July/August 2025
A Real Stand-Up Guy
When a young Robert Haas would answer roll call on the first day of school, the teacher would immediately assign him the front row, center seat, to keep him under close watch.
“I had a reputation for being talkative, mildly disruptive and sarcastic,” Haas recalls.
Today he uses his gifts as an orator to bring insight and guidance through his sermons at Congregation Mickve Israel. However, on one or two evenings a month, his wry side re-emerges through his unlikely side gig as a stand-up comedian.
“I started going to open mics here in Savannah, thinking that comedy was something to check off the bucket list,” Haas says. “But then I started doing a lot of shows and was being asked to be an MC for different events. It was a good way to practice jokes that I might want to put in my sermons.”
From Teacher To Student
Haas grew up in a border town in the southernmost part of Texas, where his family was heavily involved in the Jewish community.
“My grandparents on both sides helped start the synagogue in a small town called Mercedes and then in my hometown, McAllen,” Haas recalls. “And my great uncle was actually one of the major founders of the congregation as well.”
Did he feel then that he was destined to be a rabbi?
“Absolutely not,” Haas says. “There was not a moment during my childhood where I thought I would be doing this. I wanted to be either a tennis pro or a fireman.”
What Haas became was an elementary school teacher, after graduating from the University of Texas at Austin. Later, he flirted with the idea of law school. But after living in Israel for a year, Haas decided to apply to rabbinical school. He completed his first year in Jerusalem before earning his Master’s Degree and Rabbinical Ordination in Los Angeles. He served as an associate rabbi in his home state of Texas, then spent a year volunteering in Africa with American Jewish World Service before moving to Savannah.
Rabbi Haas is the fourteenth spiritual leader of the synagogue, which was started by Jewish settlers who arrived in Savannah just five months after General Oglethorpe established the colony of Georgia.
“We may be the only synagogue in America that is also a full-time museum, because this place holds so much history,” Haas says. “I think that's a wonderful responsibility.”
Laughing It Up
Haas keeps his act clean and relatable, in the style of comedy heroes like Jerry Seinfeld and Jim Gaffigan. But that doesn’t mean all of his stage jokes make it to the pulpit, or vice versa.
“Humor can have a profound effect on people, and it can be used to express something meaningful or uplifting,” Haas says. “Typically, at a comedy club, we’re just there to make you laugh. Sermons are different—I want the humor to be connected to what I’m trying to say.”
For Rabbi Haas, the message behind the humor can also be a consolation (for the inevitable time in every comedian’s life) when a joke bombs.
“If a joke fails in a sermon but the idea still comes across, I count that as a success,” Haas says.
Haas has pulled back on the number of gigs he does each year so that he can spend time with his wife and two children. And, of course, to make sure he keeps his day job.
“I love being a rabbi,” he says. “Maybe in 20 years I could try doing more shows and even going on the road, but right now, I want to be there for my kids and for my congregation. I want to keep this balance.”
Your Health Is No Joke
Rabbi Haas provides spiritual counseling and support to Jewish patients and families at St. Joseph’s/Candler through the hospital’s Pastoral Care department, in addition to a variety of community service projects. Caring for the sick is seen as an essential and communal responsibility in the Jewish tradition.
Jewish teachings also emphasize that one’s body is not your own possession but a gift from God, and that humans have a responsibility to take care of this gift.
“Going to the doctor is fairly ingrained in us,” Haas says. “Our oldest texts speak about taking utmost care of our lives.”
Of course, Rabbi Haas may know a few people who are reluctant to see a doctor—this has been a longstanding issue across all cultures and faiths. But the importance of physical health along with spiritual health is well understood in the Jewish tradition.
“Our healthcare needs can overrule other concerns in many cases,” Haas says. “Health supersedes just about everything else.”
Haas’s comedic skills play a part in this too. Studies have shown that a good laugh can reduce stress hormones in the body, improve circulation, manage pain and enhance immunity. So whether you see him at Congregation Mickve Israel on Saturday morning or a nightclub on Saturday night, it could give your health a boost.
Stand-up photo courtesy of Front Porch Improv.