Cantor
Temple B’nai Or
Morristown, New Jersey
Age: 42
Nominated by: Herself
Song: “Prayer for Peace,” Cantor Jonathan Comisar

“If only our mouths were as full of song as the sea, and our tongues joyful as its waves.”

Like much of our ancient Scriptures, this verse may be as ancient as the eighth century, most likely written in Babylonia. But it epitomizes, in a beautiful and poetic way, the powerful strength of music that can move us beyond words, cognitive thoughts and ideas. In a modern age of highly intellectualized messages, many transmitted through electronic devices, music, combined with our ancient Jewish ideas and poetic expressions, can lift us up and take us away from it all. It’s an opportunity to bring to our communities an enchanting language, to teach history and culture, and to connect generations with our ancient heritage and story. It is a vehicle to keep telling the story and to bring us closer to one another. — Galit Dadoun-Cohen

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INFLUENCES: Rabbi Shira Milgrom, Debbie Friedman, Cantor Jacob Mendelson, Cantor Faith Steinsnyder, Cantor Noach Schall, Cantor Benjie Ellen Schiller, Noah Aronson, Cantor Zoe Jacobs, Cantor Jonathan Comisar, Pedro d’Aquino, Rabbi Larry Hoffman, Cantor Alicia Stillman, Merri Arian.

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