Hazzan Dulkin

HazzaNotes

hazzan — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 23:31:46 +0000

HazzaNotes January 2009
HazzaNotes December 2008
HazzaNotes November 2008
HazzaNotes October 2008
HazzaNotes July & August 2008
HazzaNotes March 2008
HazzaNotes February 2008
HazzaNotes December 2007
HazzaNotes November 2007
HazzaNotes October 2007
HazzaNotes September 2007
HazzaNotes August 2007
HazzaNotes June 2007
HazzaNotes May 2007
HazzaNotes April 2007
HazzaNotes March 2007
HazzaNotes February 2007
HazzaNotes January 2007
HazzaNotes December 2006
HazzaNotes November 2006
HazzaNotes October 2006
HazzaNotes September 2006
HazzaNotes August 2006
Welcome May 2006

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Kol Isha - A Women’s Voice: Sheheheyanu

hazzan — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 15:32:49 +0000

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Hazzan Note - December 2007

hazzan — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 02:27:25 +0000

In August of 1955, the front page of the New York Times reported the story of Betty Robbins, the world’s first female cantor. “Mrs. Sheldon Robbins,” as the story refers to her, was unanimously elected by her Reform temple in Oceanside, NY, to lead the Rosh Hashana evening Service in the fall of 1955. It was the first time in world history that a woman served in this position. Robbins, who had no official Cantorial education, grew up in Poland, singing with the boys’ choir of her synagogue (cutting her hair to please the choirmaster), and spent her career as a Jewish educator and music director. The Times reported that “Robbins carries on all the duties of a housewife,” caring for her husband and four children, as well as fulfilling her cantorial duties. The Times also reported that neither the Reform nor Conservative movements had ever considered the possibility of having female clergy.

We’ve come a long way, baby. Twenty years after Betty Robbins led Rosh Hashana services in Oceanside, the Hebrew Union College invested its first woman cantor in 1975. In 1987, the Times reported another story, not on the front page, about our movement. I reproduce part of the story here:

“Feb. 6, 1987 - The Jewish Theological Seminary of America announced yesterday that it would for the first time certify women as cantors to lead services in Conservative congregations around the world. The move, announced at the seminary campus on Morningside Heights, came two years after the first female rabbi was ordained by the Conservative movement, which occupies the middle of the spectrum of Jewish thought…Eleven women are studying to become cantors at the school’s College of Jewish Music. ‘’All of us feel called to this profession,’’ said Erica Lippitz, who is to graduate in May, ‘’and, in my eyes, God does not look at gender. God has given me the gift of a voice and I am returning this to the community.’’ Ms. Lippitz and Marla Rosenfeld Barugel, who will also finish her studies in May, are to be the first women to graduate the seminary with the degree of Hazzan, the Hebrew word for cantor. Both women, wearing colorful crocheted yarmulkes, said that they had been drawn to the field out of a love for music and a desire to serve the Jewish community …. Unlike rabbis, who are primarily teachers and leaders, cantors represent congregations in prayer. As a result, altering the tradition that only men could serve as cantors involved a more complex theological argument than the decision to allow women to serve as rabbis.”

Barugel arrived to B’nai Israel in Rumson, NJ in 1987 and has been there ever since. Lippitz, one of my own mentors from my school years, has been serving her congregation in South Orange, NJ for 16 years. Since their investiture, there have been over 60 female graduates of the Seminary, receiving a graduate degree in Sacred Music, and benefitting from the fantastic academic offerings JTS has to offer.

To date, JTS is the only Cantorial school for those who wish to serve Conservative congregations. If one has not studied at the Seminary but wishes to join the Cantors’ Assembly, our professional organization, they must undergo a rigorous examination process that takes years of preparation. There are many women Cantors working in synagogues today, yet a small percentage of us have credentials from from the Seminary. We are a tight group of women who are extremely proud of our experience. There is much to celebrate after twenty years.

Together with Women’s League and the Cantors’ Assembly (our professional organization), JTS is sponsoring a Gala concert to celebrate 20 years of women in the Cantorate. Over half of the women who graduated from the Seminary in the last twenty years will perform in the concert, and current students will participate as well. Upper Manhattan will be reverberating with the sounds of women’s voices on the afternoon of December 16th, and I am honored to be taking part in the afternoon’s festivities. The concert’s program will feature all the women Hazzanim, singing in chronological order. We will be performing a program including Hazzanut, Israeli, Yiddish, Broadway, and contemporary Jewish music, and I have been commissioned to compose a piece for all of us to sing as a finale. I have written a Shehechiyanu, the prayer sanctifying special times in our lives. It is a work of Jewish gospel, triumphant and soulful, including celebratory psalms from Hallel, rejoicing in the achievements of women in the Cantorate over the last twenty years. Hopefully a recording will be readily available after the concert to anyone who wants to hear it.

