RJ Blog

I thought I knew the work of Debbie Friedman.  Debbie, whose second yahrzeit we observed this week, was a beloved and familiar presence at URJ Biennials, in our congregations, and at our camps.  I know that many of the melodies we sing, the songs that, as much as anything, bind us together as a Movement, are Debbie’s.  But last night I attended a moving tribute to her held at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, and I learned that however large I thought Debbie’s shadow loomed over us, I was not even close. The tribute was not [...]

by Karen Humphrey It was January 9, 2011. I was sitting at my computer, shocked and saddened, as I read the announcement that Debbie Friedman had died.  Like many, I felt as if I’d lost a friend and the world was a little darker. I joined with a virtual multitude that night as I tuned in for a healing-service-turned-memorial that was broadcast online from the JCC in Manhattan. I joined with another virtual multitude just two days later when her funeral was also broadcast online.  My heart ached and I mourned for the passing of someone whom I’d never met, [...]

By Liz Piper-Goldberg Quick! It’s Tuesday! If you act now, there’s still time to participate in the beautiful ritual of Havdalah, the ceremony marking the end of Shabbat. According to Jewish tradition, the Havdalah service may be recited through the following Tuesday. Nevertheless, Havdalah is most often observed on Saturday evening, marking the end of the day of rest. Havdalah is a Hebrew word meaning “division” or “separation” and is the name of this ritual that formally ends Shabbat, “separating” it from the beginning of the new week. Havdalah is a short, participatory service infused with music, symbols, and meaning. The [...]

by Cantor Rosalie Boxt Four hundred people are joined together, eyes shining, faces bright, voices raised in a glorious chorus. I am sitting in a small concert hall, eyes darting between the sheet music in my open binder and the brilliant conductor on stage. It is my first time attending the North American Jewish Choral Festival, where I am a workshop presenter and participant. The music is choral music, challenging, moving, energizing, rhythmic, and lyrical. Sitting to my left is Rabbi Dan Freelander, who is a chairperson of the festival every year, and to my right is Cantor Benjie Ellen [...]

by Rabbi Larry Karol This past Friday night, I planned for an early Simchat Shabbat service with the inclusion of some of my favorite melodies. Julie Silver’s “Shir Chadash” melody began our worship, with Debbie Friedman’s recent “Shalom Aleichem” tune preceding the chatzi-kaddish. When we came to the prayer for thanksgiving in the T’filah/Amidah, I was set to sing my own “For Your Gifts,” an “embellished chatimah/conclusion” for the Modim prayer. I realized that it was eight years ago that week that I had composed that melody as the beginning of a path of a remembrance for my mother, Ruth [...]

The first I ever heard of Debbie Friedman was to see her name printed on the inside covers of my synagogue’s prayer books, naming her the author of the modern Mi Shebeirach tune. Growing up, that was all I ever knew of her – just a name above the words on a page. I grew up attending a Reform congregation, but I did not grow up “in the Movement,” per se. My mother and I were members of a small congregation in Northeast Ohio where there was no organized youth group, no NFTY or BBYO. There were just six students [...]

by Paula Krone and Michael Faber Like most parents, from the time we gave birth to our son, we had many hopes and dreams for him. We wanted him to have a good education, have friends and grow up to live a happy and prosperous life. We also had dreams of our child being brought up in the Jewish religion, and we hoped our child would embrace all that Judaism has to offer. Of course, we had hoped that he would pass some part of ourselves, including our Jewish heritage, to his children. It wasn’t long after Benjamin Avi was [...]

National Harbor, MD December 17, 2011 We gather again on this Shabbat as a Reform family – experiencing together these precious hours of sacred time, praying as only we know how. Shabbat, above all, is a time for celebration and praising God – and that is what we have done. As usual at these services, we do it mostly through music. We sing because we are commanded to sing; because music reaches deep down into the crevices of our souls and connects us to God; because music is God’s gift that summons our emotions and ties us to our tradition [...]

Abraham Joshua Heschel, in his writings just after the 1967 Day War asked “What part did the State of Israel play in the day-to-day life of the Jews outside the land until recent events?” It was an appropriate question for the times. His view was that too many Jews took the existence of the State of Israel for granted and did not marvel at its very existence. Today, with a campaign to question Israel’s very legitimacy, the leadership of the Jewish people certainly does not take Israel’s existence for granted, though it is unclear about Jews in general. Now, however, [...]

With a glance at my calendar I quickly compute a number of dates and times with my finely-tuned “breast cancer calculator”.  In just a week it will be my 1-year “anniversary” of the day my life changed forever. It was early last November when I walked into my OB-Gyn’s office for my yearly pilgrimage that I smugly referred to as my “healthy” check-up.  I was simply there to check the appointment off my “to do” list. My mid-wife conducted a breast exam, not so different from the self-exams I did each month, and felt a suspicious lump. This, of course, [...]

by Cantor Alane Katzew There are so many ways to transition in life. We have our daily rituals that accompany us from waking to work and back again to our home life. Once we bid Shabbat goodbye at Havdalah by extinguishing the braided candle in wine at the moment of separation between holy and mundane, we often step back onto the treadmill of life until Shabbat comes once again on Friday evening. The shift from our work-a-day world back to the world of the sacred can prove a bit more challenging. We can bring a sudden halt to the break [...]

by Arlene Chernow “When I first attended Friday night Shabbat services, it was all so confusing: the Hebrew, the prayers, the standing and sitting. The one thing that I could relate to from the beginning was the melodies; they seemed to invite me to join in. Long before I had the courage to learn to read Hebrew or take Introduction to Judaism, I could sing along with the congregation.” These words from a woman who converted to Judaism express the thoughts and feelings of many people who use Jewish music as their entry point to finding their Jewish identity. Whether [...]

by Cantor Rebecca GarfeinSenior Cantor, Congregation Rodeph Sholom, New York, NY I was a young girl the first time I heard Debbie Friedman. I had found a record of her song, Arise My Love, in my home in Tallahassee, Florida and I played the record over and over again in my parents’ living room. I would sing along with the recording, learning the melody as well as the harmony, imitating all of the nuances of Debbie’s voice. I recall the sheer joy I felt singing along with her beautiful melodies. That was just the beginning of a love affair with [...]

by Rabbi Robert N. LevineSenior Rabbi, Congregation Rodeph Sholom, New York, NY In 1997 Debbie Friedman’s brilliant music and incredible spirit filled the sanctuary of Congregation Rodeph Sholom. People of all ages sang and danced to her music. Kids who were not easily moved spiritually were swaying to her familiar chords and inspiring words. Debbie was a sensation and her warmth and music not only found its way into every school and camp, but became an integral part of our liturgy. We all feel that we have lost our close friend. Among her many lasting contributions was her ability to [...]