When I was little, we read Torah every Friday evening at my Reform congregation. I believe that they read it on Saturday mornings regardless of whether there was a Bar/Bat Mitzvah as well. The Torah was removed from the ark, the Rabbi recited its words in Hebrew and...
Last evening, I lead a shivah minyan for a wonderful family of mixed Jewish identities. Because there was an Orthodox branch among the immediate mourners, our Rabbi had checked with the family to make sure that it was okay for a female cantor to lead them in worship....
In Leviticus 22:32 we read: “You shall not profane My holy name, that I may be sanctified in the midst of the Israelite people—I Adonai who sanctify you.” Is saying, "oh my G-d" in casual conversation really a way of profaning G-d's name? If profane is the opposite of...
Good news! TBT will be holding a fabulous cabaret night with music and food this Saturday night. More good news: I will be leading Havdallah to lead us into the festivities. Even more good news: We don’t have enough spice boxes for every table to have one. If we...
When I grew up in Queens, NY, I loved Passover. This was a holiday for seeing family. (I loved seeing my cousins so much that when I was 5 years old and we were moving to a new house around the block, I cried because I thought we would have to get different cousins...
“A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar, not to go out.” These words appear at the beginning of Parashat Tzav (Lev 6:6), this week’s Torah portion. How do you keep a perpetual fire burning? You have to feed it constantly. If you neglect it, it will...
Reprint from my article in Temple Beth Torah's bulletin: A few weeks ago, I was reading an article (I wish I could remember where) in which a woman talked about how she used to treasure the long family seders of her youth. She had fond memories of being allowed to...
As a teacher who loves to teach, “diligently” doesn’t come to mind as the best word to describe how we should teach our children. Lovingly, gently, and passionately are all adverbs that to me describe good teaching. The English teacher that I loved taught me to enjoy...
Welcome to the Cantor's Canvas! I love and am endlessly fascinated by Judaism, music, and knitting. All three provide real soulful sustenance for me. The Cantor's Canvas will be a space for me to share my musings on any of the above topics and more. I invite you to...