As you know, I have been so delighted with and proud of the Temple Beth Hillel Adult Choir. I wanted an opportunity for them to perform in a larger venue, so I had the idea to create the "Zimriyah: The Greater Hartford Jewish Choral Festival" which will take place on Sunday, December 11th at The Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford, CT.
It will be an opportunity for area synagogue choirs and unaffiliated area singers to learn about and sing Jewish choral music together during afternoon workshops and a big community concert at night! I am very grateful to The Mandell JCC which received a grant, on my behalf, from the Jewish Community Foundation.
I am directing and producing this event and hope you will sign up for the afternoon workshops and evening concert in support of your temple’s choir. Look for the flyer elsewhere in this newsletter as well as in various venues in the Greater Hartford area. Feel free to take a copy from the table in the TBH lobby and join us!
Musically yours,
Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
Click here for more info on the Zimriyah Choral Festival on December 11, 2011!
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A FOND FAREWELL
What an uplifting 3 ½ years it has been for me at TBH! Let me share with you some of the ways.
Who knew that when I first asked for interested singers to start the Temple Beth Hillel Adult Choir, that we would have 22 people from our congregation? What a surprise! What a thrill! This very encouraging response made me realize the musically-enriching possibilities and talent in this intimate congregation in South Windsor, CT, where I had never been before.
The newly formed Adult Choir, as well as some of our teens and I shared many weeks of rehearsals prior to the High Holidays of 2008. The choir sang, the teens sang and the congregation was warm and welcoming. We were so fortunate to have our own TBH member and professional musician, Ralph C. Patterson, accompanying us every "note" of the way. It was uplifting for me, in many ways.
I cannot write this piece without mentioning, as I have in previous articles, Ralph. He has been a source of musical assistance and accompaniment, in the true sense of the words. He has been incredibly supportive of all my musical efforts, sharing his time as a physical validation of that support: High Holiday rehearsals and services; Friday Night Live; TBH Adult Choir and teen rehearsals; B’nai Mitzvah services; helping to make recordings, etc. Ralph has the ability and talent to make, not only Jewish music, but every genre, "sing". He is a mentsch, a guteh n’shama and a caring and sensitive human being whose nature comes through in his expressive accompaniment. Thank you to his wife, Amy, for sharing him! May he continue to make music at TBH and beyond for many, many years to come.
The La-atid program sponsored our Friday Night Live Shabbat music by making it possible for us to have a small instrumental ensemble to accompany our services on several occasions. We had 2 professionals and then utilized talented volunteers from our own congregation on various instruments. We introduced several new contemporary Jewish melodies of various styles and genre. The responses from those in attendance were joyful and animated.
Our Religious School students, on Sunday mornings in preparation for Chanukah, filled our library and/or sanctuary with the singing of "the latest" composed songs as well as the familiar and loved "oldies".
Our talented congregational actors, singers and Religious School students had such fun re-telling and sharing the Purim story with new twists making our Purim shpiels sparkle!
This past year, the theme and music of our Purim shpiel was "The Music Man". It was an opportunity to really see TBH musical talent in various forms. Many TBH instrumentalists, adults and teens, played with members of the South Windsor Community Band, conducted by our own Leslie Cohen. It was a great band!
While mentioning the Religious School I must thank Director of Education, Sue Weinman, for all her support and efforts in making it possible for me to meet with individual students and classes, during the school morning, in order to prepare them for their participation on various holidays and occasions. She is a nurturing educator who, with her teachers, creates a warm, loving, embracing environment for our children, which encourages the love of Jewish study and our heritage.
In May of 2009 we introduced the 3-Choir Concert, featuring our own TBH Adult Choir, Connecticut Z’mirah Chorale and Mak’hela, The Jewish Chorus of Western Massachusetts. What an uplifting afternoon of Jewish Choral music.
By the way, please circle your calendar for the Zimriyah: Greater Hartford Jewish Choral Festival on Sunday, December 11, 2011, which I am coordinating through a grant from The Jewish Community Foundation, with help from the Mandell JCC. Please sign up for afternoon workshops and attend the concert at night, at which our own TBH Adult Choir will perform along with area synagogue choirs. Come support our choir and hear some MORE wonderful Jewish Choral music!! Check on our temple website, soon, for further information on signing up!
In 2010, when we welcomed the Torah from the former Congregation B’nai Jacob in Springfield, Massachusetts, I felt it was a b’sherte experience for me. Having been raised and remaining in the Springfield/Longmeadow area most of my life, it was an opportunity for me to know that this Torah had found an appreciative, welcoming home. Seeing many folks from my hometown at TBH for the occasion was a bridge and connection that warmed deep, historic recesses of my heart.
In March of 2010, we held our first-ever "TBH Women’s Weekend". We began with a Shabbat eve service led by women, including women Torah chanters and readers. A Women’s Choir was created for the occasion! It was a weekend of singing and studying together. We also traveled to Newton, MA, for an educational tour of the internationally known, pluralistic mikveh Mayyim Hayyim www.mayyimhayyim.org. In support of their efforts, TBH became a member that year and 2 of our members participated in ritual immersions.
The Adult Education Committee invited me to teach an introductory 6-8 week course on Shabbat Torah Trope (cantillation): how to chant the Torah. It was a challenging exercise, especially in such a short amount of time, but resulted in a new appreciation of this ancient method of enhancing and understanding the meaning of our Torah texts.
Shabbat eve services brought and, I hope, left some new melodies as well as retaining the older, more familiar, "traditional" tunes. Like Reform congregations across the country and beyond, we now chant the V’ahavta and the Amidah prayers to the same melody which serves as another link to our fellow Reform Jews beyond South Windsor.
With the CD’s I recorded for the Hebrew School, our students can now chant these and other prayers, right along with the congregation. Since 2008, we have enjoyed dancing and singing all around the sanctuary as we take the Torah from the ark during the hakafah! What a way to rejoice with the Torah! Also, many of you heard the Torah chanted in both Hebrew and in English, for the first time, giving new meaning to the texts.
I must pay homage to our immediate past president, Stanley Goldberg, who first introduced Temple Beth Hillel to me and then me to TBH. He is a strong, capable and deeply caring leader who fulfilled his 3-year role as president with strength and obvious love for his congregation. As many of you know, he is married to my dear longtime friend and colleague Cantor Susan L. Levine, Cantor Emerita of Farmington Valley Jewish Congregation/Emek Shalom in Simsbury.
And last, but by no means least, Rabbi Jeff Glickman. It has been a pleasure to work with a man who so readily gives of his time and energy to individual congregants at times of joy and at times of trials and sorrow. It is of great comfort to members of a congregation to know that they can count on their rabbi to be there for them, wherever they are, if they need him. He and Mindy warmly welcomed and extended gracious invitations to Marc and me, on many occasions. We have shared sweet life-changing memories together. In fact, on a large scale, we have shared 3 weddings together, within 3 years: Rabbi and Mindy’s; Stan Goldberg and Cantor Levine’s; and my beloved Marc’s and my wedding!
