Cantor Deborrah Cannizzaro

Cantor Deborrah Cannizzaro serves Congregation Schaarai Zedek in Tampa, FL. She is a member of the executive board of the American Conference of Cantors, and treasurer of the Bay Area Cantors Association in Southwest Florida.

Remembering Holocaust Victims and Heroes with Music

Cantor Deborrah Cannizzaro

In North America, Holocaust remembrance services and programs often include special musical selections in memory of people lost during the war and in honor of those who fought against the Nazis. Such music is profound and varied, and often was used as a vehicle of resistance. For example, “Zogt Nit Keynmol” (“Never Say That You Have Reached the Final Road”) was written in April 1943 in reaction to news of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Composed in Vilna by underground fighter Hirsh Glick and set to a Soviet cinema tune by Dmitri and Daniel Pokrass, the song spread like wildfire throughout Eastern Europe, becoming the official hymn of the partisan brigades.

Judaism and the Music of Thanksgiving

Cantor Deborrah Cannizzaro

Ah, fall! In many parts of the country, the temperature has dropped, the leaves have turned shades of red, orange and yellow and are falling off the trees. It's time for Thanksgiving in the U.S.

For many Americans, the holiday evokes powerful sensory images: