David Morgenstern

1952 - 2015

David Eli Morgenstern

Nov 25, 1952 - May 4, 2015

David Morgenstern, cantorial soloist, technology writer and editor, and dedicated father and husband, died Monday, May 4, 2015 suddenly of an apparent heart attack. Aged 62, David was a longtime member and clergyman of Beth Israel Judea and resident of the Parkmerced neighborhood of San Francisco.

Born in Los Angeles, David grew up to attend both San Jose and San Francisco State Universities, ultimately taking his degree in Music from the latter. Passionately interested in Reform Judaism, he was a young member of Temple Isaiah in Lafayette; attended and worked in sculpture at Camp Swig under the tutelage of Helen Burke; and spent 1970-71 in Israel working and learning Hebrew at the Kibbutz Manara on the Lebanon border.

It was at San Francisco State that David met his wife Inara Morgenstern, a pianist and music teacher. The two were married in 1976 and were blessed with their daughter Ariela in 1978. David's life was marked by rich enthusiasms, from the trivial to the sublime, and a deep generosity of spirit that motivated a life of service to his many communities. He brought happiness to everyone he encountered, and always said just the right thing with kindness. His joy and energy blessed all of us and elevated us to be better and happier people.

Throughout the 1980s, David worked at the J. Paul Leonard Library at San Francisco State, where he served as Union Shop Steward for the campus AFL-CIO chapter. David's interest in computing led him to help found the Berkeley Mac Users' Group, BMUG, one of the world's largest independent computer user groups. He served as the group's chairman of the board of directors from 1989-91 and would coordinate the monthly meetings of the BMUGWest group for the rest of his life.

David's devotion to computing led him into a long writing career, and he became a writer and eventually Editor at MacWEEK, an influential trade magazine covering the Macintosh market, and its successor eMediaWeekly, as well as holding editorial positions at eWeek. Most recently David was a blogger for "The Apple Core" on ZDNet.

David was a stunning singer and performer, and was an opera singer for many years during and after college. His love of music and Judaism led him to his most recent career as cantorial soloist for Beth Israel Judea.

After filling in for BIJ's cantor during vacations and a medical leave, David became the natural choice to fill the role permanently, beginning in 2008. "During this time, my own spiritual journey grew in importance to me," he said in an article for jweekly.com. "The passing of my mother and parents-in-law, the experience of having a child grow up, being a manager of an enterprise: Sometimes those kind of experiences can test you. For me they led back to our tradition." His continued professional development as a cantor led to extensive pastoral counseling and life-cycle rituals.

David's love of his daughter Ariela, today a professional actor and singer in New York, was immense. For many years, David and Inara have also been the proud caretakers of two Maine Coon cats, Minnie and Hercule.

David is mourned by wife Inara, daughter Ariela (Marc), brother Jamie (Linda) and sister Ann (Jeff). May his memory be for a blessing.

Funeral services took place on May 6. A Shiva Minyan will be held on May 7 at 7:00 pm at Congregation Beth Israel Judea, 625 Brotherhood Way, San Francisco. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Congregation Beth Israel Judea.