From the Cantor - May 2001

Shalom, Chaverim:

This month it is my pleasure to bring you the 4th Annual Cantor's Concert, entitled, "Honor Thy Mother." It's not only the second half of the fifth commandment; it also reflects the fact that we've chosen Mother's Day (a real Jewish Holiday!) to present the concert. All of the music is going to be either loosely or tightly connected to the ups and downs of motherhood in order to honor that special woman in your life…and to give you an idea of (oy!) what she goes through for you! Rabbi Black, HaShirah Youth Choir, Alan Stringer and cellist David Schepps will be on hand to help me pay musical homage to mothers, grandmothers, surrogate mothers, and other great ladies. This year, for the first time we are trying out a daytime concert venue. So please join us on Sunday, May 13th at 3:00 p.m. in the sanctuary for a brand new musical tradition at Congregation Albert. We hope to leave you laughing. You'll also get an opportunity to meet a really special mom…mine! (For a sneak preview, click here.)

Next month I'll have a silver anniversary of sorts. A quarter of a century ago I celebrated my confirmation along with four classmates. You can visit our picture in my study (sorry, no leisure suits in the photo). We were pretty pumped up for the usual reasons - weekly discussions with the rabbi about incendiary topics; leading services mostly by ourselves; graduation from formal [read: mandatory] religious education; and, as such, our "top-dog" status. But this was 1976, the year of our country's bicentennial, and we felt unique in that respect. At the time, women had been in the Reform rabbinate for four years; and in the Reform cantorate for one year. We made two symbolic gestures: the only boy in the class blessed the candles; and one of the girls (me) read Torah. In our way, we celebrated freedom for both men and women. If the celebration of Bar or Bat Mitzvah affirms the ability to achieve whatever one sets out to do, the rite of Confirmation re-affirms it. You have only to attend the upcoming Confirmation, June 1st, at Congregation Albert to gaze upon the future of our people.

B'Shalom u-v'shir,
Cantor Jacqueline L. Shuchat-Marx

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