So, as it says in the Book of Ecclesiastes, "there is a time for everything under heaven". It is now time for new opportunities and adventures for TBH and for me. I will be leaving TBH having been enriched by sharing each of the experiences I have described with so many impressive and yet Hamish, down-to-earth people. Thank you for the honor and privilege of serving Temple Beth Hillel as your Cantor.
"Music should go right through you,
Leave some of itself inside you
And take some of you with it when it leaves."
~ Henry Threadgill
-Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
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High Holiday Music Thank Yous
I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank all those who added so much to the musical portions of our services during the High Holidays.
First, it has been such a wonderful experience, these past 4 High Holidays at TBH, to have the opportunity to make music with our temple accompanist, Ralph C. Patterson. He has heightened the spirituality and musicality of the magnificent music of our High Holiday liturgical tradition for me and, I’m sure for the entire congregation, as well, with his professionalism and impressive talent. He, his wife Amy, their children and grandchildren are proud members of TBH!
On Yom Kippur, we were treated to the warm and luscious sounds of the cello played by Eric Dahlin. The rendition of Max Bruch’s Kol Nidre which he has played with Ralph, during the last several years, has been very stirring.
Also, a special thank you goes to Mindy Glickman for accompanying the choir so beautifully on the flute for our Yom Kippur morning closing song. Her playing added warmth and an angelic sweetness to the piece.
The TBH Adult Choir volunteered their time, since late summer, at rehearsals for their part in our High Holiday services. They are, as follows:
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Marlene Abrahamson |
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Janice McGinley |
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Rebecca Chaimovitch |
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Janet Miller |
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Leslie Cohen |
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Emily Olson |
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Marc Cohen |
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Marilyn Toback-Reveley |
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Ceil Gersten |
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Bill Reveley |
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Nancy Gordon |
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Dan Rosenthal |
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Barb Klein |
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Darlene Sternberg |
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Becky McCann |
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Sue Weinman |
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Lisa Wolf |
Special thanks to David Norman who filled in the tenor section when the Reveley’s daughter, Lauren, gave birth to her first child, Ethan, on Yom Kippur day!! Mazal tov to the Reveley’s and family!
Our young people, again, shared their sweet voices with us: Richi Chernack, Julie Finke and Jordan Guida. By the way, Julie is now a freshman at Boston University, but happily agreed to come back and sing, again, this year!
What a blessing and a joy to have so much musical talent in one congregation!
And what a privilege, especially for me!
Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
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Adult Choir Rehearsal Dates
Wednesday Nights 7PM
--In the Library
October 26, 2011
November 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, 2011
December 7, 2011
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You and I will have a lot to share together in these next 4½ months! First, I am looking forward to sharing the upcoming High Holidays, once again, with you. Musically speaking, we will, again, be uplifted by the music and singing of our own temple members in the Temple Beth Hillel Adult Choir; our teens will warm our hearts and souls with their sweet voices; the cellist, Eric Dahlin, will move us with his rendering of Max Bruch’s Kol Nidre; and we will all sing and pray together, as always, with the impressive and dependable accompaniment of our temple member, and talented professional, Ralph C. Patterson.
If you have not yet contacted me about singing with our choir for the Zimriyah: The Greater Hartford Jewish Choral Festival, which I am producing and directing, on Sunday, December 11 th at the Emanuel Synagogue in West Hartford, please email me TODAY at cantortbh@gmail.com so you won’t miss any of the rehearsals. We will begin very soon.
For those of you who love Jewish music, whether you are a singer or not, there will be music-filled workshops in the afternoon and a concert with many area Jewish choirs and hundreds of singers! Stay-tuned and check my October through December newsletter articles. I will keep you updated about registration and tickets.
Shanah tovah um’tukah! Marc and I, and our families wish you and your families a good and a sweet New Year 5772.
-Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
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NOW’S YOUR CHANCE TO JOIN THE TBH ADULT CHOIR!!
ANNOUNCING:
FIRST REHEARSAL of the TBH Adult Choir for the High Holidays
Wednesday, August 31st From 7-9P
in the TBH Library.
NOW’S YOUR BIG CHANCE for you and/or a TBH member you know, to join our TBH Adult Choir! Our Choir will sing on the High Holidays in the fall and at the exciting Greater Hartford Zimriyah (song festival) on Sunday, December 11, 2011 which I am producing and directing.
If you have a pleasant singing voice and, preferably, have had some choir experience, feel free to join us and make our TBH Adult Choir the biggest and BEST ever! You do not need to read Hebrew or music, though reading music is definitely a help. This will mean committing to several Wednesday evening rehearsals, especially in the fall. You’ll love singing with Greater Hartford area synagogue choirs as we combine into one huge choir, like we did for the "Three Choir Concert" in 2009. Together we will sing TBH proud!
Have a safe and wonderful summer!
Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
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NOW’S YOUR CHANCE TO JOIN THE TBH CHOIR!!
NOW’S THE TIME for YOU, and/or a TBH member you know, to join our TBH Adult Choir! Our Choir will sing on the High Holidays in the fall and at the exciting Greater Hartford Zimriyah (song festival) on Sunday, December 11, 2011 which I am producing and directing.
If you have a pleasant singing voice and, preferably, have had some choir experience feel free to join us and make our TBH Adult Choir the biggest and BEST ever! You do not need to read Hebrew or music, though reading music is definitely a help. This will mean committing to several Wednesday evening rehearsals, especially in the fall. You’ll love singing with Greater Hartford area synagogue choirs as we combine into one huge choir, like we did for the “Three Choir Concert” in 2009. Together we will sing TBH proud!
Have a safe and wonderful summer!
Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
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SINGING OPPORTUNITIES!!
As it says in the “Song of Songs” in the Tanach (Bible) “For lo the winter has passed, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come!”
Now is your chance to join the TBH Choir! The High Holidays are just around the corner. Well, not exactly, but I wanted to get your attention! Come rehearse and then sing with me at this year’s High Holiday services.
AND….there is a special choir bonus, this year ONLY! Join the TBH Adult Choir in September and you will have the chance to sing in a huge choir with other CT synagogue choirs in December! It will be like the 3-Choir Concert that I created at TBH, three years ago, only bigger! I am producing a Greater Hartford community-wide Zimriyah, a one-day choral festival to be held in December 2011 that will bring together singers and lovers of Jewish choral music from the Greater Hartford area. Read about the grant we received for this project and more information elsewhere in this month’s Hillel Happenings.
Requirements to join the choir are: a pleasant singing voice and, preferably, some choir experience. You do not need to read Hebrew or music, though reading music is definitely a help. Commitment to several Wednesday evening rehearsals is necessary to create an ensemble. Please email me, today, cantortbh@gmail.com or call me 413-531-8706 to let me know you’re interested. DO IT TODAY, so you don’t forget! We’ll begin rehearsals the beginning of September or maybe the last week in August, if you’re willing!
Have a safe and wonderful summer!
GREAT NEWS! WE GOT THE GRANT!!