At this 20 year mark, let us be thankful for all the opportunities available to women in our movement, and for the gifts these women have given us throughout the years. May we continue to thrive!

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Hazzan Note - March 2007

hazzan — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 22:15:14 +0000

Spirituality: the word itself elicits either enthusiasm or eye-rolling. You may associate spirituality with an ecstatic, emotionally charged prayer experience, or perhaps with a particular practice, such as meditation, fasting, or chanting. It can also be a more gradual, evolving process: I define spirituality as a search for a personal, intimate relationship with the Divine. It is a process of becoming, of cultivating the divine spark within oneself, and I believe that each Jew is as obligated to explore his or her relationship with God as they are to do the mitzvot. The paths to God are many within our tradition, yet do we even begin to talk about or think about our relationship with God, when we don’t have a clear concept of what or who God is?

It all begins with the name. What to call God? HaShem simply means, “the name” –made popular because God’s true name, the yud-hey-vav-hey, is no longer known to us. Yet, upon closer evaluation, we have many names for God apart from the yud-hey-vav-hey; just examine our liturgy, our text, and our experience. Why so many names? Each one of us relates to God differently, and this relationship evolves throughout life. A child may relate to the image of God as parent (Avinu), while as an adult he relates more to HaRachaman (Merciful One), or El Chai V’kayam (the living God who makes things possible). When tragedy strikes, our relationship to God may be challenged: God seems pushed away (The One whose Face is Hidden), or brought close as a refuge (Tzur Chayyeinu - The Rock of our Lives). There are personal names for God (Elohai – My God, Adonai, My Lord) and communal names for God (Eloheinu – Our God, Elohei Avoteinu – God of our Ancestors). There are names of God that inspire fear and awe (Adonai Ish Milchama – God of War, Adon HaNiflaot - Master of Wonders), and names of God that inspire familiarity (Shekhina Indwelling presence)

With all these names for God, none of them appear in the Book of Esther, which we read this month. At first glance, it is a story whose plot is completely driven by the human characters. Haman, Esther, and Mordecai interact and affect each other’s actions directly. God doesn’t step in with a mighty hand and outstretched arm, nor does God call from the heavens. In this drama, not only does God not have a speaking part, God is not even referred to by the characters! The Rabbis, naturally, had trouble with this: how can God not be present at all in the text? They remedied this problem by suggesting that the word “HaMelech” (The King-referring to Ahashverosh) appears as a name for God. Therefore God’s name does appear in the text, but only as a hint, a possibility of divinity within the humanity of the story. The Rabbis invite God in to a story that ostensibly excludes God’s presence, and, in doing so, teach us that we must do the same.

In 21st century America, like in ancient Persia, we don’t hear God’s voice, and we don’t see God: so can God’s presence be felt? We use the tools of human expression available to us to attempt to articulate our understanding of who God is. We write, we make art, we compose music and poetry, we meditate and rationalize and experience and live, and somewhere along the way, we may come to an understanding of divinity in the world that works for us at that moment. But the meaning is made in the journey, to finding the name that speaks truthfully to our hearts, minds, and souls.

Dr. Neil Gillman, a professor of Jewish Philosophy at JTS, and my beloved teacher, likes to relate the following story: someone will approach him saying they don’t believe in God. Instead of trying to convince them that yes, God exists, and explaining why it’s possible, Gillman says to them, “Tell me about the God you don’t believe in, and I probably don’t believe in that God either.” In other words, many of us have been taught, perhaps by a well-intentioned but misdirected teacher, that who God is, and how God is, is not to be questioned nor explored. The God-concept we were taught about as children needed to be “un-taught” at adulthood, such that when adversity struck, there was no choice but to leave God behind. As Jewish adults, we must have the tools to negotiate science and faith: Gillman teaches that it is both possible and necessary to believe in both God and the Big Bang Theory. As Conservative Jews, we consistently negotiate the line between maintaining tradition and balancing changes in that tradition, because we live in a world that is complicated, nuanced, and unpredictable. So too can be our relationship with God. In this month of Adar, may we reveal what is hidden to us. At the time where we honor Esther, whose name itself means “hidden,” the challenge awaits each of us who asks the question, “who is God, truly, in my life?”

