Tazria-Metzora

            As if to counteract the parsha/Torah portion’s dry, legal listings of purity, impurity, and whatever malady was known as “leprosy” in ancient times (it could include any skin ailment, from a bad rash through psoriasis, including, ironically, mold on the walls of a dwelling, all the way to actual leprosy, which we now call Hansen’s Disease), the haftorah for this Shabbat (2 Kings 7:3-20) gives us a little-known episode from the Book of Kings which took place around 892-832 BCE, in the days of Elisha’s prophecy: the miraculous rout of the Aramean King Ben-Hadad, who flees before the might of God, lifting his siege of Samaria. The people in the Israelite city are starving from the siege and eating whatever offal they can acquire. Four lepers—we are not told what skin disease they suffer from—are sitting by the city gates, ostracized by their fellow citizens; amazingly, they are first to learn of the enemy’s retreat, as the text of the haftorah bears out, teaching us that even the lowliest members of society are to be valued, not shunned.

 I treasure this haftorah for its mention of Elisha, a particular favorite prophet of mine going back to my childhood, when I had a large book of Bible stories with full-color pictures, a family heirloom going back to the 1920s, painted by an artist named Milo Winter (how could one ever forget a name like that?). I recall that Elisha’s teacher, Elijah, was a fierce-looking, raw-boned ascetic, garbed in rough brown sheepskin, tramping barefoot and bare-legged over hill and dale, armed with a long, knobby stick which, I imagined, he used to beat recalcitrant Israelites into heeding the word of God. In contrast, Winter’s renderings of Elisha depicted a white-haired-and-bearded, portly prophet, working his miracles while bestowing smiles on admiring adults and children. I warmed to Elisha immediately, loving him as much as I felt wary of Elijah. In a world of black-hatted rabbis who croaked “It’s a sin!” at my every action, Elisha was a forgiving, comforting presence.

            I remember reading Elijah’s charge to Elisha, telling him that he would succeed Elijah as prophet of God after that stern, hawk-nosed seer departed this life.

            “Let a double portion of your prophetic spirit pass on to me,” Elisha begged, concerned that he might not command as much respect among the people and nobility as had the take-no-nonsense Elijah (2 Kings 2:9). Elijah scowled (I imagined), but agreed.

            As they walked through the rocky, windswept wilderness country, a fiery chariot drawn by fiery horses stormed down from the sky. Fearful, Elisha fell upon his knees, but bold Elijah climbed into it, and mounted up to heaven in a whirlwind. Bereft, Elisha cried out, “My father—my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” Elijah was gone, leaving only his cloak, symbol of his prophetic powers, behind. Elisha took it up, flung it over his shoulders, and resumed his journey.

            Thus began Elisha’s prophetic career: he went on to bring a dead boy back to life (2 Kings 4:18-37), helped a poor widow to survive by miraculously multiplying the olive oil she had in a single jug (II Kings 4), fed a hundred people with a small number of barley cakes (2 Kings 4:42-44),  created endless, fresh drinking water from a single bowl of salty water (2 Kings 4:1-7), made an iron ax-head float (2 Kings 6:1-7), and  fearlessly conveyed the word of God to the idolatrous, rebellious kings of both Judah and Israel. Significantly, these are actions, not words, unlike the verbose prophets of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah, who were more given to making speeches, rather than employing their prophetic powers to work miracles. It is significant that Elisha championed the common folk, and did not hesitate to speak the truth to those in power. Would that we had such leaders in Israel and the world today!

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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