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Blog #9
May, 2008
The second year of cantorial school has wound down to a halt. Yesterday I submitted the final examination for liturgy class and the final project for music education class. The only thing I have left to do to officially become a third-year student is to present myself before the faculty on Monday morning for an oral comprehensive examination, covering everything I have learned in my repertoire classes this year. As I've mentioned in other posts, the focuses of the second-year repertoire are the traditional Shabbat service, from Friday evening through Saturday morning, the Reform Friday evening service, and the entire range of Reform Rosh Hashanah repertoire. I plan to present one piece from each of this year's Reform focuses, and the remainder of my 20 minutes before the faculty will be spent responding (through song) to their questions specific to the traditional Shabbat service. For the majority of my responses, my only aid will be a traditional siddur. However, because our instructor has tested us from the siddur nearly every class this year, it shouldn't be an undue burden to use it on Monday.
Incidentally, the rabbinic term for "undue burden" is tircha, and as I learned in liturgy class this year, it may be used to justify any number of non-traditional practices during the worship service: nobody wishes to place an undue burden upon the congregation. The concept of tircha explains in large part why Reform worship services tend to be substantially shorter than worship services!
Reacting to the concept of tircha
So, after Monday has come and gone, I will have another year of study under my belt. In reflecting back to where I was a year ago at this time, I find myself in a much different place – literally and figuratively. Last year, I was in Jerusalem completing an intense introductory year HUC, to Hebrew, and to Israel. I lived a three-minute walk from school. This year, I am a bona fide New Yorker, complete with a monthly MetroCard and a half-hour commute each way, and I split my time between studying and work. Last year, my fiancée and I were living together under the same roof for the first time, trying to plan a wedding from halfway across the globe. This year, my wife and I will be attending several friends' weddings (in some of which I'll be singing), and we'll soon be celebrating our one-year anniversary. This year, my 18 year-old sister is graduating from high school and moving to New York for college. This year, my parents are both turning 60 and are seriously contemplating how long it will be until they too can move to New York to be closer to us. Life is different now in many ways, but the cycles of living and learning remain as steadfast as ever – so too does the cycle of seasons. The onset of spring in the city has wooed residents out into the verdant parklands at all times of day. Now that my days will be a bit freer for a while, I am looking forward to joining them.
Bryant Park in the heart of midtown on a spring day
I won't be playing in the park all summer long. At the end of June, I begin a six-week Yiddish language program, fulfilling a desire I've had for several years now. Knowledge of the vernacular that has permeated Eastern European Jewish culture for hundreds of years will doubtlessly prove useful to my understanding of cantorial style. I'm looking forward to applying what I learn this summer to my remaining years of study. I'm looking forward to meeting the class of 2012, now finishing up their year of study in Israel. But most of all, I'm looking forward to meeting the classes that are yet to come, the individuals who haven't even yet considered the possibility of becoming clergy. I am eager to hear their stories of how and why they decided to apply to HUC-JIR and gear their professional lives towards Reform Jewish service. I hope and pray that these blogs, and the blogs yet to come, will continue to inspire our future colleagues to live the lives that we have chosen. In the words of our ancient phrase of comfort and praise, ba'agala uviz'man kariv – may our future colleagues come speedily and in our days.
Ve'imru: amein.
Posted by Josh at 2:45 PM
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Blog #8
April, 2008
We're officially on Pesach break, and it couldn't have arrived at a better time. Over the course of the last month, in addition to my regular class and work schedule, I've sung in more practica and senior recitals, participated in a weekend residency at Temple Emanu-El with composer Ben Steinberg, begun preparing for final exams and projects, and have witnessed over half of my School of Sacred Music colleagues undergo the yearly student pulpit placement process. Serving as student cantor or cantorial intern is one of the most practical and educational prerequisites to investiture from the SSM. During our five-year program we are required to work for at least two years in URJ-affiliated synagogues, and for at least one of those years we are supposed be the "sole cantorial presence" in the synagogue. Since I have already committed to a second year serving as cantorial intern at Temple Emanu-El, that means I have yet to fulfill the "sole cantorial presence" requirement. In order to do so, I would have to re-enter the placement process during one of my upcoming years of school.
