Turning 90, Cantor Bach recalls his TBE years

By Carl Zebrowski Editor

Joseph Bach, cantor at Temple Beth El for 24 years, just celebrated his 90th birthday. Not that you’d guess that from all the activity.

Just a few years ago, for example, he finished writing the book, music and lyrics for the off-Broadway musical ‘Second Story Man and the Secret of Success. “Amazingly,” one of his granddaughters said, “the show was brought to life. I even saw it performed on stage in New York. It was really great.

“It was later selected to be part of the New York Summerfest Theater Festival. But then, of course, COVID happened.”

A producer is now working to raise $12 million to give the show an actual theater run. Bach said he hopes to live to see that happen.

Cantor Bach first arrived in the Lehigh Valley in 1963 to fill the cantor position at TBE. And he remained. “There’s a whole generation out there that were likely touched by his tenure,” his son David said, “from his congregants to literally hundreds of bar mitzvah students, to families whose marriages and funerals he officiated, to those in the countless events and classes he led.”

And Cantor Bach did plenty here besides that. Among other things he’s proud of, he produced three public TV programs with Jewish content, served as district president of B’nai B’rith International and lent his voice and organizing abilities to the civil rights cause.

At a time when antisemitism is on the rise, Bach recalled that one of his most vivid memories of his time here was helping to get a Ku Klux Klan march in downtown Allentown canceled. It was shortly after the Supreme Court ruled in a 1977 Skokie, Illinois, case that the right to freedom of speech and assembly barred municipalities from disallowing public demonstrations. The Klan submitted a plan to march on the city soon afterward.

At the time, Bach was president of the 300-member local B’nai Brith, part of the international organization that describes itself as “dedicated to improving the quality of life for people around the globe.”

Bach said, “The Morning Call called just before Shabbat to ask me for a response.” His main response: “They have the right to march, but I hope the city doesn’t make it too easy for them.”

Some of his comments ended up in the paper.

“Saturday morning my car windshield and seats were riddled with bullets,” he said. “Holes were made by bullets in the stained-glass windows of all the shuls (synagogues).

The JCC door was machinegunned.”

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People joined the opposition to the march. The local director said people were furious and couldn’t be controlled. “Some have weapons,” he said. “They want to shoot the people dressed in white sheets on the streets.”

Allentown police told the Klan, “You have the right to march, but we can’t guarantee your safety.” The Klan canceled its demonstration.

Other strong memories of Bach’s time in the valley involve kids and music at TBE. “I had some wonderful years working with youth and putting on cantatas in the synagogue,” he said. “I would write about Jewish history and put music to it.”

He recalls Friday night as the big night at the synagogue. “They had very beautiful Friday night services,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bach produced the TV programs, for PBS 39. One was based on photos of immigrants he found at the New York Public Library. He included many of them in a program he titled “The Melt- ing Pot” and sang songs in Yiddish.

“My grandpop could have probably been the Fourth Tenor,” one of his grandsons said. “And it’s obvious why some of the most famous opera stars during the 19th and 20th centuries were once cantors.”

Bach turned “The Melting Pot” into a staged show. “I was booked and traveled much of the eastern part of the United States,” he said. “I made it as far west as Detroit.”

In early 1987, Bach said TBE told him his contract as cantor would not be renewed when it expired in June. His reaction: “I went out in a snowstorm and I bought three properties for $100 down.”

He had suddenly begun a second career, in real estate, and he needed money to rehabilitate his newly acquired fixer-uppers. He met with a banker. “I went to the Village Inn and had three vodka tonics,” he said. Both men enjoyed their talk, and Bach picked up the tab. The banker soon approved a loan for the full amount requested.

“I made a profit of $60,000,” Bach said. “I was making a better living than the synagogue was paying me.”

When Bach’s wife died in 2002, he remained a yearround resident in the valley for some years. “Then I bought a property in Florida,” he said, “and now I’m a snowbird.” He owns a condo in the valley and stays there during the warmer months. Recently, members of the Bach family gathered virtually for what David called a “coast-to-coast Zoom toast” in honor of Cantor Bach on his milestone birthday.

“Today, you run a successful real-estate business," David said.. "You compose music. You engage with recording studios and Broadway agencies. You keep a busy social calendar. And, in your spare time, you’re even working on a storybook for your grandchildren.

“You are a wonderful and prime example that age is really just a number.” 610-882-8800

Rabbi Michael Singer Temple Brith Shalom

Ever since I was a little kid, I loved to dress up for Purim. It was fun to pretend to be someone funny, dastardly or heroic. To escape for a little while into a story of kings and queens, and cheer on Mordechai and Esther, and boo Haman.

Purim was always filled with light-hearted laughter, good songs and tasty treats. Yet, at the core of the story is the existential threat Haman posed to our people and just how close he came to seeing his plot succeed. Indeed, too often in Jewish history the Hamans got their way.

One of Megillat Esther’s interesting facts is that God’s name is not mentioned at all in the scroll. Our sages teach that while God is behind the scenes, it is up to us to stand up and fight for our future. All of this gives me a greater appreciation for just how heroic Mordechai and Esther truly were. Mordechai took a stand against Haman’s evil, and Esther was willing to use her position and risk her life for her people. It was their extraordinary courage, faith and conviction despite the long odds (purim = lots/lottery) and danger that still inspires today.

For many people, staying silent, keeping a low profile and not putting themselves at risk is not only common sense but the most practical and prudent course of action. Sometimes, as the saying goes, “You need to look out for numero uno.” Queen Esther almost certainly could have done that, but she did not. She and Mordechai understood that Haman’s demand for loyalty and worship of himself was only setting the stage for the oppression of the Jewish people and a rallying cry for anti-Semites throughout the kingdom.

Haman’s thirst and need for attention and power fed