In the January issue of “Hillel Happenings” I told you about my idea of creating a Zimriyah, a one-day choral festival (to be held in December 2011) with the ultimate goal of creating the Greater Hartford Jewish Community Chorus. The Mandell JCC in West Hartford applied for the grant on my behalf and…..GREAT NEWS! We got the grant for the one-day Zimriyah with the stipulation that there be substantial attendance, that day, and enthusiastic numbers with great interest in creating the community chorus.
The Zimriyah will be an exciting opportunity for singers, of all branches of Judaism, comprised of afternoon workshops and an evening concert, open to the public, in which all singers and members of synagogue choirs will participate. I am so proud that we have our own Temple Beth Hillel Adult Choir to participate!
NOW’S THE TIME for YOU, and/or a TBH member you know, to join our TBH Adult Choir! If you have a pleasant singing voice and, preferably, have had some choir experience feel free to join us and make our TBH Adult Choir the biggest and BEST ever! You do not need to read Hebrew or music, though reading music is definitely a help. This will mean committing to several Wednesday evening rehearsals, especially in the fall. Each area synagogue choirs will perform and will combine into a huge choir!
Please email me, today, cantortbh@gmail.comor call me 413-531-8706 to let me know you’re interested in singing in the TBH Adult Choir. DO IT TODAY, so you don’t forget! Let me know I can count on you and your singing voice. Together we will sing TBH proud!
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As with any family there is so much going on! Everyone is coming and going due to various interests, activities, hobbies, projects, to dos, homework, food shopping, meal preparation, laundrymore than enough to fill the hours in a day, week, month.
Have you ever actually read our TBH Hillel Happenings, cover to cover, or gone online, at any time of day or night, and read top to bottom? There is SO much going on. Members of our temple family are having birthdays, anniversaries; are on lots of interesting and fun committees; attending the Book Club, Mens Club and Sisterhood activities, Adult Choir rehearsals (ask me for more details), weekly BINGO on Wednesday evenings, Rabbis weekly Midrash group, Adult Hebrew Class on Sunday mornings, Religious School for children on Sunday mornings (where many of our own members are teachers), Confirmation Class on Sunday evenings, Hebrew School on Tuesdays, YACHAD for our high school kids.
And here's more! This past month (February) we had a guest speaker from Israel come to talk about anti-Israel and anti-Jewish rhetoric at our university campuses and elsewhere.
Did you notice that nearly every month there is a Jewish holiday celebration: High Holy Days in September/October, Chanukah in December (with a Shabbat service by the light of everyones chanukiyot); Tu Bishvat Seder in January (where we tasted exotic fruits); March (OH, thats THIS month) when we read the megillah, the story of Queen Esther, and enjoy our zany Purim Shpiel starring our own talented temple family members and guests (look for the flyer elsewhere in this edition).
You can always join us, with your family, to pray and sing, each and every week, at Shabbat services on Friday nights at 7:30 pm and Saturday mornings at 9 am.
Dont forget, you dont need a printed invitation because you are always invited to join us at a Bat or Bar Mitzvah on a Saturday morning at 10 am. It is a time for us to celebrate, together as a family, as one of our own children becomes a Jewish adult, a full-fledged member of our temple family. Come share in the pride we all feel on such occasions!
There is so much going on, I hope I didnt inadvertently miss something!
Did you ever wonder what the future of TBH and Judaism will look like? In this, our temples Jubilee year, what dreams do we have for the future of our temple family? We learn so many important values from our families. As parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, EACH member of our temple family has an important role in setting the stage for OUR future. What will YOUR role be? How can you become more involved, more influential in passing on the love of Judaism to the next generation?
Well meet you at home at Temple Beth Hillel; YOUR home!
-Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
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I have a dream, a vision and idea! Its not as grand as the Rev. Martin Luther King who declared that All [people] are created equal; or Theodore Herzl, who had a dream to form a Jewish state. My dream is to create an opportunity for Jews of all backgrounds; denominations; unaffiliated, spiritual, cultural, peripheral, in name only, perspective Jews, EVERYONE who loves to sing, to lift their voices TOGETHER in Jewish song.
That dream is coming to fruition with a zimriyah, a one-day choral festival to be held in December 2011, that brings together singers and lovers of Jewish choral music from the Greater Hartford area to hone vocal and choral skills from well-known master conductors. This opportunity will provide afternoon workshops and an evening concert, open to the public, in which all singers and members of synagogue choirs will participate. The ultimate purpose and goal, as I said, is to create a Greater Hartford Jewish Community Chorus!!
This coming spring I will start to prepare our Temple Beth Hillel Adult Choir for participation in a very exciting opportunity.
Dont be shy! If you haven't yet joined our choir, and you have a pleasant singing voice and, preferably, have had some choir experience feel free to join us and make our TBH Adult Choir the biggest and BEST ever! You do not need to read Hebrew or music, though reading music is definitely a help. This will mean committing to several Wednesday evening rehearsals. We will be performing for an audience which includes members of other area synagogue choirs.
At this writing, I have had several meetings with my cantorial colleagues in the Greater Hartford area and also with David Jacobs, who is the Executive Director of the Mandell JCC in West Hartford. David and I have honed, created and submitted the proposal for a grant to help the idea come to fruition.
I will keep you posted, but in the meantime, start vocalizing and warming up your voice. Most importantly, contact me and let me know you are interested in singing in the Temple Beth Hillel Adult Choir for this occasion.
-Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
Research studies support the fact that involvement in synagogue-based and community Jewish choruses encourages increased involvement in Jewish life and the larger Jewish community. In an article from the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent it said, a "survey, which was e-mailed to about 15,000 Jewish choral singers, cantors and music lovers in the spring of 2010 shows that Jewish choral singers are more involved in Jewish life than the average American Jew. Specifically, choir participants are more likely to volunteer under Jewish auspices, give to Jewish causes and belong to synagogues. Though researchers stopped short of drawing a causal relationship between singing and Jewish involvement, they said the results give strong anecdotal evidence that many people who are not otherwise involved in Jewish life find their way in through their love of Jewish singing." "There is a somewhat faulty assumption that people who sing in Jewish choirs are already engaged in Jewish life," said Diane Tickton Schuster, a researcher a the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles, who analyzed the study with Ezra Kopelowitz, CEO of the Jerusalem-based Research Success Technologies.
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For Your Online Listening Pleasure
As the colder winter months approach I thought you might be interesting in snuggling up with a family member or friend to listen to and learn online about Jewish music.
An amazing online resource for your listening pleasure is the Judaica Sound Archives (JSA) http://faujsa.fau.edu. The JSA has the largest online collection of Judaic music and voice in the world. The JSA website (www.fau.edu) will delight you with collections featuring performers of the past, cantorial greats and new artists. I was privileged to spend much of my sabbatical volunteering at JSA in 2007. They have an amazing collection of music online and physically housed at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, FL.
I know I mentioned this a while back but dont forget if you have old Jewish-related LPs that youd like to give away to a good home you can go to their website and find out where to send your records.
Also, check out the following link http://faujsa.fau.edu/jsa/partnerlinks.php and scroll down to the bottom right hand box. Youll find my name along with Temple Beth Hillel! This exposure increases the bounce rate to the TBH website!!
