PURELY COMMENTARY
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
JARC Reaches 'Char
A community, a Kehillah, ap-
proaches fulfillment in its total aims
when it lives up to an aspiration of
being and acting as a family. There
can never be total fulfillment be-
cause the needs are always ac-
cumulative. The obligations are
never ending. If the aspiration is to
be a family, there is always the ap-
proach to maturity.
After all, a community, a fam-
ily, must account for its members,
its children, its parents, all who con-
stitute a relationship.
It has always been taken for
granted that the educational needs
of the children, the security of the
elderly are and always will be
treated with respect and dignity,
will always be considered obligatory.
There are always challenges. There
may always be shortcomings, but
the duties are accountable.
For a very long time there was
one major need that was either over-
looked or was treated with a kind of
ignorance that grew into disrespect.
It was — continues to be — the
plight of unfortunate handicapped
who cannot function as fully and as
completely as the average healthy
person in their midst. They are now
recognized as the "retarded." They
are the human element that could
Attains Commendable Status
always be made productive and very
often self-sufficient and self-
protective. Their plight was ignored.
It was not fairly understood until
there emerged an apprehension of
what had been hidden from human
concern.
At last, in recent years, this
pressing need earned consideration
and in some communities move-
ments have been created to provide
relief for the mounting problems.
The triumph of such a move-
ment in our community gives unin-
vited attention to this pressing mat-
ter. The eighteenth anniversary of
the founding of the Jewish Associa-
tion for Retarded Citizens, currently
being observed, provides great sig-
nificance to the capitalized initials
under which the local movement has
gained fame and acceptance as
JARC.
The anniversary of JARC is
being celebrated as its chai year —
its 18th anniversary. It gains prove-
rbial importance as an emphasis of
another translation of chai — in
addition to the numerical — as life.
It is a life-providing factor that it
gains immense status.
The great need, in welcoming
the chai JARC anniversary, is to
know and to take into account the
background of this movement. It is a
cause that began to sense and ac-
knowledge the shame with which
the less fortunate in the category ac-
counted for were treated. They were
shunned and their needs hidden out
of the developed share. They were
insulted and their status relegated
to what could have been regarded as
a kind of a crime.
In the era when JARC-Detroit
came into being, there was the neg-
lect of the handicapped being kept
institutionally and in private
money-making homes. Then there
was the beginning of compassion, a
condition that needed mercy. The
first Haverim Home was established.
The residents truly commenced a life
of "Haverim," of fellow humans.
Now the number of Haverim Homes
is reaching a dozen and more of
those waiting to be welcomed into
this sphere have a place to live.
The JARC cause had an initial
struggle. It started with a few dozen
members. Its membership is now in
the thousands. The progress attained
is another tribute to the vision of
the growing leadership in this won-
derful community.
It took movements like JARC to
teach the communities that the re-
tardation they were relegating to an
unaccounted-for and unproven dis-
grace were curable. Suddenly com-
munities — and families! — began
to learn that their members — their
children! — had curable handicaps.
Those who were shunned, insulted,
mistreated, were discovered to be
trainable, able to earn a livelihood
— even if only to a degree.
JARC proves
it. Another great
cause, the Jewish
Vocational Service
and its workshops,
prove it. The ig-
nored and misun-
derstood are able to care for them-
selves when provided with the op-
portunities that have been inspired
by JARC and their counterparts in
some other communities.
The communities are beginning
to recognize a serious duty: to treat
fellow beings, in families and com-
munities, as human equals.
That is why a civilized status is
provided for those who are sup-
ported, cared for, encouraged by
JARC. That is why such a civilizing
must be shared by all in the com-
munity. That is a major reason for
applauding JARC on its chai cele-
bration.
Fame Of Chazan In History And Tradition
The chazan leads us all in prayer
when we are in the synagogue or tem-
ple. He is the cantor, the Ball Tefillah,
the Shaliakh Tzibur, the messenger of
the congregation in public prayer.
Perhaps it is too commonly known
as the title for the person so well-faced
in prayer that the term chazan does not
incite sufficient attention. The fact is
that the chazan-cantor has one of the
major and most exciting roles as a
synagogue functionary.
Attention is now called to this per-
sonage of fame by the 40th anniversary
of the Cantors' Assembly. It will be
celebrated in an important function in
Jerusalem as part of a national Israeli
pilgrimage by American cantors, July
7-21.
The role of Detroiters is especially
significant. The late Cantor Jacob H.
Sonenklar was a national organizer in
assembling the cantors into an Ameri-
can movement. He extended his popu-
larity for half-a-century at Detroit's
Shaarey Zedek congregation by in-
teresting chazanim from scores of cities
in the movement he helped organize.
Locally, the movement has many func-
tions under the leadership of Cantor
Chaim Najman and Cantor Louis
Klein, in association with Cantor Jacob
Barkin, one of the nationally promi-
nent synagogue singers, formerly of
Shaarey Zedek. Other local cantors
active as leaders in the movement in-
clude Larry Vieder at Adat Shahom
and Max Shimansky of Beth Achim.
The cantors' association, marking
its 40th anniversary, will create the
compelling interest in the chazan, his
historic role, the traditions he elevates.
The Assyro-Babylonian origin of
the term chazan describes him as an
2
Friday, June 12, 1987
Cantor Chaim Najman
overseer. He had also been identified as
a governor stationed in Palestine by
the Egyptians. In ancient Israel the
duties of a chazan included that of a
sexton who took care of the synagogue.
He was also an elementary school
teacher in ancient times. He is remem-
bered as the blower of the Shofar three
times, from the synagogue roof, to an-
nounce the commencement and conclu-
sion of the Sabbath and the festivals.
In his scholarly and informative
Rabbi Philip
Jewish Concepts,
Birnbaum provides the basic historical
facts, experiences and recollects about
the chazan:
In modern usage, the chazan is
primarily the sheliah tsibbur, the
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Cantor Louis Klein
congregational reader of
prayers, referred to as cantor or
precentor.
During the medieval period,
the prescribed Hebrew prayers
were amplified by the addition
of prayer-poems and hymns,
known as piyyutim, composed
by chazanim-payyetanim, such as
Rabbi Elazar ha-Kallir of the
eighth century, whose numer-
ous piyyutim are to be found in
the current editions of the Sid-
dur and the Machzor. The chazan
in the Middle Ages was often a
combination of poet, composer,
and singer, whose melodies
have been preserved down to
our time. In the twelfth-century
work Sefer Chasidim there is a
statement which reads: "If you
cannot concentrate when you
pray, search for melodies and
choose a tune you like. Your
heart will then feel what you
say, for it is the song that makes
your heart respond."
As a rule, the chazan of the
medieval period was a man of
extensive learning and of high
esteem. Consideration of char-
acter took precedence to con-
sideration of voice quality. It
often happened that the chazan
was the only member of the
congregation who possessed a
prayerbook manuscript which
included many poetic interpola-
tions. The congregation was
therefore greatly dependent on
the chazan, and actually led by
him, in the worship services.
Chazanim, in the modern
sense, who are influenced by
the musical style of non-Jews,
were strongly disliked by
Chasidic leaders. Rabbi Jacob
Joseph of Polonnoye, author of
Toledoth Yaakov Yosef, which is
the primary source for the
teachings of Rabbi Israel Baal
Shem Tov, writes: "Our souls
are sick with listening to
chazanim ... They sin and bring
others to sin. When they pro-
long their melodies without end,
the people gossip in the
synagogue, interrupting the si-
lence of prayer ... Originally,
the chazan sang devoutly ... he
was the most important person
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