Last Saturday, I learned of the death of a rabbi in our community, Rabbi Steven Tucker of Temple Ramat Zion in Northridge. Although I wasn’t a member there, I have many friends and neighbors who were, and they all had high words of praise for Rabbi Tucker and his connection with teens and children. Two of NSS&F’s friends were particularly close to the man after their family moved their from Temple Beth Torah, our old congregtion.
So, you can imagine my shock this morning when I read in the Daily News that Rabbi Tucker’s death has been ruled a suicide (Jewish Journal article). Piecing together the information in both articles, Rabbi Tucker took his life when his car veered off Wawona Road near the Wawona Tunnel in Yosemite National Park at about 7 AM on Thursday, Nov. 10. He left a suicide note. Apparently, he had recently approached the temple’s personnel department to say that he had “engaged in behavior not criminal in nature but determined to be inappropriate for a rabbi.” Some believe he had recently learned that the temple board was planning to replace him, but according to TRZ officers, the issue was still to be discussed by the board.
Rabbi Tucker served TRZ since 1992. My condolences to the members of that congregation.