Another wonderful website is the Milken Archive of Jewish music Now entering its third decade as the leader in the preservation and dissemination of music that speaks to the American Jewish experience [It] presents a ground-breaking new websitea virtual museum comprising music, videos, photographs, oral histories, articles, essays, and more. The following is an introductory You Tube about them which I think youll enjoy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVQwCEa6UzQ. Then, check out their website to find more information http://www.milkenarchive.org.
See you at Temple!
Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
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In our Festival and High Holiday services we emphasize the role of the descendants of the Koheyn's or High Priests, in Jewish worship. However, we don't often mention the role of the Levites. Jewish prayer relies heavily on music. Dating back at least to the times of the first Temple in Jerusalem, the Levites were responsible for singing and playing instruments as part of the Temple service.
We are blessed, at Temple Beth Hillel, to have a wealth of resources of musicians; singers and instrumentalists from our own temple membership who fulfill that role. We are grateful to the following who gave of their time and talent to add to the beauty of the music of our High Holidays 5771:
The Temple Beth Hillel Adult Choir:
| Marlene Abramson |
Ted Green |
Emily Olson |
| Rebecca Chaimovitch |
Sharon Jacobs |
Dan Rosenthal |
| Leslie Cohen |
Barb Klein |
Darlene Sternberg |
| Marc Cohen |
Becky McCann |
Marilyn Toback-Revely |
| Ceil Gersten |
Janice McGinley |
Bill Reveley |
| Nancy Gordon |
Bea Norman |
Sue Weinman |
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David Norman |
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The following were not able to participate, due to extenuating circumstances:
Amy Finke, Janet Miller, Teri Parrot, Herb Shook, Lisa Wolf
We wish those who were ill a R'fuah Shleima.
We also offer our deepest sympathies to Amy Finke and family on the loss of her husband and their father, Mike; and Janice McGinley and family on the loss of her husband, Frank.
TBH Teens:
Richi Chernack, Julie Finke, Jordan Guida
Instrumentalists:
Keyboard Accompanist: Ralph Patteron
Flute: Mindy Glickman
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At this writing, Marc and I are celebrating our first wedding anniversary! A year of love and blessings that, we pray, will continue in good health for many, many years.
We celebrated our wedding during this Hebrew month of Elul when we Jews traditionally begin to prepare ourselves for the upcoming High Holy Days.
What does it mean to prepare for the High Holy Days? Beginning with Slichot (September 4th), the Saturday night before Rosh Hashanah, our tradition gives us the space in our busy lives to search, re-connect and listen more deeply to our own inner spiritual voice. The sounds of the shofar remind each of us to return (in Hebrew tshuva), in a very personal, introspective way, to search our own soul and heart. To atone and sincerely say we are sorry to those whom we may have hurt either intentionally or unintentionally.
Our Jewish tradition gives us other prescribed times throughout the year to share in community, for example, the Festival holidays of Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuot. Each week we are given the gift of Shabbat for refreshment and renewal. Join us and sit in the sacred and peaceful space of our Temple Beth Hillel sanctuary and be present. Our sanctuary has great Fung Shui!
Come and enjoy the many gifts Temple Beth Hillel has to offer. Bring your own gifts, ideas and experience to share. Open yourself to connecting with YOUR temple community in whatever ways you can. Give yourself permission, throughout the year, to experience the many opportunities to nourish your soul and heart through study, prayer, music and singing, clapping, and dancing.
I will be teaching a Trope class this fall. Come join me on 6 Tuesday evenings and learn how to chant Torah! The Adult Education Committee has lots of opportunities. Come learn Hebrew! Join Sisterhood, Mens Club and other committees. When theres a call to lend your singing voice to the TBH Adult Choir, say yes!
Try this. Open yourself to stay with us in the sanctuary on Yom Kippur afternoon after the Yizkor Service and the reading of your loved ones names (though your hungry, growling stomach may tempt you to leave!). Make the time and resolve to stay and let us conclude the entire day together. Experience the powerful energy in sharing the culmination of one of the most sacred and uplifting days of the year.
We will soon begin our year-long celebrations of Temple Beth Hillels Jubilee year! Thanks to our hardworking 50th anniversary committee we will celebrate in so many creative ways throughout this year. We will never let the light go out at TBH! There is a reason this congregation is still thriving after 50 years! Its because of the spirit that each of YOU has brought and continues to bring and share with YOUR temple. Our congregation has shared 50 years of hundreds of varied lifecycles. We will continue, in the words of the Vahavta with all our hearts, with all our souls and with all our might into the next 50 years together!
So, consider beginning this New Year 5772 with a resolve to make space WITHIN, to listen to that still small voice within you. Resolve to be present together in partnership with your temple community at YOUR Temple Beth Hillel in this Jublilee year and every year! As the parable in our own Gates of Prayer concludes, Rabbi Tzantz used to say Take my hand and let us search for the way together.
Marc and I wish each of you a shana tova umtukah, a good and a sweet year!
See you at temple!
-Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
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What a wonderful time we all had at our Temple Beth Hillel Beit Cafe! It was a fun, temple-spirited, community-building night!
Thank you to all who made this event so successful:
The members of the Beit Cafe Committee: Ana Pearl, Rebecca Chaimovitch, Becky McCann, Lisa Wolf and "yours truly"; all of our talented performers, singers, dancers, poets, actors, the creative videos and choreographic assistance; Ralph Patterson for donating his amazing keyboard accompanying talent; and those who helped to promote this temple event, including Neil Patterson's fabulous flyer/poster design; those who sold advance tickets; business card ads; all the behind-the-scenes preparations and arrangements and setting up; Marilyn Toback-Reveley and Bill Reveley for lending us the microphone from their bluegrass band "Grass Routes"; all those who baked or brought baked goods (the goodies table looked spectacular!); Lisa and Rachel Wolf and Ceil Gersten for helping to sell them; and Len Grigorian for donating pizza from the South Windsor Arena. This event would not have been possible without the involvement of each of them and others who lent a helping hand that night! We are grateful for all of the support we received.
Special thanks, too, to Rabbi Glickman and our Temple president, Stan Goldberg for all their support. We cannot forget Karen Kasheta for all her help in the office with selling advance tickets, collecting money, answering phone and email inquiries and for her overall enthusiasm and general support of ALL the activities at TBH!
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Each of us has our own great memories of our first-ever TBH Beit Café. Thank you to David Kaplan for video-recording the evening so the entire Temple family can view clips of it online at www.templebethhillel.info.
Even though it's early, I'm looking forward to our TBH Adult Choir rehearsals, coming up soon, in preparation for the High Holidays.
Hope to see you at temple over the summer!
Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
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WOMENS VOICES
When I thanked our Womens Weekend committee, in the April issue of Hillel Happenings I inadvertently omitted the names of the members of our 16-voice Womens Choir who devoted 8 winter Wednesday nights to rehearsals for that Shabbat eve service in March. Our Womens Choir added a very special dimension to that evening with the blending of their lovely voices. Most of the melodies which were sung during the service, other than the Torah Service, were written by Jewish women composers.