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Hazzan Notes - February 07

hazzan — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 23:01:54 +0000

The Shabbat of Parshat Beshallach (which we read on Feb. 3) has a special name: it is also known as Shabbat Shira, or the Shabbat of song. It is called this because both the Torah and haftarah contain songs, sung by Moses, Miriam and Devorah. Moses and Miriam, upon the crossing of the Sea of Reeds, celebrate God’s triumph over the Egyptians, and, Devorah, the Judge and prophetess, sings upon the military triumph over Sisera and his army. The songs we hear on Shabbat Shira form an extraordinary literary link between not two, but three leaders of the People of Israel, and two of the three are female. Moses’ song in chapter 15 of Exodus is much longer than Miriam’s, and has traditionally reciveived more “air time” (we say it every morning in P’sukey d’Zimra), yet the songs of Miriam and Devorah are enjoying a resurgence, with many contemporary musical compositions by Debbie Friedman and others inspired by these ancient songs.

While Moses’ song is introduced with the simple words “The Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to God,” Miriam’s song is introduced with an overture, of sorts: “Then Miriam, the prophetess, sister of Aaron, took her timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed after her with timbrels and dances. Miriam sang, ‘I will sing unto God, for God is exalted, horse and rider God has thrown into the sea!’” Her singing is introduced with the description of the instrumentation and dance that accompanied it, providing a powerful picture of the exaltation by the sea. Devorah’s song, longer than that of Moses and just as eloquent, highlights yet another woman’s role, Yael, in that victory. “Blessed above women shall Yael be, the wife of Heber the Kenite, above women in the tent shall she be blessed.” Yael was, after all, responsible for killing the general Sisera after he escaped into her tent, thinking it was a place of refuge. Both Miriam and Devorah were leaders of our people, and their songs on Shabbat Shira give voice to their vision and leadership as we sing them each year.

There is no coincidence that Shabbat Shira often falls just before Tu B’shevat, or in this year’s case, on Tu b’Shevat, the Jewish new year of the trees. Tu b’Shevat marks the beginning of the descent of the sap on the trees, and the first buds of the almond tree in Israel: a harbinger of spring and rebirth. Yet another connection between our biblical foremothers and Tu b’Shevat is made by scholar Penina Adelman, who points out that the important women in the Tanakh have names signifying trees, or are closely connected to them. Tamar, Judah’s wife, means date palm. Devorah sat under a date palm tree, named as “Tamar Devorah” – the date palm of Devorah, to render her judgements. Esther’s name in Hebrew is Hadassah, meaning myrtle tree. The “alon bachut,” or weeping tree, stands where Rebekah’s nurse, also named Devorah, died. The Torah itself is compared to a tree,with wisdom as its fruit; women, who bear the fruit of our generations, are part of this life-giving cycle.

On Shabbat Shira this year, we will be celebrating with Hannah and the Boxerman family on the occasion of Hannah’s Bat Mitzvah. Hannah will be chanting the words of Moses, Miriam and Devorah, as she takes her place in the chain of tradition, another Jewish woman who uses her strong voice to sing of God’s triumphs. May we all go from strength to strength, and from song to song, and may we see the fruit of our labors, as we celebrate Tu B’shevat, Shabbat Shira, and the women of our tradition.

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Hazzan Notes - December 2006

hazzan — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 23:53:48 +0000

Another year, another Chanukah on its way – and the December dilemma begins yet again. My father always likes to note that Chanukah is a minor holiday in the Jewish calendar, and he believes, as many do, that the fuss over it is undeserved. But we live in a country that teaches our children and their parents that you must buy a lot and give a little during the “Holiday Season.” Chanukah isn’t even the gift-giving holiday – it’s on Purim that we are meant to exchange treats and goodies. The meaning of Chanukah is dedication. We celebrate the rededication of the Temple after its desecration by the Greek army, symbolized in the lighting of the Hanukkiah. At the darkest time of year, we bring a little more light into our homes each night, until our Hanukkiot blaze with eight candles on the final night. How do we use the eight nights of Chanukah as a time to rededicate ourselves to Judaism, to our families, and to our community? How do we both honor the season and keep moderation in mind? Make each night of Chanukah a celebration of family, faith, and community, whether it is celebrating with friends or making sure the whole family is home for dinner and candlelighting. Make sure there is a Hanukkiah for every member of the family. Invest in a new Chanukah CD and play it at home during dinner. Come to synagogue for evening minyan and help light candles here, or come each morning and hear the special Hallel (festival psalms) and Torah reading for each day. Perhaps designate each night of Chanukah with a special theme, as my colleague Rabbi Rona Shapiro suggests:

-Big Gift Night (each child gets one big gift from parents)
-Grandparent Night (children open gifts from their grandparents)
-Book Night (each child receives a book)
-Music Night (sing Chanukah songs, exchanging and playing Jewish CDs)
-Cooking Night (making latkes or sufganiyot)
-Tzedakah Night (wrapping presents to deliver to a children’s hospital or other charity)
-Homemade Gifts (lots are drawn before Chanukah and each member of the family makes a gift for someone else)
In the Talmud (Soferim 20:6), there is a special poem called “Hanerot Hallalu” (these lights) that is traditionally chanted

after the Chanukah blessings. It reminds us that the lights we light on Chanukah are solely for enjoyment. As we revel in their beauty, we revel in our freedom and the many miracles God has wrought for us, both in ancient times and today:

We light these lights for the miracles and the wonders, for the redemption and the battles that You made for our ancestors in those days at this season, through Your holy priests. During all eight days of Chanukah, these lights are sacred, and we are not permitted to make ordinary use of them - but only to look at them; In order to express thanks and praise to Your great Name for your miracles, Your wonders and your salvations.

This year, as another Chanukah comes, say the words of Hanerot Hallalu and think about rededication in its true sense. Enjoy the candles after you light them. Enjoy your family, enjoy your friends, and enjoy the holiday. Chag sameach!

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September Bulletin - HazzaNotes

hazzan — Fri, 22 Sep 2006 21:51:02 +0000

In a particular home renovation show on television, neighbors are asked to fix up a room in one another’s house. Two days and a thousand dollars later, each room is transformed, from beige walls to red. Old furniture is covered with new fabric, a mirror or plant is strategically placed and voila! A completely new perspective!

Having just moved into a new house, I have been thinking lately about building a Jewish home. What are its components? There are the physical indicators: a mezuzah on the door, a Kiddush cup in the hutch, Jewish books on the shelves, or Jewish art on the wall. Most importantly, in a Jewish home, God is our roommate. Each Jewish home is like a mishkan, the portable tabernacle built in the wilderness. God asked the children of Israel to build the mishkan so that the Divine Presence could dwell among them. We build a Jewish home by choosing to live a particular way: the choices we make about what to eat, how to treat one another, or even what to watch on TV (home renovation shows aside), all can be instructed by our tradition.

How else can we make our homes Jewish? One easy and low-impact “spiritual renovation” idea is to build a Jewish CD library. Invest in several CD’s and play them while doing a Jewish art project with your children or grandchildren, or while preparing the house for Shabbat. Some of our family favorites include the Klezmatics, Flory Jagoda, Debbie Friedman, and Craig Taubman’s “Celebrate” CD series (compilations for holidays and topics such as healing, peace, and even Jewish hip-hop). Try Israeli artists such as Chava Alberstein, Sarit Haddad, Naomi Shemer, Yehuda Poliker, Shlomo Artzi, and Acinoam Nini. For children’s music that is enjoyable for parents too, try Kol B’Seder’s Songs for Growing, Shlomo Gronich and the Sheba choir (Ethiopian Jewish children’s choir), The Sixteenth Lamb (compilation of Israeli children’s songs), and CD’s by Shira Kline of Shirlalala. For the nontraditional ear, try Joshua Nelson’s Jewish Gospel CD or the Abayudaya Jews of Uganda’s CD Shalom Everybody Everywhere. There is an abundance of new-age Jewish liturgical music from Rabbi Shefa Gold and Hannah Tiferet. For a taste of the old country, try From Avenue A to the Great White Way and listen to how Cantorial music formed the backbone of the American song book and the Yiddish theatre (and Cab Calloway singing Hazzanut! ). Naxos Records is also in the process of releasing an entire archive of CD’s of previously unrecorded music spanning the 350 years of American Jewish history.

Please contact me at Hazzan@ShaareZedek.org for assistance in locating any of these recordings.

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September Bulletin - HazzaNotes

hazzan — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 21:53:37 +0000

There was once a little girl who had a daily routine. Each morning, she would slip out the back door, run into the forest behind her house, and find the same clearing next to the same tall trees. In the shade of the trees she would open her siddur and pray the same words, from start to finish. One morning, after many days of this, her mother asked her, “Why don’t you change your routine? Every day you go to the same place, and say the same words out of the same siddur.” The little girl replied, “My routine is the same every day, but every day, I am different.”

With a routine such as prayer, sometimes it is easier to simply change or abandon the routine rather than maintain it. Yet, how do we present ourselves renewed and changed every time we approach prayer? The girl in the story teaches us a lesson about kavannah – direction or intention. The attitude, expectation, and focus she brings to her davening each day is what changes, rather than the prayers themselves. She challenges us to appreciate the beauty of the routine itself – finding comfort in predictability yet remaining open to experiencing something new each time.

