“Lo Ta’amod -- We Will Not Stand Idly By.” “Commissioned by Temple Beth Ohr of La Mirada, California, under the direction of Cantor Shannon McGrady Bane, in honor of Rabbi Lawrence Goldmark.”
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As many of you know, on Yom Kippur morning, we presented Rabbi Goldmark with a very special retirement gift – a beautiful choral setting, commissioned in Rabbi Goldmark’s honor, of “Lo Ta’amod -- We Will Not Stand Idly By.”
The dedication, which is placed immediately above the song title, reads: “Commissioned by Temple Beth Ohr of La Mirada, California, under the direction of Cantor Shannon McGrady Bane, in honor of Rabbi Lawrence Goldmark.”
It has been my privilege these past few months to work with the TBO Board and composer David Shukiar to give musical structure to our ideas for the commission, and I thought you might be interested to learn some of the background.
Our award-winning composer David Shukiar is the cantorial soloist at Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks. Two-time recipient of the Guild of Temple Musicians’ Best Young Composer Award, David Shukiar’s music is published by Transcontinental Music Publications, the largest publisher of Jewish music, and can be heard in concert halls and synagogues around the country. You may remember his work “V’lo Ira” which the High Holiday Ensemble sang last year at Erev Rosh Hashanah and also at our 50th anniversary service.
Truth be told, the text inspired the commission. “Do not stand idly by” is one of Rabbi Goldmark’s favorite verses in the Torah, and its message of social action has guided his rabbinate.
In our choice of text and musical style, we tried to capture the essence of Rabbi Goldmark’s rabbinate -- teaching Torah and doing mitzvot (“good deeds”). For example, to symbolize Rabbi Goldmark’s role as our teacher of Torah, the composer incorporated echoes of Torah trope in the trumpet line.
“Do not stand idly by” is one of a collection of verses in Leviticus 19, known as the “Holiness Code,” in which we are told that we must be a holy people because God is holy. To emphasize that message, the song begins with the opening two verses of Leviticus 19. “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.”
Also found in the Holiness Code and included in the song is the famous injunction: “Love your neighbor as yourself..”
As Rabbi Goldmark has taught us, to be a holy people, we must bring justice and compassion into our everyday lives. If we can brighten someone’s day with a phone call, or ease someone’s burden with a kind word or sympathetic ear, we should make the effort. We must not hide from or ignore the suffering in our midst and in the world.
Coincidentally, Leviticus 19 is the traditional reading for Yom Kippur afternoon, so it was especially appropriate that we should premiere “Lo Ta’amod – We Will Not Stand Idly By” on Yom Kippur day. We will of course sing it again at other appropriate occasions throughout the coming year.
I want to take this opportunity to thank the High Holiday Ensemble (Ken Bane, Stan DeWitt, Denean Dyson, Devon Glenn, and Dena Jastroch) and our instrumentalists (Bernie Haber on tof and Matthew “Memel” Hom on trumpet) for their time and talent, and most especially for lifting our spirits with their music. And finally, a special note of gratitude for Barbara Siegel, with whom I am privileged to make music every week, and last but not least, to my cherished pulpit partner, Rabbi Goldmark, who always makes me laugh.
B’shalom,
Cantor Shannon McGrady Bane
