By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO — Congregation Beth Israel closed out the celebration of its sesquicentennial year with a nostalgic concert by Mandy Patinkin on Saturday evening, November 17, at Irwin M. Jacobs Qualcomm Hall.
Patinkin, who has had starring roles on Broadway, in movies and in television series, took the Qualcomm stage following a Ken Gimbel video in which highlights of the year-long 150th anniversary celebration were reviewed.
These included Mayor Jerry Sanders declaring a Congregation Beth Israel day in San Diego; the commissioning and writing of a sefer Torah; a salute to past presidents; a speakers series featuring some of the nation’s top rabbis; concerts by Craig Taubman and Beth Israel’s own youth choir; and continued service to the community through Beth Israel’s long-lasting project to feed San Diego’s hungry.
Following a fundraising dinner, guests had moved to the concert venue where Rabbi Michael Berk, Rabbi/ Cantor Arlene Bernstein, Rabbi Michael Satz, and Cantor Emeritus Sheldon Merel led the congregation in Havdallah prayers, following a short drash by Berk.
He said the wine of the Havdallah service symbolized the joy of the 150th anniversary celebration; the spice box represented the varied delights over the past year of sights, sounds, lectures, prayer services, and the writing of a 150th anniversary book; and the multiple wicks of the Havdallah candle celebrated the diversity of the congregation in which many people come together to add their individual light.
Berk added that the “Eliyahu Ha Navi” prayer, sung at the end of Sabbath, expressed a hope that the Prophet Elijah will arrive in the coming week to announce the coming of the Messiah. It is a song of hope, he said. On that evening, Berk said, he also wanted to express two other hopes — that the congregation would continue to flourish in its next 150 years, and that Israel and its neighbors in Gaza, now on the brink of a ground war, will someday make a lasting peace.
After a short pause in the proceedings, Patinkin dressed casually in dark sweater and jeans — in contrast to the cocktail party attire worn by his audience — came out carrying two floral arrangements which he put on either side of the stage. Then he commented that the front row wasn’t filled, although the rest of the hall was quite full, and asked if the Sisterhood, the Men’s Club or Hadassah should be “blamed” for the seating gap. Doing his concerts, he said, he needs to have people in the front row. So he invited the people in the very back row of the balcony to make their way to the front in the orchestra section to have what some consider the choicest seats in the house.
Patinkin had grown up in the Conservative congregation Rodfei Zedek in Chicago, but noted that he has attended family functions at the Reform Congregation Beth Israel on several visits to San Diego. He pointed out that his mother, Jewish Family Cookbook author Doralee Patinkin, was in the audience, as well as his sister, Joanne Rubin Gimbel, and additionally recalled the memory of his late sister, Marsha Gail Patinkin, who had died in San Diego in 2004.
Patinkin’s concert, in which he was expertly accompanied on piano by Paul Ford, was drawn mainly from the “Dress Casual” one-man show that he has performed around the country. His voice has a range that goes from baritone to falsetto, and there were times during the concert when he resembled a football player, so firmly did he plant his feet on the stage to tackle (successfully) some prodigiously long notes.
His repertoire ranged from Al Jolson’s “Mammy” to Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” to Meredith Willson’s “Music Man.” A black towel, matching his sweater and pants, often was perched on his shoulder so he could swipe at the shvitz that is the natural accompaniment to an all-out effort. His encore, drawn from his “Mamaloshen” one-man show, was “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” sung in Yiddish and English.
The singer/ actor shared that while he always had been inspired by the lessons he had learned in synagogue, performing as a boy at a Jewish center in the musical Carousel changed his life. Simply put, he said, one lesson of that Rodgers and Hammerstein musical was “if you love someone tell them.” Another lesson was that “as long as one person remembers you (after death) , it isn’t over,” adding that he includes the names of departed loved ones and friends not just at memorial services, but in daily prayer.
Patinkin’s reflections corresponded with Beth Israel’s year-long 150th birthday celebration in which pioneers and subsequent builders of San Diego’s largest congregation often had been remembered by name. Leading that celebration were Emily Jennewein, who served as president during the sesquicentennial, and Mary Ann Scher, a past president of the congregation who chaired the 150th anniversary observances. The evening’s event was co-chaired by Carol and Ron Fox and Bev and Len Bernstein.
“Happy Birthday!” Patinkin called to the audience, both at the beginning and end of his concert.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com