Cantor Deborah Katchko-Gray is a fourth generation cantor and the second woman to serve a conservative synagogue. Since 1999, her spiritual home has been Congregation Shir Shalom of Westchester and Fairfield Counties, a Reform congregation in Ridgefield, CT.
The first time I heard Louis Farrakhan speak, he called Judaism a “gutter religion.” I was shocked that in the 1980’s, only 35 years after Auschwitz, that anyone would speak that way in public and not be denounced immediately. I was a cantor at a Conservative synagogue in Norwalk, CT, a diverse community about an…
Today is the first yartzeit (anniversary of the Hebrew date of one’s death) of a beloved teacher, mentor, writer, reluctant modern prophet and a unique voice for humanity that can’t be replaced. It’s the first yartzeit of Professor Elie Wiesel of blessed memory. Our hearts are aching today. Last night I was privileged to participate…
There are more questions than answers. Perhaps there are no good answers anyway, but we must ask the questions to remain human. Elie Wiesel of blessed memory was the teacher of teachers, our modern day prophet who dared ask questions and dared to admit there are no good answers. His answer was to remember —…
In l976 I entered a classroom full of hopes and dreams, hoping to study with Prof. Elie Wiesel at Boston University and dreaming of singing a Yiddish song for him, and even better, with him. Who knew that this classroom would lead to a lifetime of meaningful study, song and the cantorate? When the classroom…
דער ייִדישער קולטור־טוער מיכל באַראַן און זײַן טאָכטער רות באַראַן לייענען פֿאָר ייִדישע לידער פֿאַרבונדן מיטן יום־טובֿ
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