Rabbi Steven Moskowitz

Message from Rabbi Moskowitz

rabsam@tilb.org

Rabbi Moskowitz was born in New York City, where he attended Central Synagogue. His father was a lawyer; his mother helped to set up the Jewish Museum there. Rabbi Moskowitz graduated from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and then from Lewis and Clark Law School also in Portland. Prior to rabbinic school, he was a lawyer and spent seven years working for the City of Portland, first as a deputy city attorney and then as an Assistant to the Mayor. Subsequently, he went into private practice, where he primarily represented cities and school districts around the state of Oregon.

In addition to having worked as a lawyer, Rabbi Moskowitz also worked for two years as a daycare teacher. While in Portland, he served on a number of Jewish Federation committees as well as on the board of trustees of Congregation Beth Israel. He related to us that he felt very honored to serve as the lawyer for an organization of Holocaust survivors in the establishment of a Holocaust memorial in Portland.

Rabbi Moskowitz and his wife, Ana, were both members of their synagogue in Portland, which is where they met. During their year in Israel (the first year of rabbinic school), Ana studied with a scribe and learned the art and tradition of Hebrew calligraphy. They have five children.

Cantor Marvin Finnley
finnley@pacbell.net

My life almost began amongst the shoes in the display window of the Paso Robles, CA Karl’s Shoe Store, where my dad was the manager. My mother worked there alongside my father. She worked there almost to the hour I was born.

My father, an immigrant from Russia in 1921, and my mother were both from Detroit and married there in 1934. They made several trips to California before deciding to settle in Paso Robles. At that time, they had one child, my sister Lee, who had been born in Detroit.

My family was a musical one, and Lee began playing the violin. She persevered, and when I came along, I grew up with the sound of the violin in my ears. My mother told the story about the time my sister’s teacher came to the house for the lesson, and while my sister was playing, the teacher heard a strange voice humming all her tunes. “What’s that?” he asked. He was informed that “It’s the baby,” meaning me. I think I was about two, or younger, and apparently knew all of my sister’s pieces by heart.

We moved to Santa Maria, and my little sister, Annette, came along. We all enjoyed listening to music, and Lee had a beautiful voice. While I was still unable to read, my parents had only to tell me to play a particular selection on our large phonograph, and I could pick out the right record and play it. They couldn’t figure out how I knew which record was which.

We moved to Santa Barbara, where my dad became the manager of the Karl’s there, and, at age eight, I decided what instrument I wanted to play. My parents frequently watched the Lawrence Welk show, and I was fascinated with Myron Floren, so I took up the accordion, and it stuck. Annette started on the piano and took tap dancing. Many times, I would accompany Annette while she tap danced on a big piece of plywood that my parents put in the living room. My parents enjoyed these “performances” very much.

I have always had a keen sense of pitch as far back as I can remember. I loved to sing, and kept it up in school where I sang with the All City Chorus in Santa Barbara, and went on to sing with the Music Academy of the West chorus in several opera productions. I was very good academically and musically, but not in sports, although I was on the high school tennis team. I graduated and was one of ten National Merit Finalists at my high school in Santa Barbara.

At Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, I majored in Physics but still kept up singing in the RPI Glee Club. I never considered majoring in music, as I believed that it would be difficult to have a dependable income as a performer. Following graduation, I went to work for NASA at Cape Canaveral (Cape Kennedy at the time), met many of the astronauts, and watched many launches close up. After a while, I returned to California and attended graduate school at Cal State Long Beach. There, I sang with the choir whose accompanist at the time was Richard Carpenter. During the summer of 1967, I toured with the Roger Wagner Chorale in Japan and was in Roger’s chorus for the movie, “Paint Your Wagon.” Lee Marvin, one of the stars, was a very funny guy who told us that his first “singing role” was the opening music of his TV series M-Squad. He told us that most people thought it was the sound of a motorcycle, but it really was Lee Marvin singing. Lee went on to make one of the songs from the movie a hit song, “I was born under a wandrin’ star,” in which he actually did kind of sound like a motorcycle, but the song was very popular on the charts. Actually, every note out of his mouth was recorded, note-by-note; he really couldn’t carry a tune.

