Cantor's Blog

Sukkot is known in Hebrew as Z’man Simchateinu – the time of our joy. It’s the happiest festival on the Jewish calendar, labeled as such because it represents a time for coming together to enjoy family, nature, and a bountiful harvest.  Read more...

This is the D'var Torah that Cantor Fogelman offered on 7/30/2021.

The name of this week’s Torah portion, Eikev, literally means “if you obey these rules.” In its opening passages, Moses tells the Israelites that if they follow God’s laws, they will continue to be blessed with kindness and protection. Moses promises that the Land of...Read more...

This is the D'var Torah that Cantor Fogelman offered on 7/16/2021.

In honor of Tisha B’Av, I wanted to take some time tonight to explore the central text associated with this holiday: The Book of Lamentations, otherwise known in Hebrew as Eicha. The name Eicha literally translates to “How?” --  how could this have happened? How can I recover from this devastating loss? In this case, the loss was the Holy Temple in...Read more...

Here are the words that Cantor Fogelman offered in her Sermon-in-Song featuring Sephardic music for Passover on Friday, March 26:

Many of you have heard me speak about my mixed Sephardic and Ashkenazic background before. My father’s side of the family is Ashkenazic, with roots in Russia, Hungary, and the Ukraine. My mother’s family is Sephardic, hailing from Turkey, Greece, and Rhodes. The variations...Read more...

Here are the words that Cantor Fogelman offered in honor of this year’s Shabbat Shira (Shabbat of Song) on January 29:

Tonight, in honor of Shabbat Shira, I’d like to offer a musical exploration of women’s voices in the Hebrew Bible – specifically, Miriam, Deborah, and Hannah. I wanted to focus on women in leadership this year in particular, given...Read more...

D'var Torah, 12/25/20

One of my fondest high school memories was right before winter break each year when our choir would traverse the school hallways as our director carted an electric keyboard on wheels. Our goal was to spread holiday cheer to each and every classroom by singing Christmas carols. You could even call it the original version of a flashmob. And you might wonder how a bunch...Read more...

Celebrating Halloween this year taught us many lessons that are relevant to the world of Jewish engagement. eJewishphilanthropy.com published Cantor Fogelman's observations on these lessons on their website this week. Click here to read more, or see full text below. 

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In American culture, celebrating Halloween is a typically a well-oiled conglomeration of costumes, candy, and parties. But when a pandemic rages and...Read more...

One of the more interesting Jewish communal innovations to come out of this pandemic period is an Internet game show called “Jewish Geography Zoom Racing.” The show, which is broadcast on Facebook Live, was the brainchild of Micah Hart, a social and digital marketer based in Atlanta. The show operates on the principle that when two or more Jews get together, the subject very often turns to who knows whose Jewish relatives and friends and...Read more...

Thanks to the American Conference of Cantors (ACC) and the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR), I have been blessed with many opportunities to discuss and troubleshoot the perils and perks of creating meaningful worship online. The greatest lesson to come out of these meetings is that no two congregations are the same and clergy need to discover and adjust to the needs of our individual communities.

As we prepare for a High...Read more...

Judaism has always been a religion that celebrates roots. In one of our most important prayers, the Amidah – oftentimes known as the Tefillah (the Prayer) -- we acknowledge the first few generations of the Jewish family tree: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Sarah Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah. We continue growing our Jewish family through life cycle rituals, like B’nai Mitzvah, weddings, and baby namings. As Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote,...Read more...

This post originally appeared on Reform.Judaism.org

The arrival of Parashat Va-et’chanan on Shabbat Nachamu reminds us that effective prayer is best achieved when we take the time to focus and organize our thoughts. This advice serves us well as we approach the upcoming Yamim Nora-im, a period of preparation and sanctity that launches amidst a series of structured countdowns.

We begin with this week’s entry into...Read more...

People often tell me I’m crazy when I tell them that Passover is my favorite Jewish holiday. The reason is that it is a holiday so steeped in home and family ritual so that everyone’s celebrations are personally meaningful and unique. So grateful to be able to share a glimpse of my family’s Seder on ReformJudaism.org: Blending Tradition and Change Across the Generations. 

Here is the recipe for my family's Charoset:

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Purim is coming, which means it’s time to put on a show! This year, Purim at TINW will take us back to the heyday of legwarmers, scrunchies, and big hair of the 1980s.

The tradition of performing a Purim Spiel dates long before that and can be traced back to at least the 15th century.  The word “spiel,” which comes from the Yiddish word for “game” or “play”, began as a series of silly monologues based on rhymed...Read more...

Three years ago, I saw the most recent Broadway production of Fiddler on the Roof which highlighted the fact that there are modern day refugees who have been forced out of their homes much in the same way Tevye and his family had to leave Anatevka. Staging the musical from this angle showed me how far we have come and gave me so much hope for the future.

Now, a few years later and in a much different political climate, I saw National...Read more...

Our sages teach us about a man named Honi who saw a man planting a carob tree. Honi asked the man, “How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?”

The man replied, “Seventy years.”

Honi then asked the man, “Do you really thin you will live another seventy years to eat from the fruit of this...Read more...