There are all sorts of small, interesting stops on the radio dial, like little towns discovered when you drive the back roads of America.
Few–perhaps none–have been there as long as the “Jewish Community Hour,” which celebrated its 35th anniversary on the local airwaves in February. Hosted for more than two decades by former major league baseball prospect and former rabbinical student Bernie Finkel, the program airs at 11 a.m. Sundays on WONX-AM 1590.
The show is a mix of current events, music, interviews, humor pieces and “a little bit of religion.
Finkel, who buys the air time from the station, has often had to struggle for advertising support. Devoutly religious, Finkel took a long time before deciding to accept ads for non-kosher products.
He took over the show in 1975, after its creator and his friend, cantor Jerry Rabin, died. Asked how Rabin might react if he could know that the show’s still on the air Finkel said, “He would be pleasantly surprised.”
As are most listeners, every Sunday.
