Cantor's Annual Report
April 29, 2007
11 Iyar 5767

I am in the process of completing my 8th year serving as the cantor at Temple Sinai. It has been a year filled with working on many new activities, while continuing to enrich our already existing programming.

Some of the new activities that I administered/oversaw during this year were Temple Sinai Rocks, a teenage rock band, and Jewish meditation classes. The rock band rehearsed for many hours after Sunday Religious School and performed Jewish rock music during Purim, Chanukah, and with the Rick Recht Band. Thanks to Joel Beckerman, who directed the group in the fall, the band also had the wonderful experience of recording their music at his recording studio in New York City. A special thank you to Rob Wortzel, for his continued commitment to directing and working with the band.

Jewish meditation was led by David Malchman from the MetroWest Jewish Health and Healing Center. The interest for these classes was initially sparked after hearing Dr. Arthur Green, a past scholar-in-residence who spoke at our synagogue about Kabbalah and meditation. Classes were held on Sunday evenings and were also open to non-members. If there is continued interest, Jewish meditation will be offered again in the fall of 2007.

In regard to Religious School, this year I began to lead Tefillah monthly for the 4th-6th graders. Working with our students during Tefillah has given me the opportunity to dialogue with our students about the deeper meaning of our prayers as well as getting to know more of our students. As in previous years I have continued teaching the 4th grade Family Connections program and confirmation students.

This year also saw the birth of Temple Sinai’s first Music Scholar-in-Residence, Dr. Joshua Jacobson, one of the foremost authorities on Jewish choral music. Dr Jacobson’s program, Music, Magic, and The Spirit included the following: a master class rehearsal with both Temple Sinai’s Adult Choir and The Summit Jewish Community Choir; the Doree Cooper Memorial Renaissance Lecture entitled, “How Jewish is Jewish Music;” and a multimedia presentation “Jewish Music and All That Jazz.” A special thank you to Stuart and Jane Cooper as well as all those who contributed to the Cantor’s Discretionary Fund, which made this Scholar-in-Residence possible.

One of the musical highlights of this past year was the special Shabbat Chanukah service with Rick Recht and his band. This folk rock service, with participation by our synagogue’s choirs, rock band, youth group, and various congregants, brought the temple community together in celebration. I want to extend a special thank you to the Nadler Fund for Jewish Education, which sponsors this annual Chanukah concert.

I am very proud to boast about both of Temple Sinai’s volunteer choirs: the Intergenerational Choir and the Adult Choir. The former choir has grown in size and has been enriched with the talents of some professional musicians – perhaps you’ve heard the tuba, piano, and guitar at some of our services. The Adult Choir has continued to sing and enrich our services and special programs. throughout the year. This committed and hard working choir “shone” and were musical stars at the URJ’s annual choral festival. A heartfelt thanks to all my choir members!

The emphasis in our B’nei Mitzvah program continues to be: reaching a certain level of Jewish prayer literacy, chanting of the Torah and Haftarah, while still focusing on the individual capabilities of our students – which means that some students chant 2 Aliyot and some chant 4 Aliyot, while other might need to use some transliteration. Another goal of the B’nei Mitzvah training and ceremony is to create a positive experience for our students so that they feel good about themselves and their Judaism. We expect our students to continue on in our high school program and grow with their Judaism.

During this fiscal year, 39 students became B’nei Mitzvah, but at any one time during the year, there are many more students in our program because the students begin studying 6 months prior to their Bar/Bat Mitzvah (excluding the summer months). Looking ahead, next fiscal year’s number of B’nei students is 46. With the assistance of the tutors, Dr. Hilary Goldberg and Nava Scheckman, our program continues to strive for our students to better understand the order of the prayers, basic themes of the prayers, and basic knowledge of Torah cantillaion.

Temple Sinai is a great place to work because of the caring, committed, and hard working staff. A special thank you to Rabbi Gershon, Dr. Patrick Jobe, Saskia Jeselsohn, Patti Kahn, Cindy Broderick, Myra Kohn, Randy Ring, Nicholas Tino, Dr. Hilary Goldberg, Nava Scheckman, John Hillman, Herman Wheeler, Lydia Domanowski, Jorge, Lilian and Estefania Frias. Another thank you to Dr. Rob Wortzel for volunteering his guitar and musical talents to our services. I also want to thank the board of Temple Sinai for their tremendous volunteer efforts, and especially, Diana Rosen, Vice President of Ritual, for her continuous support and dedication!

CANTOR FLORENCE F. MEREL