Schachtel was born in
London in May 1907, and came to the United States on the
Lusitania with his family in 1914. They settled in
Buffalo, New York, where Schachtel’s father Bernard secured employment as a cantor. Schachtel was ordained into the rabbinate at Hebrew Union College in
Cincinnati in 1931. His first pulpit was at Congregation Shaaray Tefila (sometimes referred to as the West End Synagogue) in
New York City, where he served from 1931 until his arrival in
Houston. Schachtel became a close personal friend of
Lyndon B. Johnson, and delivered the inaugural prayer at President Johnson’s inauguration in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 1965. Schachtel received a doctorate in Education from the
University of Houston in 1948, as well as honorary degrees from Southwestern University in Georgetown and Hebrew Union College as well from Harvard. Locally, he served terms as president of the Houston Rabbinical Association and Texas Kallah of Rabbis. He was also a member of the executive board of the
Central Conference of American Rabbis, and served as vice-president and secretary-treasurer of the organization’s southwest region. Schachtel was a dedicated advocate of interfaith understanding, and was honored for this work by the
National Conference of Christians and Jews, the
American Jewish Committee, and
B’nai Brith. Rabbi Schachtel was well known to generations of Houstonians through his columns in the
Houston Post and a radio show on
KODA-FM. He died on January 11, 1990. Rabbi Schachtel published a number of books. The often quoted thought, “Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have,” was originally written in his book,
The Real Enjoyment of Living (1954). Among his other published works are
The Life You Want To Live (1956),
The Shadowed Valley (1962), and
How To Meet The Challenge of Life and Death (1980). ==References==