit of Russian Jewish artists.  I fell in love with the original—I was just wowed away—and I walked down to the gift shop and there was the poster.  I couldn’t resist it.  I bought it for $15 and then I had it framed for $150 and we [his late wife Marcie and he] had it at our two- bedroom apartment [to which they moved from their house near Lake Murray in 2013].  When I moved to the one-bedroom apartment [after Marcie died in 2016], I didn’t have enough room, so I donated it.”

In another area, he paused in front of a display case filled with items that were loaned by Rabbi Lenore Bohm.  They included a traditional and a more modern hannukiah, a shofar, and an image of a woman, possibly Moses’ sister Miriam, celebrating after crossing the Red Sea.

On other shelves, we saw more hannukiot, a white dove of peace, and a sculpture of Moses with the Ten Commandments.

In the combination sanctuary and multi-purpose room, we saw an art work depicting a detail from the ceiling of the  Nazi-destroyed, all-wood Chodorow Synagogue in the Ukraine.  Writing for Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial and Museum in Jerusalem, Liz Elsby, described that ceiling, from photographs, as follows: “A vividly painted lion and a unicorn, sloe-eyed and graceful, face each other as if dancing, front legs entwined. The unicorn’s head is bowed, allowing the lion to blow, trumpet-like, on its horn. Three rabbits chase each other in an endless circle, their long ears forming an inner triangle. A wise looking bear sits comfortably amidst a beautifully flowering vine, bright birds cavorting around him. All of the animals in this delightful bestiary are painted in warm hues of red, gold, and green …”

 

Seacrest Village boasts other art as well, some abstract, some incredibly sentimental.  It’s hard not to say “aww” when stopping before a painting of three little dogs, one of which holds a flower in its mouth.

Merel told me that he works out in Seacrest Village’s gym three times a week, riding a bike for about 30 minutes, stretching and doing some exercises that help him with his balancing.  “And I walk a lot during the rest of the week,” he said.  Generally, he prefers to do his workouts about 8:30 a.m. or 9 a.m., and then have breakfast afterwards.

He took me to the gym to show me the exercise bikes, and there we said “Hello” to Ruth Strauss, whose late husband Herb I remember interviewing about the World War II experiences he had shared with the late Morris Wax.  They both served in a tank corps under General George Patton.

 

The gym is located close to Merel’s apartment in Building “F,” which is for those residents of Seacrest Village who live independently.  Seacrest Village also has accommodations for “assisted living” as well as for people with memory loss.

Invited to schmooze with Merel in his apartment, I admired the many sculptures which he himself had crafted, including a bust of himself, which he keeps near his favorite reading chair.

Besides keeping physically active, Merel also keeps mentally active.  Whenever he can, he likes to attend theatre productions and concerts.  He recently reviewed for San Diego Jewish World an Anglina Reaux concert at the North Coast Repertory Theatre in which she sang several Broadway tunes of Kurt Weill.

Among Merel’s cherished keepsakes is a booklet featuring poetry written by his late wife Marcie (1933-2016), who among other accomplishments in San Diego, had served as director of the Women’s Division of the Jewish Federation, and as president of Jewish Family Service.

In 1962, for their 10^th Wedding Anniversary, Marcie penned a poem telling how they met.  Cantor Merel gave me permission to republish it here:

I remember one evening late in November
Just ten short years ago.
Silver trays I delivered at my mother’s request
For the crowd was beginning to grow.
Weddings to me, were events quite familiar,
For many I had seen.
Though at times I did wonder who would be the man
In whose heart I’d be thought of as Queen.

As I entered the room, which was quite filled with people,
IT HAPPENED—call it Fate—call it Chance.
There in front of me stood a most handsome young man.
I felt almost as if in a trance!

We met, and we talked.
There was so much to say,
So much we both wanted to know.
And soon, common interests began to unfold,
Then off by ourselves we did go.

To listen and talk to him was a delight.
He was witty, polite, and so charming.
Then he asked me to dance, and close in his arms,
My reaction was almost alarming.

When had I felt like this? Never before!
I need no wise man to tell me the score.
I was falling in love—no denying!
From then on, I found that the weeks passed so slowly.
The weekends were over too soon.
Apart, we found we were both very lonely,
To each other’s needs we were in tune.

We were married the 6^th day of the month of July.
Our family and friends filled the room.
“A lovely affair” so they told me,
But I only had eyes for the groom!

After the farewells, on our way we did wend,
To the place we would start our new life.
A new world was waiting in the town of South Bend,
For the Cantor and his very young wife.

With each experience we both have grown
In various ways, you’ll agree.
As as each year passes, we both have known
That our love has grown boundlessly.

It’s this love that has caused this poem to be written,
To tell you once more that this day that’s most “fittin”
I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, and you’ll always be
The gift I most cherish—that God gave to me.

Please do forgive me, if a bit I contrive,
By saying that you’re quite a Planter,
‘Cause our family couldn’t be counted as five
IF I DIDN’T GO HOME WITH THE CANTOR!

*
Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com