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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/40309/full/40309/rabbi-chanan-feld-east-bay-mohel-and-teacher-dies-at-53/ <br /><br /> <b>Rabbi Chanan Feld, East Bay mohel and teacher, dies at 53</b> <br /> Thursday, October 29, 2009 | by <br /><br /><!--StartFragment--> <p class="jbodycopy">Rabbi Chanan Feld, the Berkeley-based Orthodox rabbi and longtime mohel, died Oct. 28 after a yearlong battle with oral cancer. He was 53.</p> <p class="jbodycopy">Along with another couple, Feld and his wife, Jody, co-founded the Berkeley shul Beit Midrash Ohr HaChaim ten years ago. It became a popular East Bay center of Torah study.</p> <p class="jbodycopy"> </p> <div class="capDivLeft" style="width: 126px;"><img alt="zzzzzfeld_chanan_164" class="left" height="164" src="/images/uploads/z_photos_2009/h10_30_09/zzzzzfeld_chanan_164.jpg" title="Rabbi Chanan Feld" width="126" /> <div class="caption">Rabbi Chanan Feld</div> </div> “He was a beloved teacher,” said Noach Bittelman, a close friend and co-founder of the shul. “[Feld] taught morning classes for years devotedly to a group of students. He taught them hands-on Torah, not top down.” <p> </p> <p class="jbodycopy">As a mohel he officiated at the brit milahs of many thousands of boys over a 20-year career, not only in the Bay Area but as far away as Washington state.</p> <p class="jbodycopy">A native of Chicago, Feld was a champion college soccer player in his youth. Upon moving to the Bay Area he deepened his Jewish observance, affiliating with the Lubavitcher movement of Chassidism and becoming a mohel.</p> <p class="jbodycopy">Feld and his wife Jody had three children together — Dovid, Daniel and Rachel.</p> <p class="jbodycopy">Until only days ago, Feld continued to teach and promote Torah study via email, writing drashes and poetry that went out to a large email list.</p> <span>“He exuded love,” Bittelman said, “and he touched the lives of thousands.”</span><!--EndFragment-->

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