At each of the choir rehearsals we were treated to the talented, delightful keyboard accompaniment and personality of our own Ralph Patterson. Every Wednesday night, in all kinds of weather, he schlepped his own keyboard and amp to be with us. What a joy and treasure he is to all of us at Temple Beth Hillel! Dont forget to tell him so when you see him next!
TBH WOMENS CHOIR
Marlene Abrahamson
Rebecca Chaimovitch
Amy Finke
Ceil Gersten
Mindy Glickman
Nancy Gordon
Sharon Jacobs
Barb Klein
Becky McCann
Janet Miller
Emily Olson
Ana Pearl
Darlene Sternberg
Marilyn Toback-Reveley
Sue Weinman
Lisa Wolf
NEW CONGREGATIONAL MEMBERSHIP TO MAYYIM HAYYIM
Temple Beth Hillel is proud to announce that the Womens Weekend Committee voted to convert the fee for our tour of Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center in Newton, MA to a 1-year congregational membership. The membership includes 3 immersion Certificates, one specialized Educational Program, and discounted rates on additional gift certificates, additional educational programs and meeting rooms. It is valid until March 7, 2011. One of our TBH members has already taken advantage of 1 of those immersion certificates. The others can be used for conversion candidates (men and/or women) or for congregants making life transitions. Please ask me or Rabbi Glickman about using an Immersion Certificate for one of these purposes. Feel free to check out the website for more information about this wonderful facility www.MayyimHayyim.org. I can also put you in touch with someone who from TBH who participated in the tour.
Hope to see you soon at Temple!
BShalom,
-Cantor Mekler
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WOMENS WEEKEND A SUCCESS!!
Our first Womens Weekend on March 5-7th at Temple Beth Hillel was a great success. The uplifting Shabbat evening service was conducted by women ONLY and the overflowing sanctuary was attended by intergenerational families of men, women and our youth. The congregation was treated to the debut of the 16-voice Temple Beth Hillel Womens Choir; women Gabai; Torah readers and aliyot; and an inspiring sermon delivered by our weekend Scholar-in Residence, Anne Berman-Waldorf, Director of Lifelong Education at Congregation Beth Chaim in New Jersey. By the way, Anne, an alum of Temple Beth Hillel, is Marion Bermans daughter! The intergenerational candle lighting honored all the generations of TBH women. The service was preceded by a delightful potluck Shabbat dinner coordinated by Ana Pearl and Rebecca Chaimovitch. After the Kiddush, Mindy Glickman taught Israeli dancing.
Saturday morning began with a gentle yoga session led by Lynne Greene of Simply Yoga in South Windsor. The afternoon workshops were attended by 30 women from the greater Hartford/Springfield area. The whipped cream with the cherry on top of the entire weekend was our Scholar in Residence! Anne presented her stimulating topics throughout the weekend with a light-hearted engaging delivery that encouraged our participation. Everyone in attendance was delighted to have her with us.
On Sunday afternoon we went on a field trip and tour of Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Educational Center in Newton, MA, which is a unique center for Jewish spirituality and learning. Mayyim Hayyim reclaims the ancient tradition of mikveh and reinvents the rituals of immersion to serve the needs of a diverse 21st century Jewish community. Temple Beth Hillel has become a member of Mayyim Hayyim for this coming year. Our membership includes 2 gift certificates for immersions. If you are interested in discussing the possibility of immersing, please contact me.
I am very grateful for the time and efforts of the enthusiastic committee which helped to plan this wonderful weekend and our Womens Choir members who attended 2 months of rehearsals in order to enhance our Shabbat eve worship. I am thrilled with the attendance we had from Temple Beth Hillel as well as the larger Jewish community and the excitement we were able to create with this wonderful weekend opportunity for Jewish women of ALL ages. We studied, prayed, sang, danced and shared very inspiring and meaningful time together. From the comments and feedback we've already received, there is much interest in future womens programming at Temple Beth Hillel!
See you at Temple!
-Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
| Women's Weekend Committee |
Women's Choir |
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| Marion Berman |
Marlene Abrahamson |
Becky McCann |
| Rebecca Chaimovitch |
Rebecca Chaimovitch |
Janet Miller |
| Ceil Gersten |
Amy Finke |
Emily Olson |
| Mindy Glickman |
Ceil Gersten |
Ana Pearl |
| Sally Goodman |
Mindy Glickman |
Darlene Sternberg |
| Nancy Gordon |
Nancy Gordon |
Marilyn Toback-Revely |
| Ann Hughes |
Sharon Jacobs |
Sue Weinman |
| Emily Olson |
Barb Klein |
Lisa Wolf |
| Ana Pearl |
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| Sue Weinman |
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| Lisa Wolf |
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THE WOMENS WEEKEND IS FINALLY HERE!!!
At this writing, though it is past the reservation deadline, there might possibly be a space left for Saturday. If you would like, call Ceil Gerstens office (information at this bottom of this piece) to inquire.
DONT FORGET on Friday evening, March 5th at 7:30 p.m. the entire TBH congregation and the public are invited to join us on for our unique Shabbat service conducted by women only. Especially bring along young women (Bat Mitzvah age and up) to share this unique experience! (There is a potluck dinner prior to the service at 6 p.m. SEE BELOW to reserve). During the service, the sermon will be delivered by Scholar-in-Residence, Anne Berman-Waldorf; our TBH Womens Choir (created especially for this occasion) will sing; TBH women will chant and read the Torah readers; yours truly will give the Dvar Torah; Israeli dancing, after the service, will be taught and led by Mindy Glickman.
Be sure to gather your family and friends to share this historic occasion for Temple Beth Hillel!
Please join us for the potluck dinner at 6 p.m. Please RSVP to Ceil Gerstens office at 860-769-7393 (9-5 pm) so well know how many of your family members and friends will come and what youll bring AND, if there is still space, reserve for Saturday (only $18). Sorry, at this late date, reservations for Sundays field trip to Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Educational Center in Newton, MA are closed.
At this writing, we have had our first rehearsal for our Purim shpiel entitled Esther of Oz. By the time you read this, I hope you had a wonderful time celebrating Purim at TBH and that you enjoyed a few laughs! Special thanks to this years participants from our Temple Beth Hillel Family (whose character names appear in alphabetical order):
Esther: Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
Haman: Rabbi Jeff Glickman
King: Rick Siedman
Mayor: Howard Dickstein
Mordecai/Cowardly Lion: Jess Edelstein
Narrator/Courtier/Helper: Phyllis Liebman
Scarecrow: Rebecca Chaimovitch
Tin Man: Isaac Field
Thank you to the Mens Club for providing the pizza dinner and members of Sisterhood for baking hamantaschen! Yum!
See you at on Friday night, March 5th. Dont forget to call Ceil Gerstens office (860-769-7363) to RSVP for the potluck dinner!
Cantor Mekler
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Click here for a flyer on the Women's Weekend
Choir for the Women's Weekend
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3 AMAZING EVENTS in 7 days!
Beginning Saturday night, February 27th through Sunday, March 7th! Here's the line-up:
PURIM, Saturday, February 27th at 4:30 p.m. Be prepared to be swept away. Our Purim celebration will begin with the Megillah Reading followed by a Purim shpiel: The Wizard of Shushan starring friendly faces of folks from Temple Beth Hillel! Remember how much fun we had last year when TBH was alive with The Sound of Music? You wont want to miss our Purim celebration!
