Some 65 years ago, the idea of women serving as cantors in temples and synagogues seemed fanciful. In 1955, reportedly, Betty Robbins because the first female cantor in the U.S. In 1975, Barbara Ostfeld became the first woman to be ordained as a female cantor. Today, a great many female cantors serve in Reform and Conservative congregations across the country. Orthodox Judaism has not yet accepted female cantors (or female rabbis), but one can only hope that will change in the not-to-distant future.
Quote: “Though debate continues regarding the female cantorial profession, women’s voices increasingly come forth from pulpits in America, leading congregations in all the year-round calendar and life-cycle observances of the Jewish faith. They train and lead choirs, arrange and compose liturgical works, present special Jewish music programs, and attend to a great many duties as music educators, including the training of girls and boys to assume their religious responsibilities of bat and bar mitzvah.”
Sources: jwa.org/encyclopedia
Learn about the histroy of female cantors in America. >>
Female Cantors from Around the World United in Song and Prayer” [6:26]. >>
Angela Buchdahl is Chief Rabbi of Central Synagogue in New York. Before she became a rabbi, she was a cantor. Here is her rendition of Kol Nidre [5:40]. >>
Watch “Cantor Julia Cadrain: Sanctuary (Shaker Hymn)” [3:57]. >>
Watch “Cantor Nancy Linder, Ufros Aleinu” [2:53]. >>
Photo of Cantor Nancy Linder: Nancy Linder
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