Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Community

Remembering My Cantor Ilan Mamber

Cantor Ilan Mamber wasn’t my cantor — but oh, how I wanted him to be. He rode a motorcycle — a Honda Pacific Coast — and was an avid tennis player. He chanted prayers to the tunes of “The Who” and “Hamilton.” And he loved, loved Bob Dylan. But more importantly, he made me realize that Jewish worship could be joyous.

For three decades, Cantor Mamber shared the bimah at my parents’ synagogue, Temple Beth Rishon in Wyckoff, New Jersey. He was planning on retiring in the next few years. I first met him in May of 1989 — my cousin’s family belonged to the temple, and I met him at my cousin’s bat-mitzvah. At the time, we were still congregants of a synagogue about 25 minutes away.

Several years later, my parents relocated to Bergen County and we joined Temple Beth Rishon as well. It’s a modern, airy building, where streaks of sunshine filter in through stained glass windows — a stark contrast to what I was used to. In elementary school, we attended Hebrew school three days a week. There was so much memorization of Hebrew letters and prayer. I felt disconnected. And disenchanted.

It felt different to worship in this sanctuary, in Mamber’s sanctuary. Instead of feeling like I had to be there, I wanted to be there.

But by the time we were members at Beth Rishon, I was closer to college age than high school and I never got embedded in synagogue life. My mother Diane Bedrin was more fortunate. In 1998, she signed up for an adult bat-mitzvah class. Cantor Mamber taught her (and her classmates) to read and chant from the Torah.

“I had never seen the inside of a Torah and he was just amazed when he opened it up and we just stood there in awe. He was so excited that he was the one who showed us how to read and how to chant,” my mom told me.

She told me Cantor Mamber also loved the temple book club and that he always had something to say, especially when it pertained to the birth of Israel.

Cantor Mamber passed away on July 31 after suffering a heart attack. He was 70. More than 500 people attended his funeral. Another 150 watched the live stream of the service.

Even though I never studied directly with him, Cantor Mamber influenced me and contributed to my current synagogue selection.

I joined an uplifting temple in Bloomfield — with a cantor who is also musical and lyrical and wonderful. I’m now a board member and sent both of my kids to the preschool. Our services are warm and intimate — with lots of strong voices and drumming — a real treat for the soul. And we just hired a new Rabbi, who likes to rap to Naughty by Nature.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.