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Passover: Legend and Reality

By Rabbi David Hartley Mark

            Pesach is coming; no. Pesach is here! This holiday is more than a big meal and avoiding chametz; more than drinking four cups of wine and searching for the Afikomen. Statistically, more Jews share a Seder meal than fast on Yom Kippur. Pesach is therefore monumentally important. How did we get Pesach, and what is its message?

            Going back through the mists of time, we find that Pesach was originally two festivals. The first was called Chag Ha-Pesach (The Festival of the Paschal Lamb Offering), reflecting the nomadic lifestyle of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. The second is Chag Ha-Matzote (The Festival of Unleavened Bread), reminding us of the time when the Israelites were already settled in the Land of Canaan. When the Soferim (Scribes; there were no rabbis yet) combined the two, the festival was historicized and observed as the liberation from slavery in ancient Egypt. Along with Sukkot and Shavuote, Pesach became one of the three pilgrimage festivals relating to phases of the harvest. After the Romans under Vespasian and Titus conquered Jerusalem and the Second Holy Temple, these three festivals were transplanted to the home.

            What about the Exodus? The Book of Shemote (Exodus) tells us that 600,000 men and boys, plus an ayrev rav (mixed multitude of Israelite and Egyptian refugees) departed Egypt in haste, in case Pharaoh should change his mind (Ex. 12:37). Extrapolating from that number to allow for accompanying wives and children, we find the impossible sum of about a million people escaping, more than the ecosystem of Sinai could possibly sustain. Most likely, only a few hundred Israelites departed, representing perhaps only the Tribe of Levi—to which Moses, Miriam, and Aaron belonged.

            Most recently, scholars have noted that the Torah reflects two different traditions: one that is aware of the liberation from Egypt, and another that appears to ignore it together—meaning that Israel the nation appeared in the crucible of the Sinai desert and not before. This would explain why the Levites did not receive a tribal portion among the other tribes—because by the time Levi arrived, the other tribes had already settled the Holy Land.

            Even a leader as great as Moses does not appear in the Hagada but once. The authors of the Hagada feared that, if they gave too much credit to Moses, the Israelites might deify him. In Jewish tradition, only God is able to redeem us. And what of matzah, the best-known symbol of this holiday? The Torah tells us that we must eat matzah and, conversely, avoid chametz, leaven. In reality, matzah was a common food given to farm workers in the field during the spring harvest.

            Does all of this archeology and history diminish the power of the Pesach story? I disagree. We celebrate our Pesach this year in the shadow of an ongoing war being fought by our brothers and sisters in Israel. Regardless of your politics, please join me in a prayer that the people of Israel who live in the Land of Israel may be safe and protected during this difficult time. Sha’alu Sh’lom Yerushalayim—Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and all of Israel as well.

OUR RABBI - David Hartley Mark

WATCH RABBI MARK , To Life, L'Chaim #217 - Rabbi David Mark (You Tube)

Rabbi David Hartley Mark was born in New York City, and grew up on the Lower East Side, that legendary Jewish immigrant neighborhood, attending Hebrew Day School. He was first from his school, the East Side Torah Center, to attend Yeshiva University High School for Boys—Manhattan. David attended Yeshiva University, where he attained a BA in English Literature, a BS in Bible and Jewish Education, and a Hebrew Teacher’s Diploma (HTD). He spent his third year of college at Bar Ilan University in Ramat-Gan, Israel, where he developed a fluency in Hebrew, and toured around the country. He has also attained a Certificate in Advanced Jewish School Administration from the Hebrew College in Brookline, MA.

David attended the City University of New York Graduate Center, where he earned an MA degree from Queens College, as well as an M.Phil. degree, majoring in 17th Century English, specializing in the work of John Milton, as well as the Romantic Poets. A year teaching Hebrew School in a Reform temple in Brooklyn convinced him of his great love of Judaism, and he began attending the Academy for Jewish Religion, Yonkers, NY, where he was ordained a rabbi in 1980.

He met Anbeth, who was hired as temple secretary the same day he was hired to teach. They were married in 1978. They have two grown children, Tyler and Jordan, as well as a grandson, Aidan.

Rabbi Mark served pulpits in Warren, NJ, Fayetteville, NC, and Portsmouth, NH, in which last pulpit he spent 22 years, a record for that state. Seeking warmer climes, as well as closer family members, he and Anbeth took the pulpit of Temple Sholom in 2009. He also fulfilled a lifetime dream of teaching English at Keiser University in Ft. Lauderdale.  

OUR CANTOR - ANITA SCHUBERT

 

Cantor Anita Schubert, grew up in Queens and Lynbrook in New York, says it was a combination of her love for both singing and religion that led her to train to become a cantor. “I grew up in a conservative synagogue. My parents weren’t super religious,” she said. “I started going to shabbat services and never stopped. I learned the musical chants . . . all the right stuff. I picked it up and was able to lead services as well. When I was a teenager I was asked to be one of the adult leaders in the junior congregation. I graduated to running it.”

Although she found her niche leading her congregation, it never occurred to her to be a cantor. “I was the wrong gender until the 80s.” As for her musical style, “It’s mostly a cappella. But I have been accompanied by someone on guitar and piano.”

Her academic background includes both undergraduate and graduate courses in music theory, sight-singing, ear-training, music history, conducting, choral arranging, voice building for choirs, vocal training, as well as studying the piano and flute. Plus, “I began singing in choirs starting in the third grade.”

She also took college courses in Hebrew, modern Jewish thought and the history of Jewish music.

Schubert said although women had been taking cantorial courses, they were not considered cantors at first. However, things changed for the better when women were finally accepted into the Cantors Assembly, an international association representing the cantorial profession.

Schubert has been actively working as a cantor at various congregations around the nation for many years before her new position at Temple Sholom. She realizes her coming here will be an historic event for the local place of worship. And what will she bring to her new congregation? “My spirit, my choice of music. We have a lot of options. We go beyond the traditional.”

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