Save the date: Saturday, February 27th at 4:30 p.m.
WOMENS SEDER WITH DEBBIE FRIEDMAN, Tuesday, March 2nd at Emanuel Synagogue. FYI, by the time you read this, it might be sold out! To inquire, call the reservations coordinator for TBH, Emily Olson @ 860-644-4411 or email her at
nebzil@cox.net nebzil@cox.net.
FIRST-EVER WOMENS WEEKEND @ TEMPLE BETH HILLEL, March 5th - 7th
Our Scholar-in-Residence will be Anne Berman-Waldorf, who is the daughter of Temple Beth Hillel member, Marion Berman. Anne is the Director of Lifelong Education at Congregation Beth Chaim in N.J. You will find more information about Anne and the Womens Weekend elsewhere in this issue of the Bulletin. Look for the drawing of Miriam holding a tambourine over her head!
Friday evening, March 5th: Potluck dinner at 6 p.m. Please RSVP to Karen Kasheta in the TBH office at 860-282-8466 or
tbhadmin@cox.net tbhadmin@cox.net The Shabbat evening service at 7:30 p.m. will be led entirely by women including Torah readers; sermon; the debut of the Womens Choir and more!. As always, the entire community is invited to worship with us.
Saturday, March 6th: Well begin with gentle yoga led by Lynne Greene, owner of Simply Yoga in South Windsor; lunch; then inter-generational afternoon study sessions culminating with a special Havdalah service. Reservations and pre-payment are a must! To RSVP and for fee information contact Karen Kasheta in the temple office at 860-282-8466.
Sunday, March 7th: Field trip to Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Educational Center in Newton, MA. Well tour this beautiful facility for an enriching afternoon of discovery and learning. To reserve a spot and pre-pay, which are a must, please call TBH member Ceil Gerstens office at 860-769-7390. Leave your name and number with her assistant, Christine, or e-mail Ceil at
Ceilg8@aol.com Ceilg8@aol.com.
~ Check back here at the Temple Beth Hillel website www.templebethhillel.info for more details, including fees. Be sure to contact Karen Kasheta in the temple office at 860-282-8466 to pre-pay and reserve a place (a must!) for yourself, friends, relatives and girls (Bat Mitzvah age and up)!
If you would like to help sponsor any part of this weekend, please contact Karen Kasheta in the temple office.
SEE YOU AT TEMPLE!
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2 SHABBATOT OF CHANUKAH@ TEMPLE BETH HILLEL
Come celebrate on Friday evenings: December 11th AND December 18th both SHABBATOT OF CHANUKAH at TBH!
Friday evening, December 11th, is the first night of Chanukah and the first of 2 Shabbatot of Chanukah. I’ve been rehearsing our Religious School children, some of our teens and the TBH Adult Choir to sing extra special Chanukah music. Bring your friends, neighbors and children of all ages. Come sing with us and together we’ll begin the celebration of this festive holiday.
On the second Shabbat of Chanukah, December 18th, which is the 8th night of Chanukah we’ll join together, again, with a potluck Shabbat dinner and the Finale of our Religious School elective program.
The services begin, as usual, at 7:30 p.m. Come celebrate Chanukah at TBH!!
URJ BIENNIAL IN TORONTO: A GREAT SUCCESS!!
It was so fabulous spending 5 days with 10 other folks (one of whom was my husband, Marc) from Temple Beth Hillel at the Union for Reform Judaism Biennial convention in Toronto. No doubt, our temple had one of the largest representations of any in attendance. Great seminars, workshops, music, worship services, professional and social connections and cameraderie! Ask us about it. Seriously consider putting the next URJ Biennial on your calendar for 2011 in Washington, D.C.!
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Now’s your chance….
MEN AND WOMEN OF TBH: If you’ve been anxiously waiting a whole year to join our Temple Beth Hillel Adult Choir now’s your chance! Rehearsals for the High Holidays will begin on Wednesday, August 26th from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. (Details below). We especially need more male voices! So far there are 3 men and a few women singing tenor.
TBH MEN & WOMEN: The Temple Beth Hillel Adult Choir is open to YOU who love to sing (a solo quality voice is definitely not required). Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler started our choir for the High Holidays of 2008. The TBH Adult Choir is an enthusiastic, wonderful group of singers! Again, this invitation is for TBH MEN AND WOMEN! Continue reading for more information; start warming up your voice, then email Cantor Mekler at
to let her know you'd like to join.
To Join the Choir:
1. One should have a pleasant singing voice and stay on pitch (choral experience preferred, but not necessary);
2. You don't need to read music (we'll go over the parts a lot);
3. You don't have to read Hebrew (all the words are written in transliteration and I'll help you sound it out).
The High Holiday Rehearsal Schedule: (NOTE: only 4 rehearsals for Rosh Hashanah, so attendance is crucial):
Wednesday evenings from 7-9 pm
August 26th September 2,9,16 and 23
The opportunity is here for you right in your own backyard. All you have to do its email
to RSVP (and ask questions, if you'd like) and tell Cantor what voice part you sing. Hope to hear from you right now!
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At Temple Beth Hillel, especially during the month of April, Jewish music could be heard from the depths of our temple soul inside and out! We began with our first ever Friday Night Live service (join us for the next FNL on May 22nd). The very next week we welcomed our new Torah from B’nai Jacob with wandering klezmer musicians playing OUTSIDE in the street from the Glickman’s house to the temple and 7 times round the center of the parking lot. Then INSIDE, we were greeted to the lively instrumental ensemble in the lobby and during the service. We also heard vocal music from our TBH Adult Choir and also a trio of teens, as well as “yours truly”. The entire Shabbat evening was filled with great enthusiasm and ruach (spirit) from our own congregation, B’nai Jacob and many, many guests from all over Connecticut and Massachusetts. It was a celebration to behold and experience!
Now it’s May and the flowers of springtime treat us to a spectacular display of colors and textures to please the eye. At TBH, the effervescence of MUSICAL blossoms will continue to delight our ears and uplift our hearts and souls.
Please join us to hear the 70 voices of 3 combined choirs singing together on Sunday, May 3rd at 3 p.m. for our 3-Choir Choral Concert. Each choir will present its own program, as well. Hopefully, you’ve already become a sponsor or contributed in some way to benefit our new Music Fund. Tickets can be purchased at TBH, as follows:
General Seating
Adults: $10
Seniors/Students ; $8
Four Tickets: $36
See you on May 3rd!
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This month's notes are so special you'll have to click here to see them!
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THE BEST PURIM EVER !!!
ALL AGES WELCOME from 5 to 105 years old
COME JOIN US!!
MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 9TH, 2009 @ 7 p.m.
@ Temple Beth Hillel
Stay-tuned for the best Purim you’ve EVER experienced! You will NOT want to miss seeing
Rabbi Glickman as……… Cantor Mekler as……..AND many, many of your TBH friends, neighbors
and Religious School children, plus members of our Temple Beth Hillel Adult Choir
like you’ve never seen us before! Come hear the Megillah read and the story
told like you’ve never heard or seen it before!!
