 A member of the Guild of Temple Musicians, an affiliate of the American Conference of Cantors, Rachel has 13 years of cantorial experience for High Holy Days and other services. The various congregations she has served include Temple B’rith Kodesh in Rochester, NY, Temple Emanuel in Grand Rapids, MI, Temple Beth Emet in Evanston, IL, and most recently the Temple of Universal Judaism in New York City.
She has also sung with the professional choirs at Park Avenue Synagogue and Temple Emanuel in New York City. Her recordings include solo and choral performances on compact discs for the Milken Family Foundation’s American Jewish Music Archive and on Timeless Jewish Songs. Significant mentors in her liturgical music development were Dr. Samuel Adler and Cantor Jeffrey Klepper.
Rachel comes to us from New York City, where she has had a rich variety of musical experiences in opera, musical theatre and concert work with conductors such as Kurt Mazur, Leon Botstein, and Robert Spano. As soprano soloist, she has performed Mozart’s Mass in C Minor and Bach’s Magnificat (Charlotte Symphony), Vivaldi’s Gloria (Toledo Symphony), Carmina Burana (UM Dance Department and Southern Great Lakes Symphony), and Mozart’s Exsultate jubilate (Illinois Chamber Orchestra) Favorite opera roles include Gretel in Hansel and Gretel, Despina in Così fan tutte, and Monica in Menotti’s The Medium.
Committed to performing new works, Rachel was the soprano soloist in premieres of Ever Since Babylon and Reconciliation by Dr. Samuel Adler, as well as Leave Song by Steve Ricks, which was the featured work at the 2000 conference for the Society of Composers, Inc. She also had principal roles in Singing With My Demons and Moses, My Love, new plays premiered in New York City, and won a Grand Award for her work as Clara in Sondheim’s Passion. She has also been a District Winner in The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Rachel received a Master of Music in voice performance from University of Michigan, with degrees from Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy. Orginally from Grand Rapids, this is truly a coming home for Rachel.
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We had a wonderful time at the
Temple Beth El Youth Choir Picnic.
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Still weary from my trip back to Detroit, a 27 hour experience during which I had to go through security four or five times, deal with a canceled flight, gate changes, and cabs between airports, I sit down to reflect upon my first trip to Israel. It is a place to which I have always felt a certain bond, even an ownership, but being there enhanced that feeling to a degree that was unexpected. I now believe that one’s true connection to Israel can only be experienced fully by going there, and I look forward to returning soon.
Connections with each other
The group of Detroiters with whom I traveled was amazing, and our journey brought us closer together. Even on our crazy trip home, we watched out for each other, making sure that all were in a cab, on a new flight, or through the security line, unwilling to leave anyone behind. Perhaps we were bringing the ideals of Israel back with us, as the Israel Defense Force’s motto is “No one is left behind.” Friendships were formed and solidified, and our individual and communal growth gave each of us the desire and ability to bring our commitment to Israel home. One of the first ways that I was able to do this was by attending a rally for the return of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who was kidnapped by Hamas and taken into Gaza June 25, the day that we left for Israel. The IDF will not leave him behind, and we should support them in this commitment.
The first day and half in Israel was just those of us from Detroit, and we spent much of it in our sister region in the Central Galilee learning about Partnership 2000 and seeing how some of our Federation’s money is used. We went to an absorption center, where immigrants come and get help acclimating to their new home. A vibrant, attractive young Ethiopian man spoke of his excitement at finally realizing his dream of coming to Israel. Something about him moved me, and as I looked around the room I saw that I was not the only one. It was the light in his eyes and his smile, the intensity in his face and his voice, the certainty that Israel was his home. An Eastern European man, who had been in Israel for just a couple of months, is an artist. He had already started an art class for the children in the center – sharing his talents, making Israel his home. He helped a group of us make mezuzot for the absorption center, and then we all planted trees and flowers. (Imagine planting a tree in Israel with my own two hands, assisted by the Ethiopian Jews whom our money has helped to resettle!) The connection between our two regions is clear and important, and we must maintain it.
Connections with our homeland
At a certain point at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, it was pointed out that we were standing on the actual cobblestones that had lined the streets in one of the Jewish ghettos in Poland. I looked down and realized that I was walking the same path that many of our people walked, before being transferred to the camps, and wept for them and for us. The architecture of Yad Vashem is such that from the outside we can see that it is on a precipice, dangling over a cliff. However, from the inside YOU CAN’T TELL. During the beginning of the Holocaust, the Jews (particularly in Germany) couldn’t believe that things would continue to get worse. They were enmeshed in German society, and didn’t want to leave their homes. Once they realized that they had to get out, they were trapped. No one would take them. A friend’s father, a Holocaust survivor, says, “If Israel had existed during Hitler’s rise to power, perhaps the 6 million and their descendants would have survived.” Through the exhibits at Yad Vashem, through understanding that we had nowhere to go where we could be safe, it becomes clear that this is true. It is our responsibility to understand that connection, to support Israel and make sure that Jews have a homeland forever.
After leading a short Kabbalat Shabbat in the area in front of the Kotel (the Western Wall) ending with our own closing song, T’fillat Haderech, I walked slowly through the women’s entrance. I saw the power of my place in the world at that moment, but from a slightly objective perspective. I was looking from someplace not quite inside myself. After putting a note into a crack, I placed my hands on the Wall. Enjoying the historical perspective of that tactile experience, and knowing that the goal was to get as close as possible to where the Holy of Holies had been, I put my forehead against the cool stone. Hot tears sprang to my eyes, and I was no longer an observer. I was a part of the long line of our people to be there, touching the wall, praying for the welfare of our people and the happiness of my loved ones, sensing the holiness found there.
Returning from our homeland of Israel to our Temple home, I hope that my connection with our history, our people, and our land will make me a more committed Zionist and Jew, a stronger cantor, and will enhance my connection to each of you. Please join me in my commitment to supporting both of these homes to the best of our abilities.
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