What's involved in the student pulpit placement process? Well, none of it could happen without the process coordinator, Cantor Josee Wolff. She acts as the intermediary between SSM students looking for synagogue work and small synagogues looking for student cantors or larger synagogues looking for cantorial interns. For second-, third-, and fourth-year students in New York, we have to give our current synagogues (and the school) notice of our intent to leave by February of the current year. We update our resumes and begin reviewing each interested synagogue's job description as Cantor Wolff makes the information available to us. Usually the work involves some combination of leading services, teaching religious school or adult education classes, and tutoring b'nei mitzvah. Depending on their budgets and distance from New York, they request that students be available to work on a weekly, biweekly, or monthly basis. The frequency of visits alone determines the salary, thus leveling the playing field regardless of a particular synagogue's other potential perks. On a Sunday afternoon in March or April, representatives from each synagogue convene at HUC in New York to hear all the students in placement audition in the chapel. Each student offers two contrasting liturgical selections, and Cantor Wolff does her best to ensure that there aren't too many repetitions of the same setting. Later on, students have private interviews with whichever synagogues interest them. In the next few days, students and synagogues alike submit to Cantor Wolff a ranked list of their top choices, and Cantor Wolff in effect acts as a "matchmaker," doing her best to ensure that student and synagogue are paired according to their preferences. Although it tends be a stressful time for all, even the most seemingly unsatisfactory matches can turn out to be wonderful learning opportunities for everyone involved.
As first-year students in Israel last year, the process was a little different and, as a matter of course, less personal. Cantor Wolff visited us in February, at which time we recorded ourselves singing two contrasting liturgical selections on a DVD to be sent to all of the synagogues in placement. We also updated our resumes, and as Cantor Wolff sent us synagogue job descriptions, we decided which ones interested us, and Cantor Wolff would pass on our resumes to them. Once in possession of the DVD and our resumes, synagogues contacted us to arrange phone interviews, thus enabling themselves to compare our applications to those of the upperclassmen in New York.
I remember how anxious we were last year in Israel as we awaited word of our placement. But my anxiety was tempered by the knowledge that I would surely gain invaluable experience no matter where I worked. Such has certainly been the case for me, and I daresay for my classmates as well. Why, this year will have been the first time I have ever set foot in a synagogue on the first night of Pesach, let alone lead the service! Chag sameach vekasher to all.
Posted by Josh at 9:51 AM
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Blog #7
March, 2008
The audition process has begun for prospective students to gain acceptance to the HUC-JIR School of Sacred Music, and they're not the only ones thinking about what cantorial school will be like for them. Today the current SSM students held an open forum with our director, Cantor Dr. Bruce Ruben, to discuss our successes, questions, and concerns for the program in the coming years. A few weeks ago, the SSM student government handed out surveys for us each to fill out, and our class representatives assessed the results and created an agenda for the program. Among the broad issues Cantor Ruben spoke about were the implementation of a "core curriculum," so that each year of school will have a clear set of required classes as well as the opportunity to take elective courses according to each student's individual interests. He also announced the creation of a pilot mentorship program beginning with next year's second-year class, such that each student will be paired with a working congregational cantor for purposes of on-site learning, working, observation, and passing on our particular torah sheba'al peh – the tips and tricks of the cantorial trade that one can only learn on the job.
In addition to these broad topics, our open form agenda contained a list of specific questions compiled from the results of the surveys. These included:
- What skills does the SSM want its students to have upon graduation?
- How is the SSM addressing the lack of male students to sing in practica and recitals?
- What effort is being made to have more joint classes between the cantorial, rabbinical, and Jewish education programs?
- Can the SSM explain the role of traditional music for Reform cantors?
- To what extent is the SSM seeking scholarships that are currently only available to rabbinical students?
- Should the SSM do more recruiting and educating at NFTY and Kesher programs?
- How best can students function if we are expected to give 100% to school, work, and personal lives?
