At Touro Synagogue February 28-29, 2020
edited by Rebecca Beit-Aharon
With thanks to Rabbi Marc Mandel
On Friday, February 28, 45 people gathered at Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island for Shabbat Across America. Jonathan Kabak arrived in the middle of services at Maariv and explained that there had been a childcare situation. The congregation smiled as we recalled our own child care situations.
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| Jonathan Kabak |
Jonathan is Captain (Chief Operating Officer) at the Oliver Hazard Perry Foundation. The Oliver Hazard Perry is a tall ship with educational programs and community outreach, an important part of Jonathan’s portfolio. Jonathan’s maritime journey has included the Sea Scouts and time aboard the ships of the South Street Seaport Museum in New York City.
Rabbi Marc Mandel hustled Jonathan Kabak to the bimah, where he led a spirited Maariv, punctuated by regular greetings from his son on the balcony above: “Hi, Daddy.”
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After services we went to the Levi Gale house and shared a meal sponsored by Rabbi Mandel’s Discretionary Fund. Jonathan’s mother, Naomi Kabak, mentioned that her family were among the founders of Lincoln Square Synagogue, where Rabbi Epraim Buchwald, the head of NJOP, started his outreach programs, including Shabbat Across America. Rabbi Mandel was a student of Rabbi Buchwald and learned a lot from him.
Mrs. Kabak reminisced about her Israel-focused career in the travel industry. She told us that she had worked for El Al in marketing, and among her achievements was the opening of El Al’s Boston office.
During the Six Day War period, Israel was not marketed effectively by the travel industry. Mrs. Kabak joined Isram, which specializes in group tours to Israel.
Naftali Sabo mentioned another old stalwart in Israel travel history, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, which employed his dad. ZIM was founded in 1945. During the Israeli War of Independence, it was the only line that shipped to Israel. Mrs Kabak’s rejoinder: “I made my first trip to Israel on ZIM. And I have another story about ZIM.
“My father dreamt he was on a ZIM cruise. The seas got very rough and he woke up with a start. He had fallen out of bed, and made a hole in the wall with his foot! Only a Zionist would dream about ZIM.”
Jonathan told me that many of the engineers from ZIM ended up supervising heating systems in New York apartment buildings. Many buildings in New York City are heated by steam, which was used to power ships until the 1980s.
For at least three generations, the Kabak family has had a fascination with ships. Their fascination with Judaism has lasted a bit longer!
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On Saturday, during his brief Torah message, Rabbi Mandel spoke about a difficult question:
“This week's Torah reading, Parshat Terumah, is about all the donations people gave for the Mishkan, the portable synagogue the Jews had in the desert. The Parsha discusses the Menorah, the Ark, the Bima, among a few other parts.
“As we look around Touro Synagogue, we can see all the beautiful donations that were made to this synagogue in the 1700's. Many of them are the original donations, and we can see the names of the people that made the donations.
“Recently, someone asked to meet with me to discuss a matter of concern they had. In my office, this person told me that she recently discovered that some of the founders of Touro Synagogue were involved in the slave trade here in Rhode Island. This bothered her very much and tainted her view of our synagogue. She asked me, ‘How can people that were fleeing persecution persecute other people?’
“This is not an easy question to answer, and it wasn't the first time I was asked this. A few years ago, at a panel in Providence, someone surprised me with this question.
“I explained to her that, ‘This is something we are aware of, and, in fact, the Loeb Visitors Center at Touro Synagogue has an exhibit that deals with this topic. We are not trying to cover it up, but perhaps it needs to be understood in the context of the times.’ She wasn't very satisfied, but at least she was able to start a conversation about a topic that bothered her dearly.
“Is there anything in our world that is pure? In a couple of weeks we will read in the Torah that many of the same people who donated to the Mishkan also donated to the golden calf. As humans, we are not one dimensional. We are complex and unpredictable. To deny that is to deny history.”
Shabbat Shalom from Jewish Newport!
more info about the Oliver Hazard Perry Foundation: https://www.ohpri.org/staff-and-crew/
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