Cantor's Blog

When I was 10 my daddy and I went to a Dad & Daughter Dance together. One memory I will always cherish is how I felt while dancing in my daddy’s arms. He probably had to stoop a bit. At one point the music grew old fashioned and quiet, and I felt warm and protected and supported. It gave me comfort.

             This sense of comfort might have been a model as I was...Read more...

Shanah Tovah – Happy New Year to all! Our new president, Deb Bakal, has offered us the theme of joining the rikkud – the dance – as a metaphor this year for finding one’s place in our community. I am offering my own musings on this theme, here throughout the year.

They say it takes two to tango. I have no idea where that catchy saying comes from, but I can think of an...Read more...

I clearly remember dancing with Aunt Fanny Lerner at my Aunt Marilyn’s wedding in 1962. I was only six years old, but Aunt Fanny Lerner (we all called her that so as not to confuse her with my own grandmother Fanny Weiss) wasn’t that much taller than I. She was at that time the oldest surviving member of her generation in my family, and I was the first child born into my generation, so everyone was pretty excited that we got to dance...Read more...

Chanukah is here with its stories of bravery and self-sacrifice that keep us together as a distinct people. As we light our candles and sing our songs about miracles and courage, we might also do well to consider the research of Professor Daniel Levitin, a former record producer who runs the Laboratory for Music, Perception, Cognition and Expertise at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. In his book “The World in Six Songs: How the...Read more...

The New Year 5779 is fast approaching and this year we turn our congregational attention to the theme of Jewish heroes – Jew-Per Heroes, indeed! Which brings me to Moses.

It is hard thinking about Jew-per heroes without including Moses. We would not recognize ourselves today if it weren’t for Moses – whoever he really was. Whether in actuality an Egyptian prince, or a born again Israelite; whether revolutionary or evolutionary;...Read more...