Later this afternoon I learned that this was the first time in anyone's memory that such questions had been put to paper and posed to the School's administration. Of course we received no immediate answers to any of them, but it became clear that just by asking the questions aloud and writing them down, we had begun the process of addressing them. Cantor Ruben expressed several times his invitation for student input, and many of us responded by signing up to be on committees that would convene later this spring and summer for the purpose of further discussion and developing action plans.
At the end of the forum, each of us were asked to sum up in one word how we were feeling at that moment. Although there were some students who responded with expressions of frustration, a good number answered: "Hopeful." I was one of them, but in hindsight I wish I had instead said, "Proud." I feel incredibly proud to be a student at the School of Sacred Music at this particular moment in its history, not just because of my caring and conscientious colleagues, but also because we have a determined and innovative leader in Cantor Ruben. Based on his words at the forum, he appears to have at heart the best interests of both current and future students, and an ultimate goal of preparing them to be determined and innovative cantors. Learning by Cantor Ruben's example, SSM graduates will thus be well-equipped to serve today's Reform synagogues.
Posted by Josh at 2:21 PM
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Blog #6
February, 2008
One of the neat things about being a cantorial student at HUC is the constant exposure to new liturgical repertoire. Besides the weekly practica presentations, it is around this time of year that the fifth year students begin performing their "senior' recitals. In conjunction with faculty advisors, they select and prepare programs related to the topic of their masters' theses. I had the opportunity to sing in such a program a few weeks ago in which the subject was the music and legacy of the composer Max Janowski, whose many works, including "Avinu Malkeinu' are staples of synagogue services. As one of precious few tenors currently enrolled at HUC, I consider it both a duty and a pleasure to be called upon to participate in my classmates' choirs. The tricky part, of course, is finding time for us all to rehearse. More often than not, during the lunchtime/common period on a Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday, a group of cantorial students can be seen (and heard!) in a practice room, getting the music ready for a colleague's presentation in the coming days or weeks.
Of course, now that my own practicum for this year is behind me, I find I have considerable more time to devote to my classmates' projects. As I've written before, my assignment was to present selections from the second half of the Shabbat Morning Service according to the new Reform prayer book, Mishkan T'fillah. Working together with my classmate Mary, who was assigned the first half of the service, we offered a varied and eclectic program that incorporated prayer settings – solos, duets, refrains – composed over the past 150 years or so. We even wrote a new piece ourselves, based on the blessing for putting on the tallit, when we couldn't find anything already written for it. Since our service was designed to be as practical as possible for the modern Reform synagogue, we decided not to use a separate choir, but rather included the music for several selections in our printed programs, so that our "congregation' of cantorial faculty and students could sing along with us. At one point, I found myself essentially doing a "duet' with a congregation singing in 4-part harmony. It really was a thrilling experience for the two of us, and as soon it was over I found myself wondering what I'll be assigned to prepare next year. While second-year and fourth-year students need only prepare one practicum per year, third-year students have to prepare two practica, one per semester. Although I won't know my topic until the end of this year (following our yearly oral comprehensive examinations), I suspect it will involve a section of liturgy from the traditional prayer book (a "traditional' practicum, as opposed to a "reform' practicum).
In other news, last Thursday was two years to the day that I auditioned for HUC. I remember it well, since it happened to be Valentine's Day (and my wife's birthday to boot), and the occasion that I first met two of my current classmates, Jamie and Cheryl. It was also the first time I took the Hebrew proficiency test (as opposed to the second time, when I actually passed the test...) and the first time I saw a senior recital at HUC. I spent two days in all at HUC that week and had a wonderful time, thanks in large part to the students who took time out of their busy schedules to host us for the day and answered our questions. In the coming weeks, I look forward to being able to do the same for this year's prospective students!
Posted by Josh at 12:26 PM
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Blog #5
January, 2008
On the whole, it's been a restful and rejuvenating vacation. At the end of December, Donna and I escaped to my family in Michigan for a weekend away from New York – just as the bustle of the holiday season in the city came to a frothy boil. We returned with my 17-year old sister in tow and spent the week enjoying each other's company; I so rarely get to see her these days.