In 1968, I entered military service as a member of the United States Air Force Singing Sergeants, a unit of the US Air Force Band in Washington, DC. We performed at the White House many times, and toured in Europe while I was a member. One Memorial Day, during an appearance at the amphitheater of the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington Cemetery, I was to sing “America the Beautiful” for the assembled crowd. On the stage were the Vice President of the United States, Spiro T. Agnew, and General William Westmoreland, Chief of Staff of the US Army. As my musical cue approached, and I began to make my way to the front of the stage to sing, I was grabbed and shoved towards the wings of the stage by two burly Secret Service men. I was confused and didn’t know what was happening, but as they continued to push me, a woman ran over shouting, “He’s the soloist, he’s the soloist.” Apparently, they had seen me move out of the line of singers, and, thinking I was sick or needed the bathroom, they were trying to protect the Vice President, and make sure I went in the right direction. I continued my path to the stage, standing right in front of the Vice President and General Westmoreland. I was flustered. I barely got through the piece while my right leg continued to shake the whole time.

While in Washington, I found a great voice teacher, John Bullock, whom you may know better as the father of Sandra Bullock. Sandi and her sister Gesina were little girls when I started studying with John. He was a great voice teacher, and I have never had another. I studied with him for 12 years and grew to know the family well. I also began to study with the retired Cantor from one of the large Reform Temples in DC, Temple Sinai, and was able to become the cantor of that synagogue in 1971. After the service, I stayed in DC and worked for the Naval Research Laboratory as a Physicist doing research into traveling wave tubes, a kind of radar amplifier that is used in satellites and missiles. I quit that job to become a full time singer in 1979, and I was lucky to perform with the Washington Opera Company and the Wolf Trap Opera Company in subsequent years. I’ll never forget performing on the stage of the Opera House at Kennedy Center, as all eyes focused on me coming down a grand staircase during Verdi’s “Un Ballo in Maschera” where I played the role of Silvano the sailor. I also did larger roles with some of the smaller companies in the area. During this period, I spent some time auditioning in New York City during the week and returning to DC to lead services at Temple Sinai on the weekends.

Towards the end of 1982, I was seriously considering returning to California. A music career increasingly seemed to entail too much uncertainty, and my desire to spend more time with my parents in the LA area was growing stronger. I had met a very nice woman, Hannah Yost, the previous year, and the life of an itinerant singer didn’t fit well with the kind of stability necessary for a solid relationship to develop. So I determined to return to California and seek another technical job while trying to find a Temple where I could continue my work as a cantor.

As soon as my mother heard this, it became job number one for her to find me a temple. This quest she pursued with vigor as only a Jewish mother could. Possibly to avoid further harassment, the Rabbi at one congregation called me up and offered me a job on the spot. If I were half as good as my mother said I was, he was willing to hire me, but he needed me immediately. This proved impossible, so my mother was back on the job. She found Temple Beth El in San Pedro. They needed a cantor for the coming year, so I flew out, courtesy of Hughes Aircraft, to interview at Hughes and also visit Temple Beth El and Rabbi David Lieb.

I auditioned for the rabbi and the president of the congregation. They offered me the job, but wanted me full time. I really wanted a part time position that would fit well with the full time position that had materialized at Hughes. Rabbi Lieb was disappointed but understood my decision, and he told me that Temple Israel in Long Beach would shortly have a vacancy due to the departure of the present cantor, Alan Weiner.

I arrived at Temple Israel in April or May 1983, and auditioned for Rabbi Brown who was alone in the sanctuary with a tape recorder. I chanted several prayers, and he said he would get back to me with their decision. Sometime later, while I was back in DC, I got the official word that I had been selected and would start in August 1983. Shortly thereafter, I received the strangest tape with a letter announcing that the tape contained all the melodies that were normally sung at Temple Israel. I started to play the tape and was shocked to hear a voice, I wasn’t sure if it was male or female, with a very heavy German accent, chanting the prayers. I assumed this was the voice of the aged Cantor Weiner who was leaving. I remember thinking that I had better practice up my German accent if this was what the congregation was used to. Only months later did I learn that the singer on the tape was Martha Posalski, one of the Torah Center Hebrew teachers at Temple Israel, and a deeply committed person who took on many roles at the Temple, was an ardent lover of music and the conductor of the children’s’ choir.

