PEDLOCK SAINT, PEDLOCK SINNER

More of that Yiddishkabibble which began with The Pedlocks (1951), continued with Pedlock & Sons (1967) and now features Pedlock uncle and nephew, both rabbis. Uncle, Rabbi Charles, has a congregation sometimes referred to as the ""Golden Ghetto,"" belongs to the Zionhigh Country Club, is paunchy as well as raunchy since he devotes himself to the affairs of the flesh and the spirit equally. His nephew, David Mendoza, just returning from war duty as a chaplain, is both an innocent and an idealist and while uncle is being promoted as a ""sort of Jewish Bishop Sheen,"" Davis is attracted to the hardnosed Orthodox Esserick, a ""gypsy store front rabbi"" defending the ways of the old world. David tries briefly resurrecting a small congregation of mixed genes and lapsed practices in Hawaii, is beaten up, and ultimately killed; Mr. Longstreet, a realist, permits Rabbi Charles to outsmart the fate he so richly deserves. All of this is catered with the habitual Longstreet largesse and while you don't expect quality, it does go down as easily as Manischewitz champagne.