The most enriching part of the break for me came just this last weekend, which I spent in Charlotte, North Carolina at Temple Beth El. My classmate Mary worked there for three years assisting Cantor Andrew Bernard and the two of them had been "conspiring" to bring us all together for a special Shabbat. I arrived on Thursday morning and after a stop at Dean & DeLuca, we proceeded to the synagogue and rehearsed six hours straight for Shabbat services and a Havdalah concert program. On this particular Friday evening there were two services, one at 6:00 p.m. and one at 8:00 p.m. Mary and I would be participating in both, but in differing capacities. The 6:00 service was a full Kabbalat Shabbat led by Cantor Bernard from the keyboard, using a special siddur created just for this semi-monthly service. He conceived of it as a through-composed event with moments of every kind of prayer: cantorial, congregational, responsive, and meditative. Around 200 people, including Cantor Bernard and the two of us, gathered in the social hall and sat in a semi-circle facing a portable ark resting on an eastern wall made of windows. There was no bimah; all of us were congregants for those 75 minutes. People of all ages prayed as a single community, each with their own voice. It was a moving, uplifting experience.
The 8:00 p.m. service was a more mainstream Reform service in the sanctuary, using Gates of Prayer and featuring two rabbis, three cantors and an accompanist. We sang many of our favorite liturgical settings, including some reductions of choral pieces that we offered as duets and trios. It was mostly music that was not normally done at Temple Beth El on a weekly basis, but we brought it out for the occasion. We made similar decisions for the Saturday morning service, in which I had the privilege to chant some Haftarah. Saturday morning featured the participation of Beth El's teen band and vocal ensemble, and it was especially gratifying for me to be able to sing in their tenor section for some parts of the service. I learned later that the ensembles were created at the behest of several inspired b'nei mitzvah who wanted to remain involved in Shabbat services. I couldn't help but marvel at the fact that because of their Jewish involvement at such a relatively young age, these teens would probably grow up to become committed Jews for all their adult lives.
Several of them even came to our Havdalah and concert, in which the three of us offered some of our favorite liturgical settings as concert pieces. The whole affair was very casual, with the audience sitting at several tables munching on some desserts cooked by Beth El's in-house chef. Our Thursday afternoon-long rehearsal seemed to have paid off, as many people came up to us afterward – some of them had been there for all our varied weekend services as well – and offered their heartfelt thanks and appreciation for our efforts. I told everyone how much of a pleasure it was for me to have been welcomed so warmly into the community for Shabbat, and thanked them for the opportunity to pray with them.
The most crucial lesson I learned, I think, was that if the prayer leaders are enjoying themselves, the congregation will enjoy themselves. There were several moments in the course of the services and the concert in which I very nearly laughed aloud with the sheer pleasure of it all. The challenge, of course, will be to find ways to find joy and pleasure every time I pray, no matter what the occasion. Next week Mary and I have to recreate a Shabbat morning service for our practicum presentation before our classmates and teachers. I hope I can find in it the joy I experienced at my Shabbat in Charlotte.
Posted by Josh at 11:17 AM
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Blog #4
December, 2007
out to dinner on a free Thursday night
This week at HUC-JIR in New York is one full of final examinations and oral competency evaluations, but I'm thankful that at least this year they don't apply to me. I don't know whether it was all planned out or I got incredibly lucky, but all of my end-of-term projects were of the "take-home" variety. The due dates were spread out over the last couple of weeks, making the work more manageable, and in fact I just finished the last one on Sunday afternoon. I guess this means I am halfway through with my second year of cantorial school!
Upon reflecting back a little, I find that it's been an interesting year so far. Never before in my life have I had to play so many roles all at once. What do I mean by that? Well, first there's Josh the student. This role is the easiest one for me to tackle, since I've been a student most of my life. Going to class, learning material, and being evaluated on what I've learned is all pretty much second nature to me by this point. Then there's Josh the cantor. This is a role I've learned a great deal about in the last year and a half, and I have the chance to play it every weekend up at Temple Emanu-El. But again, having spent the last several years studying classical singing, cantorial singing is not all that novel an idea in my world.
