PHOTO: Students from Congregation Beth Israel's Religious School peform the premier of Kim Schneiderman's new Passover musical Sunday, Apr. 6 at the synagogue's main sanctuary in Portland. (Rockne Roll/The Jewish Review)

By ROCKNE ROLL
The Jewish Review
Theatrical performances for Purim are nothing new. For Passover? That’s a little more unusual. 
Nevertheless, Kim Schneiderman and Congregation Beth Israel came together to add a theatrical twist to the retelling of the Exodus story. Schneiderman’s musical, performed by students from CBI’s religious school, premiered Sunday, Apr. 6 at the Reform synagogue’s main sanctuary in Portland. 
Ironically, perhaps, Schneiderman was originally approached about writing a Purim spiel for Beth Israel’s religious school students. Not wanting to try and counter-program the famous CBI spiel, Schneiderman had another idea. 
“I said, ‘I’ve always wanted to write a musical for Passover. Would you be interested?’” she recalled. “And [B’nai Mitzvah and Family Educator Cantor Rayna Green] said ‘absolutely.’”
In retelling the story of the Exodus, spanning from Moses’ birth to passing through the Red Sea, Schneiderman covers a broad swath of history while focusing on some key themes. 
“The Exodus would not have happened without the courageous acts of five women who are really highlighted in the musical,” she explained. 
The first two were Puah and Shifrah, the midwives who refused Pharaoh’s order to kill Israelite baby boys. 
“That is the first recorded act of civil disobedience,” Schneiderman said. “And it’s interesting that these two women were given names because, really, there are no names for many women in Torah.”
The story continues to lift up Moses’ mother, Yocheved, his sister, Miriam, and the daughter of Pharaoh who plucked Moses from the Nile in his basket. Schneiderman mentioned that, in the Torah she is referred to as Baṯ Parʿo, literally “the daughter of Pharaoh” in Hebrew, but later scholars gave her the name Bat Yah, “the daughter of G-d.”
“It was in all of the teachings afterwards that she became daughter of G-d because she saved the nation,” Schneiderman said. 
Another crucial theme is the treatment of strangers – a key theme from the Torah, as well – which comes front and center in the show’s final number, “Enough.”
“How to treat the stranger is one of the underlying ideas behind the whole musical, and that is woven in throughout, and then kind of comes together at that final song,” Schneiderman said. “Talking about how to treat the stranger is written in Torah 36 times. iIt emphasizes that we must know how to treat the stranger because we, too, were once strangers in Egypt.”
Work began on the show last year, just before Pesach, and some of the songs were introduced to religious school students as early as last spring. Though written by Schneiderman, many of CBI’s senior staff and all the clergy contributed to the final product. 
“Every time I work with CBI and I go to the clergy and senior staff and say, ‘I have this idea,’ they’re always saying yes,” Schneiderman said. “Everybody is open to something new and different, which I love.”
That included producing a video segment, played during the performance, which starred Cantor Green, Rabbi Michael Cahana, Cantor Ida Rae Cahana, Rabbi Rachel Joseph, Executive Director Josh Kashinsky and Education Director Ben Sandler acting out nine of the plagues sent against Egypt in comedic fashion.
“There was so much going on and they said we have two hours, whatever we can get done in two hours, that’s fine,” Schneiderman recalls. “I brought all these costumes. I set everything up and I handed each of them the scripts and with my phone, I started filming them doing these crazy things in their office space. It was amazing.”
Rehearsals started in earnest in January – just 45 minutes per week on top of class for those participating, around the time Schneiderman was putting the finishing touches on a song about Miriam, which was written as a tribute to the retiring Cantor Cahana. 
“I’ve worked with Cantor Cahana since she first came here. What she has brought to this community is so authentic, and her heart is so beautiful. There is no one like her,” Schneiderman explained. “That’s what connected this idea of Miriam and who she was in this story to Cantor Cahana and who she is for all of us. She is really the holder of the tambourine. I always say when I’m teaching this to kids that when everybody was packing to carry things with them and leave as quickly as they could, my favorite part of this is that Miriam packed her timbrel, which is amazing, because when you’re packing to survive, who’s going to think about musical instruments? To me, it reminds me of Miriam packing hope. Even if in this moment we are not celebrating, we are always looking ahead and knowing that that we will be celebrating one day, so I’m going to pack this with me. That is who I believe Cantor Cahana is.”
All these ideas were brought to life by the students on stage, as well as the CBI musicians supporting them and the leadership of Cantor Green. 
“I absolutely loved working with the religious school students. They were amazing,” Schneiderman added. “They each brought a piece of their hearts and created something that was just so entertaining and meaningful. To me, that’s everything right there.”