By COLlive reporter
Rabbi Chanan Feld, the popular mohel of the San Francisco Bay area and a spiritual leader in northern California, passed away Wednesday, Cheshvan 10, 5770.
He was 54 and suffered from ‘yene machla’ in the last year.
Engaging and warm, Rabbi Feld co-founded Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim, a Torah learning center and synagogue in North Berkeley.
Born in Chicago to a Jewish non-religious family, Chanan Velvel Feld found his roots through Chabad whilst living in Berkeley, California.
Meeting the Shluchim Rabbi Yehuda Ferris and his wife Miriam, inspired Feld to connect to his heritage, resulting in learning in the Yeshiva of Kfar Chabad, Israel, and others.
After his marriage to his wife Jodi, Rabbi Feld settled in Berkeley, becoming what some described as “a pillar of the Lubavitch outreach community.”
As a mohel, Feld circumcised thousands of Jewish males of all ages.
“It’s literally a linking up with other generations,” Feld once told a reporter of the J. weekly. “Each baby is the culmination of all the generations that came before.”
Rabbi Feld added the Hebrew name Simcha during his illness, which friends say befitted him.
“He was warm, sweet and always had a smile,” a neighbor and friend told COLlive.
“Even in his last days when people were coming over depressed, it was he who comforted them.”
In June of 2009, Rabbi Feld come full circle when he married off his son Dovid Feld to Rivkie Ferris, the daughter of the Berkeley Shluchim.
He is survived by his wife Yehudis Leah and children Rabbi Dovid Yitzchak, Daniel Sapir and Rochel Chaya.
The funeral will be held in Israel.
Baruch Dayan Haemes.
I was Cary’s roommate for my first year at Indiana University. Although we never kept in touch I have often thought about him at what course his life has taken. I now know. I received word of his passing today through an email forwarded by a mutual friend from IU all because of Cary’s interest in 11:11. I must share: Cary always had an interesting fascination about the digital time 11:11 and would get calls from all over on Nov 11th at 11/11. With November 11, 2011 just hours away (11:11 11/11/11) it is interesting to note that I am… Read more »
Lechoyra, Rabbi Feld’s Chabad-type yeshiva out there in Bezoykeley was just a few blocks away from this big area produce market, so best to say Soy Vay! Its mamish too bad he just was not as widely known outside his Mohelhood and Lubavitch circles of this West Coast Bay Area :-{
B”H
to all of you, may we cherish the moments we have, may we be grateful for all we know, for all we have, may we remember cary in our daily life, may we remember chanan with every breath, he would be touched that we are in touch, smiling in our every effort, my love to him and my love to all of you,
Mitch Marder
Cary and I go back to pre-school. We were friends before we could talk because our families were close friends. We were best friends through out college. We even went to Indiana University together. I lost my closet male friend ever, We shared all our youth together. We had the same circle of friends until he moved away, We have kept in touch over the years and visited whenever he was in town. My last correspondence with him was about 3-4 weeks ago. He was the most loving, caring individual I have ever known. We were like brother and sister.… Read more »
About 22 years ago, at the bris of my first son, Reuven, Chanan and I had a long talk. We talked about being Jewish in the 20th century. We talked about my friends who had their son circumcised in the hospital on the second day and a ceremony in their house on the eighth day. We talked about the lack of formal training in the US for mohelim. We talked about my birth parshah being Lech L’chah. By the end of our conversation, something quite miraculous happened, Chanan talked to me about studying milah (circumcision) and said that every community… Read more »
Rabbi Feld was the mohel at the bris of all 3 of my sons. He was both an expert and an artist at what he did: not just the technical aspects of the bris, but at creating a warm, meaningful welcoming in of the baby into the family and to the jewish community. We will really and truly miss him.
We nothing of this…A true Jew..helping others all the time.
The Dalfins –Brooklyn NY
My heart is breaking for all of Chanan’s family.
His path in life was unique, and it’s no surprise to me that he was a man of great and varied deeds.
Cary and I were friends in college, and roommates for a year…the year he guided (as goalie…yes, a 5’6″ Jewish goalie) the Indiana University soccer team to a second-place finish in the NCAA tournament.
Many great memories.
I am so very grateful to have been able to see him (and all his family) during this difficult time.
I will miss him forever.
Larry Pattis
I also knew Cary long before he moved to San Francisco and became a rabbi/mohel. He was one of my best friends throughout high school and college. Just a wonderful guy. We played baseball together (I was the pitcher, he was the catcher), we played poker together, we listened to music together, went to concerts together. He always made me laugh. Cary was cerebral, yet very spacey at times. Phone calls with Cary would always crack me up. He never said “goodbye” at the end. He just hung up. It drove me crazy. But that was Cary. He was like… Read more »
So sad.
Admasi
Any info about being Menachem Avel? email address? phone number?
Meir Geisinsky.
Besuros Tovos
Daloy galus!!
BORUCH DAYAN HAEMES!!!!!!
We should only hear GOOD news from now on!!!!
I know Chanan before he was Chanan, when he was Cary, and I can tell you that he was just as loving and positive before he became a Rabbi as after.
Rabbi Chanan Feld had a great heart . He performed circumcisions for many russian jews in the Bay Area including adults and children.He did not ask for much money and even did some circumcisions for free.He scrificed his family life to perform a briss on shobbos because there were not other kosher mohelim in the bay area. We will surely miss him.
Rochie, I was saying tehillim for him… This is SOOO sad! May Hashem give you the strength to continue to be the special girl that you are and MOSHIACH sould come RIGHT NOW- so that your father can be together with your beautiful family again.
So sad! He was such a special man with a beautiful family. He had a shining Hadras Panim.