You won’t forget THIS story!
“The Sound of Shushan” is an original adaptation of the Purim story. The musical parodies,
by “yours truly”, are written to some of your favorite songs from “The Sound of Music”.
We welcome you to sing along! JOIN US!
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SAVE THE DATE
The First Ever
THREE CHOIRS IN CONCERT
@
Temple Beth Hillel
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 @ 3 p.m.
This concert is to benefit the TBH Music Fund.
Please be generous and help support our Temple’s music program.
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“Shabbat Shira/Shabbat of Song”
“Shabbat Shirah”, Sabbath of Song, occurs on the 13th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat which, this year, corresponds to February 7, 2009. “Shabbat Shira” derives its name from the portion in the Book of Exodus (B’Shalach) in which we read “Shirat Hayam”, the Song of the Sea. In this famous story the Israelites are finally liberated from Egyptian bondage. They reach the shores of the Sea of Reeds, Moses raises his staff and miraculously parts the waters. The Israelites cross through the dry land between the walls of the waters to safety.
After years of slavery, suffering and misery, we can hardly imagine how they must have felt to be free. They praised G-d in song led by Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron. They sang the well-known text from this portion, Michamocha baelim Adonai, mi kamocha nedar bakodesh, norah t’hilot osey feleh”, “who is like you, G-d, among the gods that are worshipped” and ends with “”Adonai yimloch l’olam vaed”, G-d will reign forever and ever.” We hear this portion also on the seventh day of Pesach, when we read about the exodus from Egypt.
It is such an important passage that the text is chanted with its own special chant and the congregation stands to hear it, as we stood at the shores of the sea.
We, at Temple Beth Hillel, are here for each other in times of joy and times of sorrow. May we serve as a microcosm for our fellow Jews in the world. Kol Yisrael arevim zeh ba-zeh. All Jews are responsible one for the other. The Jews of the world must sustain and strengthen one another. We are strong when we stand together!
Kein Y’hi Ratzon. May this be Gd’s will.
TEMPLE BETH HILLEL IS ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC!
SAVE THE DATE!
PURIM 5769!
Monday, March 9, 2009
COME ONE, COME ALL!
The Purim story like you’ve never seen or heard it before!!
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SAVE THE DATE
Sunday, May 3rd, 2009 @ 3 p.m.
FIRST ANNUAL TBH MUSICAL FESTIVAL
(Yet to be formally named!)
If you’ve enjoyed the music at Temple Beth Hillel during the past few months share your enthusiasm by helping it to continue. We are now announcing plans for the first annual TBH music festival to benefit our new TBH Music Fund. This is a very exciting fundraising opportunity to help support our music program. Consider being one of the Underwriters, Benefactors or Patrons and/or sponsor a song dedicated in honor or memory of a loved one. Won’t it be wonderful to share a musical concert of Jewish music with family and friends at our own Temple Beth Hillel? Great gift idea: Buy tickets for them! Help spread the word, near and far, about this thrilling TBH event.
The participants will be singers from 3 Jewish choirs in Massachusetts and Connecticut: Mak’hela, the Jewish Chorus of Western Massachusetts; Connecticut Z’mirah Chorale, comprised of singers from throughout the state; and our own Temple Beth Hillel Adult Choir!
Please contribute generously, in any way you can, to help us reach our goal. More details will be forthcoming in subsequent Bulletins and Temple emails.
COME SING WITH OUR TBH ADULTCHOIR for this event!!
1. You will need to have a pleasant singing voice and stay on pitch (choral experience preferred, but not necessary);
2. You don’t have to read music (we’ll go over the parts at lot);
3. You don’t have to read Hebrew (all the words are written in transliteration and I’ll help you sound it out)
So, the opportunity is here for you right in your own backyard. All you have to do is email or call me to say “yes” (and ask questions, if you’d like) and tell me what voice part you sing.
Please contact Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler at cantortbh@gmail.com or 413-531-8706 to inquire further, express interest and then find out when, in January, our Wednesday night rehearsals will begin for this event. CALL TODAY since rehearsals will begin in just a few weeks!!
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A NOTE from Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
Do you have old Judaica 78 rpm phonograph recordings, LP albums, cassette tapes, 8-track tapes, 45 rpm recordings, or CDs lying around your house that are not being listened to? Here’s a little background information on where to send them to a new wonderful home.
In 2006 I had a fascinating and fulfilling time on sabbatical assisting with a relatively new project called Judaica Sound Archives (JSA) at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, FL. The Judaica Sound Archives is “an internationally recognized major center for the collection and preservation of Judaica sound recordings.” Since its inception in 2002 JSA has matured from a small collection of 78 rpm records to over 60,000 titles in its inventory” which include, for example, Jewish popular music, Yiddish Theater, comedy, children’s music, classical music, Israeli folk, Cantorial, and Sephardic music recorded as early as 1901. A passionate team of volunteers and a few professional individuals organize, categorize and digitize old LP’s and 78’s of Jewish content, Jewish artists, or Jewish composers.
A great deal of the music in the JSA collection at FAU can be heard on the website at www.fau.edu/jsa, which continues to grow rapidly as more music is digitized. However, much of the collection is protected by copyright so it is not available over the internet. However, the following is some of what they’ve created.
JSA has been increasing FAU’s visibility and strengthening its image among Jewish communities around the country and the world. The plan was to create off-site access to the digital resources of the Judaica Sound Archives at FAU through a dedicated computer terminal to be used specifically and ONLY for scholarly research. One of my responsibilities as a volunteer was to contact Jewish Music Libraries, for example, at Hebrew Union College, Jewish Theological Seminary and other Jewish music libraries across the country and in Europe to try to encourage each to house a dedicated research computer from JSA as an off-site extension of the FAU Libraries. I was able to arrange a tour of JSA with Cantor Bruce Rubin, who is the Director of the School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College, and another colleague in order that they would hopefully see the value of the research station in the school library for cantors and rabbis.
While I was assisting at JSA I had the joy of listening to hundreds of selections. Another one of my responsibilities was to choose a snippet from various recordings that is heard when the listener “clicks on” to search the website, as an example of the various artists and genres that are available. My ears were treated to voices and music that touched my heart and my soul. My dear father (z”l) would have LOVED the experience.
Now you, too, can enjoy some of this experience. Try it!! Click onto www.fau.edu/jsa. ALSO, check out the bottom of the page on the following link http://faujsa.fau.edu/jsa/partnerlinks.php. You’ll see a familiar name and link to our own TBH webpage in the middle square!!
When you go through your own personal collection in your attic, den or basement then click on http://faujsa.fau.edu/jsa/send_records.php and you’ll find out how to pack up and donate them to JSA. In fact, take it a step further and make a tax-deductible monetary contribution to JSA. The information is also on the website.
There were so many wonderful, upbeat, devoted people with whom I worked. It was an experience of a lifetime!
