Cantor Aviva Marer
If Abraham Was on Social Media: Lessons for the High Holidays
I wondered recently about the patriarch Abraham’s Facebook page. Would he have posted selfies with Isaac? What would his page say about him? What do ours say about us?
The Sound of Silence: My Musical Mode for Victoria Day
The relationship between music and time has always played an integral role in my life. As a cantor, I chant particular nusachaot (traditional musical modes) to alert the community to specific times in the calendar. The melodies tell my congregation not only the time of year, but also the time of day. For example, the nusach of this niggun (wordless melody) foreshadows the High Holidays just as the chromatic, haunting tones of Kol Nidre usher in Yom Kippur.
Welcoming Jews with Disabilities Onto the Bimah and Beyond
I wore a button-down, tea-length peach dress with shoulder pads. My mother convinced me that it looked elegant, and that the matching peach tights really completed my look. Yes, this is admittedly one of the first things I remember about my own bat mitzvah.
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