Aftermarket Rabbi – Introduction and Blog Experiment

For the last eight years, I’ve worked for one of the largest warehouse distributors of auto parts in the United States, Parts Authority. It is a company with a rich history, a dynamic culture, and most importantly for me, people who I love and admire.

While the work at Parts Authority was great, looking back, what was particularly valuable were the personal connections I’d developed over the years. The quiet talks, the heart-to-hearts. Perhaps it was my Rabbinic background that brought out the pastoral in me and others sought that in me. We’d talk about matters of the spirit and matters of the heart. We’d talk about faith, ritual, love, mourning and rebirth. It wasn’t often, but perhaps that’s what made it more special.

As I leave my colleagues, but remain in the industry, I was wondering, without a formal role, how do I keep those connections alive? How do I encourage and invite those discussions that in the past were spontaneous, unplanned and more a function of being in the right place at the right time?

And then I thought, in our age of online media, I’d write a blog. I’m more of a writer than a podcaster or video-maker. So, while I know that currently we’re in the age of Spotify, YouTube and Tik-Tok, I’m going to stick to my writing (for now).

This blog is an experiment and an invitation. It is an experiment to attempt to connect to vastly different worlds that I inhabit in parallel. The Aftermarket and the Rabbinic world. The Aftermarket, for the uninitiated, is how we in the industry of manufacturing and distributing auto parts and repairing and maintaining vehicles, refer to ourselves. The Automotive Aftermarket, as opposed to Original Equipment Manufacturers, the OEMs, who make the new vehicles. We’re particularly (but not exclusively) focused on the life, maintenance and repair of vehicles once they are no longer under warranty and the exclusive domain of the dealerships. It is a big, global, robust industry that in many ways is bigger, more extensive and more vital than the OEMs. The world would come to a standstill if our industry did not function.

While I come from an aftermarket family and have had various stints in the past in the aftermarket, the last eight years have had me immersed in this industry – and I love it.

The other part of my identity is Rabbinic. Before rejoining Parts Authority, I had the great honor of serving as Chief Rabbi of Uruguay. It was pretty wild, and I even wrote a book about (and you guessed it, it’s the number one bestseller of autobiographies of South American Chief Rabbis – available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Chief-Rabbi-explorations-American-ebook/dp/B0BRQW1RT4)

However, it was not only a job, it was a calling of sorts. Even before that role, I was consistently involved in Jewish education in one form or another and have been producing Jewish religious content continuously for the past 17 years.

So, the challenge is, can I bring these two worlds together? Can I inject a rabbinic perspective into the otherwise transactional, functional, technical world of the Aftermarket? And conversely, can I draw anything from the Aftermarket reality into the spiritual worldview of a Jewish Rabbi?

And the invitation. The invitation is for my friends, colleagues, acquaintances and fellow industry members to help make those connections. It is to weigh in with their thoughts on the intersection of a particular yet meaningful industry with matters of faith, spirit and religion.

I’m also starting a WhatsApp group for posting and comments, at the link below:

https://chat.whatsapp.com/J8w0OBz9ppi7HgXrEEswnq?mode=ac_t

Stay tuned.

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