A truly novel idea in my world is being Josh the teacher. Every Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday sees me teaching either one-on-one or in a classroom, and teaching is something that I have never really done before prior to this year. Of course, I have probably contributed to the occasional "teachable moment" in years past, but only during the course of informal discussion with friends and family. So the prospects of teaching something in a classroom or sitting down with a child to help prepare for a bar mitzvah ceremony are still kind of scary to me. When I start feeling anxious about it, I have to remind myself that I know more than I think I do. I have been a student for so long and have been taught by so many different people by now that whether I recognize it or not, I have a pretty good idea of what kind of teaching works and what kind doesn't. I am even taking a class right now on the "Cantor as Educator," but I find I learn the most about teaching by actually doing it. The more experience I accrue – and the more I am able to plan in advance – the easier it becomes.
Hanukkah Party at my house
It's also becoming easier to play the role of Josh the husband. My wife is an incredible source of love, strength and encouragement in my world, and I still wake up every morning marveling at the fact that we are actually married. Because we are both so busy, the time we get to spend together is incredibly precious, and I try to make the time as often as I can. She is my best friend, after all – and lately I've come to realize that the role of "Josh the friend" is the most important one of them all. So in addition to spending quality time together, Donna and I create opportunities to spend quality time with our friends, whether out to dinner on a free Thursday night or at home for a festive Chanukkah party. We've even hosted friends visiting from out of town who have stayed with us for over a week at a time, but such extended visits are neither burdens nor distractions. They are rather opportunities to do mitzvoth – to do acts of loving-kindness. Such acts remind me of why I'm doing what I'm doing, and why I sought to live the life I have begun living.
At the end of this week, we are going to Michigan for a long weekend with my family, where I'll doubtlessly get a refresher course on how to play the dual roles of Josh the son and brother. Yet no matter how many roles I have to play, no matter how often I have to juggle between them, and no matter how stressed out I get from the juggling, I try to remember that my own little world, like the world of our wise ancestors, rests on three things: learning, working, and acts of loving-kindness. In that realization, I find reassurance that all will be well.
Posted by Josh at 11:08 AM
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Blog #3
November, 2007
Cantorial Men
This week there are only three days of classes due to Thanksgiving, but I couldn't be more eager for the holiday to come because of how busy I was last week. Every year the second, third, and fourth-year cantorial students are each assigned a week in which they are responsible for co-leading daily services at HUC along with a third-year rabbinical student. Last week was my turn, and so, along with my friend and colleague Yaron, we led everybody in morning tefillah at 10:05 a.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Mondays and Thursdays include small Torah services. On Tuesdays at HUC, a pair of Jewish education students officiates, but Yaron and I still came this last Tuesday to show our support.
The lovely Minnie Petrie Synagogue on our campus is a wonderful and inspiring place to pray. It's also a very safe space in which to experiment with different styles of worship. I've made an effort to come as a "pray-er" as often I'm able, both to take the time for myself and to learn about how I might lead our particular prayer community. Over the course of the year so far I've seen many varying ways my colleagues have led. In the best cases, there has always been a "running theme" throughout the week, one that could be based around a principle, the Torah portion of the week, upcoming holidays, or current world events. We tried incorporating a little of each of these last week. Being Parashat Vayeitzei, which chronicles Jacob's departures first from the house of his father Isaac and last from the house of his father-in-law Laban, Yaron and I sought to "depart" from our expected roles as rabbi and cantor. I delivered a small "sermonette" at the beginning of each service highlighting a few verses from the Torah portion, and Yaron played the guitar for several prayers and even chanted a few by himself without accompaniment. We encouraged our community to take to heart the words of the Veahavta prayer in a very personal way by reciting them in the first person. For the closing song each day, we chose "Ufaratzta" by Avi Maslo, whose lyrics come from Parashat Vayeitzei and speak of G-d's promise to Jacob, that his descendants will be spread out in all four directions. On Thursday, the service featured stellar piano accompaniment by our artist-in-residence Joyce Rosenzweig and flute, drum, and guitar played by some of my other colleagues. Following a sermon by the president of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, I sang as an anthem "Meditation #2" from Bernstein's Candide.
