The Story of the Rabbi's Red Sable

He may dress like he's living in the 17th century, but he loves a car with the latest gimmicks and gadgets, says Rabbi Benzion Twerski, with a chuckle.

"If I could afford to get into a new car every two years, I would do it. I can't wait to get into a newer car."

Twerski is associate rabbi, working with his father Rabbi Michel Twerski, at Congregation Beth Jehudah in Sherman Park. He's proud to be a third generation rabbi and third generation Milwaukeean, working with an Orthodox Jewish community that his family has served for 75 years. Members of the Twerski family are well-known for scholarship, musical abilities, religious leadership and community involvement.

Rabbi Benzion Twerski's car is often his office, since he travels extensively around Wisconsin to supervise kosher food preparation facilities. He also drives regularly to Madison and Chicago to teach classes in basic Judaism, Jewish philosophy and theology.

"My wife's last words before I went out the door (car shopping) were "anything but red," says Twerski, telling how he came to acquire his current car - a bright red Mercury Sable. However, his budget was limited and Twerski is colorblind. So, he was working with a friend at Heiser Lincoln Mercury to help find the best deal, which happened to be the red Sable.

"It's unbelievably reliable," says Twerski, who adds that he views his car as more than a useful tool. "Many people just see (a car) as something to get them from one place to another, but I enjoy the car. I enjoy the technology."

Twerski's work in kosher supervision grew out of the needs of Beth Jehudah as a community, Twerski says. In addition to developing school and adult education programs, the need for kosher food was an important aspect of traditional living for the community.

By law, Twerski says, products that have been certified as kosher are labeled with a symbol indicating that a rabbi has inspected the facility.

Better than caffeine?

Because his work often involves long drives or late night trips to inspect third-shift food operations, his family worries that he might fall asleep at the wheel. But he has a unique strategy for dealing with the problem: He keeps a supply of sunflower seeds, which helps him stay awake. (He has found that other long distance drivers use the same trick).

"Unfortunately, the byproduct of sunflower seeds is sunflower seed shells," he says, leading to a "bit of contention between my wife and myself" about the state of the car's interior. He really enjoys having a clean car, says Twerski, but it is his rolling office, and inevitably a few of the pesky shells find their way into the nooks and crannies. He was somewhat chagrined, he recalls, when he picked up a friend, who looked around and asked "Is there a squirrel in the car?"

He has owned or leased a variety of cars over the years and has especially fond memories of the car he and wife owned in the early years of their marriage - a small Chevy wagon without power steering. "We remember that car with tremendous fondness."

Family car: always a minivan

With seven children – six boys and a girl, the youngest two months old – vans are the family's vehicle of choice. The Twerskis use their leased van for trips to the Dells and other Wisconsin attractions and to travel to New York for vacation, where the children have an opportunity to learn more about the culture of Hassidic Judaism. The family's oldest son is now in high school in New York.

Twerski has leased both a Dodge Caravan and a Honda Odyssey, and loves the vans. For long drives, the family carries a selection of CDs and tapes, but no DVDs or TV. The Twerskis don't have TV at home, says the rabbi. "We can't afford it, not financially-but morally," says the rabbi, who is deeply concerned about indecency and the lack of values on most television.

He relies on auto dealers to help him in the selection and maintenance of cars. Beyond remembering when to change the oil, he says, "I never do anything.! don't understand it, and I don't want to learn." He has worked with a number of different local dealers, including Andrew Toyota, Honda and Dodge City as well as Heiser Ford. "I have had tremendously good experiences with all of them."