Profiles
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Congregation Beth Ahm's new cantor ends two-year musical void.
`Sonic Equivalent Of
From the pages of the Jewish News for
this week 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50
years ago.
Plans were made for the remaining
14,000 Ethiopian Jews to make
aliya this year.
Helen Singer was installed as
president of Tikvah Chapter of
B'nai B'rith Women.
Hillel Day School of
Metropolitan Detroit installed
Howard Tapper as president for the
1990-1991 school year.
Eugene Driker was honored for
distinguished community leadership
by the B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation
of Metropolitan Detroit.
Collectors at Sotheby's Tel Aviv
gallery recently paid six-figure sums
for works by famous Jewish artists.
Irelive
SHELLI LIEBMAN DORFMAN
Staff Writer
lig
ost people who hear Cantor David Montefiore's
voice for the first time are impressed by the
tenor's mastery of the vocal arts," says Ara
Rubyan, first vice president of Congregation
Beth Ahm, where the cantor will begin July 1. "But what is
more surprising to them is his personal odyssey."
"In England, I learned how to be a gentleman," says the
London-born, New York-educated cantor. "In the U.S., I
learned how to love democracy and freedom." But it was his
experiences in Argentina, where he was chief cantor at the
Jewish Congregation of the Argentine Republic (the Libertad)
from 1994-97, that he says reminded him: "Wake up, remem-
ber who you are."
He describes arriving at the Buenos Aires congregation on
the same day, at the same hour, as terrorist bombs destroyed
the Jewish Cultural Center. "I think being a European Jew,
having lost my relatives in Europe, made me defiant," says
Cantor Montefiore, whose father's family was killed by the
Nazis. "I was the cantor of a synagogue under siege. I wanted
to get in gear, try to get the chorus together. They were afraid
to come to shut"
He says his first official act was to organize a memorial ser-
vice for the 86 men, women and children who were killed in
the attack.
The hiring of Cantor Montefiore ends Beth Ahm's years
without a cantor, following the departure of Cantor Ben-Zion
Lanxner in 1998. "We have been searching for a cantor for
nearly two years," says congregation President Ronn Nadis.
"We didn't want to rush this decision. We wanted to find the
best cantor possible; someone who had a great voice, could
lead Shabbat services and also embrace the mission of our syn-
agogue and contribute to our long-term success.
"In short, what we wanted was someone who could pro-
vide us with real substance as well as style. We thought that
was a pretty tall order, but then we met David."
In the interim years, Nadis has conducted services on High
Holidays and on many Shabbat mornings at Beth Ahm.
Howard Wallach, chair of the Cantorial Search Committee,
says of Cantor Montefiore, "What first got our attention were
the Grammy nominations." In 1999, Cantor Montefiore
received three Grammy nominations in the classical field: two
for "Best Classical Vocal Performance" and one for "Best
Remember
When
Cantor David Montefiore
Classical Album." Wallach also was taken by the comments of
a Florida Times Union writer who heard the cantor perform.
He says the reviewer called him "'the sonic equivalent of velvet.'
"Ultimately though, what impressed us was the man's sub-
stance and courage," Wallach says.
Classically and traditionally trained, Cantor Montefiore
says he grew up in Orthodox, traditional synagogues. His
Orthodox father was the first chief cantor of the United
Kingdom. "My whole youth was steeped in cantorial tradi-
tions," he says. "I have been amongst chazzanim [cantors]
all my life."
After attending Hebrew Union College of Sacred Music in
New York, he says, "most of my career has been in -
Conservative synagogues," including 18 years in New York
and New Jersey congregations. In addition to congregational
work, 10 of those years were also spent as director of the
American Repertory Company in New York.
Most recently, he has been at the Conservative Beth El-The
Beaches Synagogue in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Cantor Montefiore has performed at Carnegie Hall,
Europe's Rome Festival, and in Israel with the Haifa
Symphony Orchestra, where he sang the part of Alfredo in
Verdi's La Traviata.
Joining him in his move to West Bloomfield will be his
wife Abigael and 6-year-old son C.J. The cantor, who will be
officially installed in the fall, will begin leading Shabbat ser .
vices on July 1.
The congregation expects to also finalize negotiations with
a new rabbi by the end of June, with a starting date of Aug. 1.
He will replace Rabbi Aaron Bergman, who is beginning his
position as director of Jewish Studies at the Jewish Academy of
Metropolitan Detroit in West Bloomfield also on Aug. 1.11]
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Hard-line Arab states announced a
boycott of the World Health
Organization regional office located
in Alexandria, Egypt.
Israeli Premier Menachem Begin
appealed to the kidnappers of an 8-
year old child to return him to his
family.
Bette Schein was elected presi-
dent of the Sholem Aleichem
Institute.
-
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The use of narcotics in Israel was
found to have increased over the
past three years.
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Figures from Amman, Jordan, show
307 companies on the Arab boycott
list for trading with Israel. •
A cornerstone was set for
Congregation Gemiluth Chassodim
on Greenfield and Vassar in
Detroit.
ZO;
The central representative body of
Argentine Jewry appealed to the
mayor of Buenos Aires to ban the
sale of antisemitic books in the city.
The rabbinate of Tel Aviv dis-
owned 70-year-old Bulgarian Rabbi
Daniel Zion for preaching accep-
tance of Jesus as one of the prophets.
— Compiled by Sy Manello,
editorial assistant
S.;
6/23
2000
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