For me it was a little scary but ultimately a very fulfilling experience to have lead prayer for the first time at the New York campus. Not only was I a tad nervous about singing before colleagues and teachers far more learned than myself, but I had never really before delivered words of Torah in the context of a worship service. I learned that when in doubt, it is always better to have prepared remarks of some kind at the ready, no matter how confident one may be at speaking "off the cuff." Any number of circumstances might arise that could cause a momentary loss for words or a general lapse in brain activity altogether...
Fortunately, I had some time out last week to enjoy other kinds of activities, including a joint birthday celebration on Thursday for my classmates David and Jamie at Dave & Buster's, a place I like to call a "Chuck E. Cheese for adults." Last night, a group of us went to a delicious vegan restaurant in the West Village since David's fiancée Carla was in town. For you longtime blogHUC readers, you may remember Carla from her Year-in-Israel blog last year – she's now studying at the L.A. campus. Spending time with friends, usually on Thursday and Saturday nights, has become a critical part of my weekly routine, and it was all the more welcome after last week's excitement leading services.
Since Chanukah and finals are both steadily approaching, I'm sure they will both feature prominently in my next post – stay tuned!
Posted by Josh at 10:42 AM
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Blog #2
October, 2007
Bimah of the main sanctuary, Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York
I mentioned at the end of my last entry that I would describe my experience a few weeks ago at Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York leading High Holiday services for the first time. The word "awesome" comes to mind, and I mean it in its original sense. I stood before over a thousand people at the world's largest standing synagogue and sang music I will live with for the rest of my professional life, such as Kol Nidrei and Shema Koleinu, accompanied by a choir of professionals and HUC's very own maestro Pedro d'Aquino at the organ. Many of the prayer settings we offered make use of the melodic motifs so particular to Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, motifs that are so old in Jewish tradition that they are said to have been given at Mount Sinai along with the Ten Commandments. From behind the pulpit, clad in my new robe, I felt I was now becoming a part of that grand chain of tradition, stretching all the way back to our Biblical forbearers. The Hebrew word for "awesome" is nora, and the Days of Awe are yamim nora'im. I now have a greater understanding of why they are called as such.
I also sang a few prayer settings composed in more recent years by Max Helfman as part of his Shabbat Kodesh service. His Barechu and Shema Yisrael proved to be a stunning opening to Emanu-El Yom Kippur morning service, and are as important for a Reform cantor to know as the miSinai melodies of old. Indeed, my six colleagues and I have already studied those very renditions in our Shabbat Reform Jewish Workshop class! I love it when my school and my job overlap – I have a feeling that will happen frequently during my years here.
A little taste of Israel in New York: Aroma Cafe and Espresso Bar
Speaking of class, now that the High Holidays are over, we have finally begun to settle into a routine of classes and other programming. In general, school is in session Monday through Thursday, and for the second year cantorial students, we begin at a completely different time every day. On Mondays, we start at 9:00 a.m. with Shabbat Reform Workshop, which also begins our Thursdays at 8:40 a.m. Tefillah is held every day at 10:05 a.m., but our first class on Tuesdays doesn't begin until choir at 12:20 p.m. Not to worry – we make up for a free morning by forcing ourselves up very early on Wednesdays to make our 8:15 a.m. Shabbat Traditional Workshop. It is during this class – one of my favorites – that we are gaining exposure to some of the musical formulas that have been around for centuries, called nusach, and which make up the backbone of traditional Jewish liturgy. This is in contrast to our Shabbat Reform Workshop, which as I mentioned before serves as our laboratory to experiment with modern interpretations of the prayers.
In addition to Shabbat Reform Workshop, we have one other class that meets twice a week: Hebrew. We studied it every day in Israel last year, and although it doesn't meet as frequently here in the States, it's still a very important part of our curriculum. The focus of my Hebrew class is on grammar and literature, and thus we have to read aloud stories and articles, discuss them, and write about them – all in Hebrew. It is certainly a very good way to keep our language skills fresh, and I find it to be particularly fun to reclaim a taste of Jerusalem here in Greenwich Village.
