Community Spirituality When she had a problem with a particular sentence a week before her bat mitzvah, A.J. called up her por- tion on the computer and went right to the line she needed to study — with no winding and rewinding of a tape that was so irritating before. Not Only for Kids Cyber Cantor Bat mitzvah student A.J. Roberts studies her Torah portion by logging on Cantor Dubov's Web site. Cantor Stephen Dubov creates a Torah portion Web site for those preparing for b'nai mitzvah. SHARON LUCKERMAN Editorial _Assistant IT our bar or bat mitzvah is only a week away. It's 10 p.m. and you've got to hear the melody of that one part you keep forgetting. But you left the tape of your Torah por- tion at a friend's house. Or "your dog ate it." Or you're from a small town and belong to a synagogue with no cantor. What do you do? Cantor Stephen Dubov of Temple Beth El has come up with a Web site that one can click on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and access any Torah portion: www.cantordubov.org Anyone online can download the Torah portion text (with or without vowels) or simply display it on the V't 2/16 2001 58 computer screen. On a computer equipped with the appropriate software, a student can even hear the cantor sing the verses. In it's first two months, the site has attracted more than 650 people, and has received kudos from Toronto to California. "We're like the Jewish Napster [a Web site allowing people to download music for free]," says Cantor Cantor Dubo Dubov, who has sent hundreds of letters to Reform congregations around the country explaining the new site. "It's free and a public service," the cantor adds. "And an incredible resource." His students and their parents agree. "It's like having a private tutor in the comfort of your home," says Judy Roberts, of West Bloomfield, whose daughter Andrea Jill, "A.J.," became a bat mitzvah Feb. 3, at Beth El. A.J. was one of the first stu- dents to use the site. Roberts thinks the site is perfect for busy parents. "I don't have to run my daughter to temple to study with the cantor and yet I know she has a resource whenever she needs it." "It's really cool," says A.J., 12. "And it's very easy to use." The idea for the Web site occurred to Cantor Dubov when he returned from a cantors convention last summer. There, he heard about cantors making CDs, instead of tapes, for their students. The next step, he realized, was making all the Torah portions, the text, the prayers and the chants available on the com- puter. With the help of Web master Brad Stetson, a college student from Waterford, Cantor Dubov's idea was launched into cyberspace. Miriam Cohen tutors b'nai mitz- vah students at the temple, but had an occasion to use the cantor's Web site. A week before her wedding, Cohen's daughter called from New York City to ask her parents to chant the wedding blessings at the wed- ding ceremony. Frantic, Cohen logged on to the cantor's Web site. Unable to find the blessings, she e-mailed him, asking where she and her husband might find them. The Web master immediately replied that the cantor would make Cohen and her husband a CD of the blessings, which he recorded in his office. Now the seven blessings also are available on the Web site. The possibilities are endless, notes the cantor who is excited about helping not only his students but also those young and old around the world. Click on the Web site and one can learn the words of the Kiddush to Torah blessings parents chant when called up for an aliyah. The Web site is continuously expanding. ❑ On Cantor Dubov's Web site: wwvv.cantordubov.org Torah portions are currently available. If you have difficulties finding what you need, e-mail the cantor from the site.