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What a spiritually uplifting and festive experience it was to share the High Holiday season at TBH!! It was a pleasure to hear you sing and raise your voices in holiness.
I was so proud of all of the following people who helped to make it so: our new TBH Choir*; our high school girls, who’s harmony and sweet singing warmed our hearts; Mindy-Lu Radler Glickman who treated us to her impressive flute accompaniment; and our Kol Nidre cellist, Longmeadow High School senior Alexa Ciciretti (I prepared her and her sister each for becoming a Bat Mitzvah!). I would also like to publicly thank our talented, dependable accompanist, Ralph C. Patterson, for sharing his gifts with TBH. He helped to make the musical portions of the service not only flow smoothly, but added SO much depth and spirituality to our worship. Last, but not least, it was my pleasure to share the bima and lead services with Rabbi Jeff Glickman. I enjoy the imagery and metaphors he uses in his sermons that help to explain and impress his message upon the listener. I appreciate his warmth and sincerity on and off the bima. TBH is blessed to have him for our rabbi and teacher.
The following are the names, in addition to those mentioned above, of those who participated in the musical portions of our services:
*TBH CHOIR MEMBERS
SOPRANO ALTO TENOR BASS
Rebecca Chaimovitch Marlene Abrahamson Leslie Cohen Marc Cohen
Marjorie Hutensky Alison Clark Emily Olsen Rich MacGregor
Janet Miller Mindy Radler Glickman Marilyn Toback-Reveley Bill Reveley
Becky McCann Nancy Gordon Herb Shook
Darlene Sternberg Stefanie MacGregor
Lisa Wolf Bea Norman
Teri Parrot
Ana Pearl
Sue Weinman
HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS: Lindsay Ketaineck, Julie Finke, Melissa McCann
Thank you, one and all! Stay-tuned for more music at Temple Beth Hillel!!
L’hitraot! See you soon!
Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
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Cantors Mekler, Berke Co-Recipients of National Hadassah Award
On September 18th the Greater Springfield Chapter of Hadassah held its annual Donor Dinner at Temple Beth El in Springfield, MA (which happens to be the temple where I was raised!). This year’s dinner celebrated Israel’s 60th birthday with guest speaker Leah Reicin, Hadassah's Israeli Women of Distinction Chair, a member of the National Board of Hadassah's Executive Committee and a former national vice president.
The following is a partial description from www.MassLive.com of the rest of the program which featured “…a special musical presentation by Cantors Emily Sleeper Mekler and Elizabeth Berke, who created Hadassah's award-winning program, "Hadassah Presents: A Jewish Music Celebration for Seniors”.
The Greater Springfield Chapter was recognized by National Hadassah with the 2008 Hannah Goldberg Award for Excellence in Education for this program. Sue Polansky, Hadassah Life Member, past chair of the chapter's Keepers of the Gate, and the original inspiration of this program, accepted this prestigious award at the National Hadassah Convention in Los Angeles this summer.
Mekler and Berke, both Hadassah Life Members, created the creative music program that was piloted at Ruth's House, an assisted living facility in Longmeadow, this past spring. Residents of Ruth's House were invited to participate in this five-session program that used Jewish music to evoke memories and discussion about their own Jewish identity and background.”
Our presentation at the Donor Dinner was very well received! Also, in attendance to lend support were some of the residents from Ruth House, the assisted living facility where we piloted the program. This award is an exciting and distinguished honor for the Greater Springfield Chapter of Hadassah!
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“Come here, I will show you a new way to the Creator
– not through speech, but through song!
Let us sing and Heaven will understand us.”
- Rebbe Nachman of Breslov
At this writing, we are creating a Temple Beth Hillel choir of currently 20 people. You will soon hear the harmony and blending of their voices as they sing the words and music of our High Holiday liturgy. There is a time to listen and there is also a time to sing. I pray that you will feel uplifted and inspired with the majesty of the prayers and the music you will hear from the bima to join together in raising your own voice in prayer and singing. Remember:
“Use what talents you possess
The woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.”
- Henry Van Dyke
I pray that, during the coming year, each of us will reach new spiritual heights through our sharing of worship and singing together.
Shana Tova um’tukah, a good and a sweet New Year 5768, from my family to each of yours,
Cantor Emily Sleeper Mekler
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“When people sing together, community is created… Through music, we reach each others hearts and souls. Music allows us to find a connection…“
Peter Yarrow
Last weekend I worshipped with you for the first time officially as Cantor of Temple Beth Hillel. It was a warm, welcoming and uplifting experience for me! I feel very comfortable sharing the bima with Rabbi Glickman and it was a joy to hear you sing with me.
Shabbat eve I began the service by leading the congregation in the singing of the well known round, Hine Ma Tov with the assistance of Nancy Gordon and Rebecca Chaimovitch. Later in the service Rebecca and I sang a lovely duet after the Silent Prayer. Cantor Susan Levine (my friend and colleague and newly married to TBH’s President Stan Goldberg) surprised me by attending the service. We sang a duet of a stunning version of Misheberach by Cantor Lisa Levine.
Shabbat morning I attended the more intimate 9 am service and at 10 am I was very impressed by Richie Chernack’s participation in the service and his excellent Torah reading, as a Bar Mitzvah, as he had done the evening before. It was very special to see many invitees in attendance who I knew from the Springfield community.
So, now it’s YOUR turn to sing with me. I am delighted to report that, already, we have 14 folks signed up to sing in our TBH High Holiday Choir. There is always room for more...YOU!! Of course, we want to hear everyone singing in prayer from the seats in the sanctuary, however, the spirituality and warmth of our services will be that much MORE enhanced by this choir and YOUR voice in it:
Calling ALL Beth Hillel MEN & WOMEN who love to sing (a solo quality voice definitely not required). The moment you’ve been waiting for is here!! No need to just sing in the shower or the car, anymore. Now, you can dry off or turn off the ignition and “come out” and sing with others at Temple Beth Hillel. Wouldn’t you just love to sing some prayers in harmony with other congregants at our High Holiday services this year? How about eventually preparing for a fundraiser to benefit the music program at TBH? Again, this invitation is for women AND men. We will definitely need “a few good men”. Start warming up your voice to get ready!
Continue reading this article, then immediately email me (
CantorTBH@gmail.com ) or call me (413-531-8706) to tell me you’ll join me for 6 rehearsals for the High Holidays (Rosh Hashana begins Monday evening: September 29th.)
Wednesday Evenings From 7:00 PM- 8:30 PM:
August 20, 27
September 3, 10, 17, 24
NOTE: Since there are so few rehearsals attendance is very important.
Here’s the scoop:
1. You will need to have a pleasant singing voice and stay on pitch (choral experience preferred, but not necessary);
2. you don’t have to read music (we’ll go over the parts at lot);
3. you don’t have to read Hebrew (all the words are written in transliteration and I’ll help you sound it out)
So, the opportunity is here for you right in your own backyard. All you have to do is email or call me to say “yes” (and ask questions, if you’d like) and tell me what voice part you sing. If Wednesdays are not good let me know that, too. If there are many others who prefer a different night perhaps we can try to change it.
Hope to see an email from you or talk to you soon!
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