So there you have it. While I have been Cantor these past 25 years, I have gotten married to my wonderful Hannah, welcomed a wonderful young son, Zev, to our family, and shared many joyful and sad events with our Temple family. I am fortunate to have a rewarding and stable position at General Motors, successor to Hughes, in Torrance, where I am the manager of IT operations for the Advanced Technology Center, design center for GM’s electrical traction systems for Hybrids and future Fuel Cell vehicles.

Stephen M. Bascove
Executive Director
Message from Stephen Bascove
smb@tilb.org

Originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where at age (13) Stephen joined his first Jewish organization, AZA, (Alef Tsadeek Alef) the youth organization of B’nai Brith. Stephen went on to become President of his chapter some three years later and that was the beginning of his commitment to Jewish communal service. Stephen’s affiliation with Jewish organizations continued as he matured. He participated in the Federation of Jewish Agencies (FJA), B’nai Brith Foods Trade Lodge and served as a member of the Board of Directors and Membership Chair for the newly constructed Northeast Jewish Community Center in Philadelphia.

However, some of his proudest moments and fondest memories occurred in early 1970. Stephen was one of a handful of men who founded a small Conservative Synagogue in Philadelphia, the Bustleton-Somerton Synagogue. Stephen was elected the synagogue’s first President, becoming the youngest president of a Conservative Synagogue in North America at age twenty-five. Stephen continued to serve as President for 3 1/2 years during which time land was purchased and the Synagogue constructed. In 1975 he was honored by Yeshiva University for "advancing the spiritual and cultural heritage of Judaism," another milestone in his life. The plaque that was presented over thirty years ago proudly hangs on the wall in his office at Temple Israel of Long Beach.

Most of the Bascove family relocated to Florida in 1990, where they embraced the Reform movement and joined Temple Solel in Hollywood, Fl. Within a few months Stephen was elected to the Board of Directors and served proudly for six years. During that time he chaired a myriad of committees, including House, 25th Anniversary, Cantor Choral, Kinder Group, Family Retreat, and Membership. His wife Tracey also served on many committees and was elected Sisterhood Co-President 1999-2000.

Prior to accepting the position of Executive Director of Temple Israel of Greater Miami, Stephen was Deputy (Assistant) Executive Director & Operations Manager of Temple Beth El of Boca Raton, the ninth largest reform Temple in North America. He served in that capacity just short of two years.

Stephen has dedicated his entire adult life to the Jewish communities of Philadelphia, Pa., Hollywood and Boca Raton, Fl. and now Long Beach, Ca. as a dedicated lay leader and Jewish professional.

He served in the United States Army Reserve’s 851st Transportation Corps. from 1963-1971. Stephen considers his biggest accomplishment being the proud father of four children, Zachary, Phyllis, Eric and Evan and the glowing grandfather of Samantha and Jacob.

Sharon Amster Brown, RJE, MAJE, MAJCS
Educator

Message from Sharon Amster Brown
sab@tilb.org

EDUCATOR Sharon Amster Brown was born in Texas and grew up in Dallas, Chicago, and Orange County, California. She attended the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she received a degree in Communication Disorders and Speech Science. She then went on to receive a Joint Master’s degree in Jewish Education and Jewish Communal Service from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2000. While in graduate school, Sharon worked at the Westside Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles and Temple Beth Sholom of Santa Ana. She is now the Educator of Temple Israel of Long Beach, where she has served for the past ten years. In 2004, Sharon received the distinguished Reform Jewish Educator title. In addition to her work at the Temple, Sharon serves on the Board of Directors for The Women’s Division of the Long Beach Jewish Federation, The Orange County Jewish Educators Association, The Alumni Association for Hebrew Union College, and The National Association of Temple Educators. Sharon and her husband, Adam, live in Long Beach and are the proud parents of Johanna, Brandon, Sadie, and Levi.