Rev. Joseph Marciano has served the Jewish community in many roles, notably as head of the Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society). (photo from cemeteryboard.com)
“It means a tremendous amount to us, as we have dedicated the past 40-plus years of our lives, day and night, to serving the Schara Tzedeck congregation and Schara Tzedeck Cemetery Board and the entire Vancouver Jewish community in so many various capacities,” said Rev. Joseph Marciano about being recognized, with his wife Simone, for their decades of service. “We have come to know many generations of congregants and it means a lot to celebrate with everyone.”
The June 10 dinner honouring the Marcianos has sold out, but people can still buy tickets to the community program.
There are some people who are able to rise to every occasion, says Rabbi Andrew Rosenblatt, and his colleague is an exemplar of that extraordinary characteristic.
Marciano, who joined the staff of Schara Tzedeck more than 40 years ago, is a trained schochet, ritual slaughterer, ordained by a prestigious Sephardi rabbi from Morocco. Over the years, Rosenblatt said, and depending on need, Marciano “graduated into various other roles.”
He serves as a teacher, a Torah reader, a funeral director and head of the Chevra Kadisha (Burial Society). But this does not cover the formal and informal roles Marciano plays, according to the rabbi.
“If there is a need, he learns to fill it,” said Rosenblatt. “There is an idea in Judaism, in the teachings of Pirkei Avot [Ethics of Our Fathers], that, if there is no one to lead, you need to come to that position of leadership.”
Rosenblatt hesitates to apply the term “social worker,” but said Marciano has a knack for filling a need in the lives of others.
“Sometimes, it would be, this person needs horseradish for their seder,” the rabbi said, “or this person needs medical care, and there are different kinds of home support. Maybe it was to find someone to help them clean their apartment. It could be driving people to the airport, or bringing people candles for certain things. He’s one of those people who just rises to occasions.”
Adapting is second nature to Marciano, who tells an amusing story about a misunderstanding around a life-changing moment for the Marciano family.
“When Joseph first came to British Columbia, he thought that Canada was a French-speaking country and, coming from Morocco, and being a French speaker, he thought, OK, sure, no problem,” Rosenblatt said, noting that Marciano has adapted fine to living and working in a primarily Anglophone province.
“He’s a deeply pious person,” Rosenblatt said of his colleague, with whom he has worked for 22 years, since the rabbi came to Vancouver. “He’s the real deal.”
“Simone is, by virtue of personality, a very quiet person,” Rosenblatt said of the evening’s other honouree. “For her, family has been an extremely important thing. They have raised four really remarkable children who are committed to their Judaism and are also individually successful in different ways.”
A special guest for the event will be a rabbi who has gained a deep affection for the Marcianos during their visits to see family in California.
“One of my colleagues, the rabbi of Beth Jacob in Los Angeles, Rabbi Kalman Topp, has developed such a fondness for Joseph on his visits down to LA that he is coming up here to be our keynote speaker,” said Rosenblatt.
Marciano credits his leadership of the Burial Society to the late Jack Diamond, who asked him to become an assistant to the funeral director at the time.
“Then, later on, when the late Harley Feldstein moved from Vancouver, Dr. Jack Kowarsky, with the late Charles Diamond, hired me to be the funeral director,” Marciano said. “I chose this path because it allowed me to be there for many families at times of grief and offer them comfort, as well as help them arrange for a Jewish and dignified burial and farewell for their loved ones, which has been extremely fulfilling. I trained for this role under the previous funeral director, as well as by taking a three-year intensive course through the Province of British Columbia to be an accredited funeral director.”
Among many highlights of his time with the synagogue has been working with the youngest congregants, “teaching hundreds of bar mitzvah boys to read the Torah and Haftorah and learning with bat mitzvah girls, as well as participating in the hundreds of weddings of our members and their families,” he said. “Another extremely special honour I have had in my role has been reading the Torah week in and week out for the past 40-plus years, as well as blowing the shofar for so many years.”
Marciano attributes his accomplishments to the partnership he has with Simone.
“As much as I have been on call 24/7 for any and all situations and emergencies, and it may have been me showing up to assist in various situations, my wife was there behind the scenes encouraging me,” he said. “I would say everything I was able to accomplish here is a testament to her dedication and she shares in this honour as much as I do.”
To attend the community program, go to scharatzedeck.com.
