“Voices of Hope”: Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music Faculty Member Joyce Rosenzweig Attends Historic Gathering of German Cantors

“I feel so privileged to have been part of this auspicious and emotional gathering. It was truly one of the most meaningful experiences of my life,” said Joyce Rosenzweig, M.S., Professor of Practice in Jewish Music and Performance at Hebrew Union College’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music, after returning from the first conference of German cantors since 1939.

“Stimmen der Hoffnung: Voices of Hope,” held in the city of Mannheim from January 12-16, brought together 26 cantors who serve Orthodox, Liberal, and Reform congregations throughout Germany, for a series of academic presentations, master classes, concerts, and practical conversation. The conference, held by the German Cantors’ Association Verband Jüdischer Kantoren e. V., was organized by Cantors Amnon Seelig (Judischen Gemeinde Mannheim) and Assaf Levitin (Hamburg Reform Congregation), and included academic presentations by Dr. Eli Schleifer, Dr. Sam Adler, Dr. Mark Kligman, and Cantor Isidoro Abramowicz, among others.

“The wonderful Cantor Gideon Zelermyer from Congregation Sha’ar Hashamayim in Montreal and I taught master classes in traditional and contemporary liturgical music, as well as Yiddish and Sephardic art songs, for many hours each day,” said Rosenzweig, who was invited to the conference by former Hebrew Union College professor Dr. Mark Kligman, now the Mickey Katz Chair in Jewish Music, and Director of the Lowell Milken Center for Music of American Jewish Experience at UCLA.

Rosenzweig was also the pianist for three concerts held in Mannheim and Stuttgart, taught a class on The Art of Yiddish Song, and participated in a roundtable discussion entitled, “Present Day Synagogue Practices, Challenges, and Opportunities.”

Rosenzweig said she was “delighted to discover many beautiful connections to the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music” among the German Cantors she met. While many of them were students at the Abraham Geiger College Cantorial School in Potsdam (near Berlin), they had studied with Cantor Israel Goldstein ‘59, z”l, longtime Director of the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music, and beloved faculty member from 1974 until his death in 2021. Goldstein spent many summers teaching at the Geiger College, leading cantorial students in group sessions, individual lessons, and master classes.

Rosenzweig said some of the cantors she spoke with in Mannheim “cried when they found out I had such a close personal association to him. They said he had been their most inspiring teacher, modeling for them his deep understanding and breadth of knowledge of traditional Chazzanut, and giving them permission to bring their whole selves to the sacred art of cantorial leadership,” she said.

Rosenzweig added that many of the cantors had also worked with longtime Hebrew Union College faculty Cantor Eliyahu Schleifer, Ph.D., Emeritus Professor of Sacred Music and longtime Director of the School of Sacred Music at the Taube Family Campus in Jerusalem, who had spent time as Academic Advisor and Director of the Cantorial School of Geiger College after his retirement from HUC. Students have also had the opportunity to study with Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music faculty member Cantor Josee Wolff ‘91, who has taught cantillation to the Geiger College students for many years.

Rosenzweig said about her work with the German cantors during the conference: “They were so receptive to everything I had to offer. They brought love and warmth to everything they sang and were so eager to learn. It was a fantastic and joyful experience.”

Organizers of the Mannheim gathering said the event was a resounding success that exceeded their expectations, and they are looking forward to including even more cantors at the gathering they plan to hold next year.

Cantor Jill Abramson, Director of the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music, said, “We are proud that Professor Rosenzweig was able to represent Hebrew Union College and establish important connections as a leading interpreter of the cantorial tradition and authority on Yiddish song, and that she played a central role at this historic gathering.”

Rosenzweig said that after spending these exhilarating days with “Cantors serving congregations throughout Germany that had been decimated during Kristallnacht,” she found it “incredibly moving and exciting to experience the rebirth that is happening now in Germany. Yiddishkayt and real hope for the future have begun to shine forth in this country which has known so much darkness, thanks to the brave and beautiful efforts of these amazing cantors.”