Interesting side note: a few blocks away from HUC on Houston Street is an Israeli coffee shop called Aroma Café and Espresso Bar; it's the only location in America, but there were all over Jerusalem. I don't go there nearly as often as I should (the hot chocolate in particular is to die for), but I know it would be another great opportunity to keep Hebrew in my mouth – for those moments when mouth wouldn't be full of hot chocolate.
I began with High Holidays, and I ended with chocolate – two seemingly unrelated phenomena, but equally "awesome" nonetheless. In my next post, I will have more to write about my school routine in general, and in particular about leading the daily tefillah service for a week in November!
Posted by Josh at 9:37 AM
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Blog #1
September, 2007
Mr. & Mrs. Joshua Breitzer, June 10, 2007
Shanah tovah umetukah! I'm happy to provide a glimpse into the life of an HUC cantorial student for this brand new year. My name is Josh, and I'm known to many of my colleagues as "Shuki" (short for the Hebrew Yehoshua), since there were 3 Joshuas studying in HUC-Jerusalem last year. There were also 3 Davids, 3 Jessicas, and 3 Sarahs, just to make introductions even more confusing...
I have just begun my second year of study in the School of Sacred Music, which is the unit of the College-Institute responsible for training and investing potential Reform cantors. Now if you had asked me five years ago where I'd be now, I'd probably answer "law school." I had wanted to be a lawyer since I was a kid growing up in mid-Michigan. I went to synagogue, became a bar mitzvah and got confirmed, but I never thought Judaism would come to be such an important part of my identity. Rather, music slowly worked its way into my life beginning with piano lessons at age five, and continuing with choirs throughout middle school, high school, and summer camp.
By the time I started college at the University of Michigan, I knew I wanted to major in voice as well as political science (read: "pre-law"). For the next five years I spent most of my time with the Men's Glee Club and at the School of Music. I still took the LSAT during my super-senior year, but I soon realized that the legal world was probably better off without me. Instead, I found myself going off to Massachusetts for a master's degree in voice from the New England Conservatory and preparing for a career as a professional singer.
While on our drive to New York, a surprise awaits us in Midwest City, Oklahoma
This was probably the most important decision I have made in my life to date. While in Boston, I realized that the professional singer's life wasn't for me, that I wanted to use my music toward a higher purpose, and that my Conservatory colleague Donna, whom I first met in college, was my beshert. Thus, in the course of a year, I was engaged to be married and re-engaged in my faith. I investigated a few different cantorial training programs and decided that HUC would be the best for me because of the strength of its curriculum and my own moral compass. I graduated from the Conservatory in May 2006, and in June I was on a plane to Jerusalem for the next eleven months.
Because there are so few of us (less than 40) compared to the rabbinical student population, all of the cantorial students go to the New York campus following our Year in Israel. For me and my new wife Donna, this meant a summer on the move. After our wedding in San Jose and a quick honeymoon in the Pacific Northwest, we flew to New York for two weeks to find an apartment. The process involved a little stress and a lot of appointments made via Craigslist, but by the seventh day of our search we were lucky enough to find our dream apartment in Astoria. Donna and I then returned to California to pack a truck and drive it back to the Big Apple. We knew we had to stop in Michigan to load all my things, and we had friends and family scattered across the country that had graciously volunteered to host us along our journey. So that we could take advantage of free hospitality, our road trip took us through Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. It certainly wasn't the most direct route, but we were happy to limit our motel stays to just two out of ten nights!
HUC students at Stephanie's wedding (L to R): Josh B., Stephanie, Mary, Josh L.
We arrived in New York at the end of July and unloaded the truck. Two days later, we were in Houston to attend the wedding of our good friend Stephanie, who is a second-year rabbinical student at HUC-LA. It was one of a half-dozen HUC student weddings this past summer (including my own) that were being planned in Israel all last year!
Fast forward to these High Holidays: for the first time in my life I spent Rosh Hashanah not sitting in a pew, but standing at a pulpit on the bimah of Temple Emanu-El in New York City as their first-ever cantorial intern. I'll write all about my experience there in my next post.
JOSHUA
Posted by Josh at 3:57 PM
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