At this time of year, we engage in teshuvah, returning to ourselves. This is the time of year to examine who we are and who we have become, how we have affected those around us. We examine our routine, and look to change it for the better. We look at the habits we wish to establish, the habits we wish to break. We go through the routine of coming to synagogue and participating in communal prayer from the High Holiday prayerbook, the Machzor. The words of our tradition challenge us to pay attention, even as they soothe us with their familiarity. This year, as we prepare for another holiday season, I invite you to re-engage in the sacred words and melodies of the Machzor, to tease out new meaning and new contexts.

Once a year, we listen for the plaintive notes of the Kol Nidre and the Unetaneh Tokef. Once a year, we listen for the sound of the shofar. Each year, the words and the music jolt us into awareness. Even though we have heard and prayed these words so many times, heard the same notes of the Tekiyah, Teruah, and Shevarim, there is still a novelty about them. These sacred words and tones never seem to get old, even after thousands of years. The Machzor itself is a form of sacred architecture, with layer upon layer of poetry, text and song.

This year, how can we bring kavannah to our High Holiday prayer? We must prepare ourselves to listen and sing and speak the words of the Machzor as though they were the spontaneous outpourings of our souls. We say the words of the ancient paytanim, sacred poets, as though they were our words, magnified thousands of times through the generations. We try to feel God’s palpable presence as we appeal to the Holy One for a year of life and fulfillment. We sing the melodies with renewed vigor. We are moved to dance, moved to tears, moved to deep contemplation. We are moved to simply let the music and words wash over us like a giant wave. We are moved to choose this year as a year of action, or a year of compassion, or a year of righteousness, or a year of healing.

As the new year begins, may we find both comfort and challenge in the words of the Machzor. Take a moment today to think about the self you are now, and the different self you will be tomorrow, and the next day, and the next – and may we, like the girl in the story, bring a renewed kavannah to our daily routine.

L’shanah Tovah um’tukah – with blessings for a sweet and happy New Year.

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Hazzan Notes - August 2006

hazzan — Tue, 01 Aug 2006 22:05:22 +0000

Shalom! I want to begin by expressing how excited and privileged I feel to be serving the Shaare Zedek community. In my search for a position and your search for a cantor, I think we have found a great match! I look forward to celebrating holidays together, marking s’machot, learning with you and your children, and adding a musical dimension to our spiritual life here at the synagogue. Together with my husband, Rabbi Ryan Dulkin, and our sons Zac (3 years) and Jesse (3 months), I thank everyone, especially Harriet Shanas and Harvey Leader, for making our transition from New York to St. Louis so successful!

In the summer months, we often have time to reflect on the year that is to come. This year at Shaare Zedek you will notice an extra voice on the bima. When I lead the davening, my goal is to empower rather than entertain. I look forward both to continuing the musical traditions of our synagogue, and adding new voices and melodies to our services. Either way, I look forward to adding my voice to yours as we get to know each other. To that end, I want to share a unique text with you, found in the cave next door to the cave where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. Introducing another ten commandments which willhopefully inspire you to a higher ground.

The Ten Commandments of Congregational Singing

Thou Shalt Sing!
Thou Shalt Sing with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Thou Shalt Sing Fearlessly, striving to ignore the possible wondering glances of thy neighbors. Thou shalt know in thy heart that they would like to sing with you, if they only had the nerve. Never lose faith that they will sing with you if only you continue.
Thou Shalt Sing Joyfully, as it is written by the prophet Isaiah: Sing, O Heaven, be joyful, O Earth, and break forth into Singing, O mountains.
Thou shalt Sing Reverently, for music is prayer.
Thou Shalt Not Hesitate to Sing, for though an individual may pray in a whisper or even in wordless silence, a congregation must sing.
Thou Shalt Not Resist New Melodies, for we have been taught to never let our prayer become rigid. Seek to fulfill the words of the Psalmist: Let us sing a new song unto the Lord.
Thou Shalt Never Mumble but sing out loud. Never be deterred by an occasional mistake.
Thou Shalt Not Hesitate to Sing with the Hazzan for she fervently wants you to join with her.
Thou Shalt Never Forget the words of the Psalmist: I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live.

True and certain it is that God loves us when we work, but God really loves us when we sing.

I look forward to meeting all of you, to hearing your ideas and concerns, and of course, to making beautiful music

together. Please do not hesitate to contact me at the synagogue or through email at Hazzan@ShaareZedek.org.

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