After his long and successful career as a journalist ended, David N. Goodman, of Elkins Park, found his new calling as a rabbi, writes Jarrad Saffren for the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.

The 69-year-old Goodman became a rabbi when he graduated from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Wyncote on May 22. He spent the seven previous years studying to become one.

“I feel younger than when I started,” said Goodman. “I feel an excitement and a newness about what I’m doing.”

But it is not just the time and the studying in his seventh decade of life that stand out in the new rabbi’s story. He had to uproot his previous life to attend the RRC. Before moving to Elkins Park, he lived for more than three decades in Detroit, where he worked as an Associated Press reporter.

This summer, he will continue to serve as spiritual leader at a New Jersey congregation of around 36 families. He was hired at Nafshenu as an intern in 2020 and became full time simply because congregants liked him.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the man not smile,” said Rachael Blumer, a synagogue member.

Read more about David N. Goodman in the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.