20 | SEPTEMBER 17 • 2020 

Live on Tape

Cantorial soloist prepares 
for the High Holidays.

W

hile non-Orthodox 
Detroit-area 
cantors and cantori-
al sololists are planning to con-
duct High Holiday services via 
Zoom or live-streaming (or a 
combination), Marci Shulman 
is taking a different approach. 
She’
s hard at work recording 
the traditional liturgy for use 
on Rosh Hashanah, which 
starts the evening of Sept. 18, 
and Yom Kippur, which starts 
10 days later.
Shulman and Rabbi Brent 
Gutmann will lead services 
at Temple Kol Ami in West 
Bloomfield. They are working 
with pianist Dave Howland 
and plan to post the services 
on Facebook and YouTube. 
The rabbi will use Zoom for 
the family service and for 
schmoozing with congregants.
A small choir led by Henry 
Shevitz of West Bloomfield will 
join in some of the singing. The 
group has been rehearsing via 
Zoom, said Shulman. Before 
the holidays, each member 
will be recorded individually at 
the temple, and the individual 
recordings will be combined.
Shulman grew up in the 
Detroit area and earned a 
degree in classical music at 
Wayne State University, then 
studied Hebrew language and 
liturgy independently. She and 
her husband, retired ophthal-
mologist Marvin Shulman, are 
members of Temple Israel. The 
late Harold Orbach, longtime 
Temple Israel cantor, was an 
excellent mentor, she said. 
Shulman said she was the 
first woman cantor/cantorial 

soloist in Southeast Michigan 
when she started working 
at Ann Arbor’
s Temple Beth 
Emeth in 1976. She spent many 
years with congregations in 
Grand Rapids and Lansing, 
and 12 years ago, when she 
turned 60, she retired from her 
last post, at Temple Beth El in 
Windsor. After that she filled 
in frequently at Temple Israel, 
Temple Beth El and Kol Ami. 
“God has been very good to 
me and given me the ability to 
sing. I want to share that, and 
I want to create a service that 
is lovely and meaningful,
” she 
said.
Gutmann and Shulman 
worked hard to pare the morn-
ing service, which is normally 
three hours, to half its usual 
length. To record, she “robes 
up” and goes to the temple, 
where Stewart Shevin helps 
with the technical aspects of 
the process.
Shulman said she liked the 
flexibility of recording versus 
live-Zooming. Shulman had to 
redo one segment because she 
forgot to open the ark. Another 
time she and Gutmann discov-
ered the recording equipment 
hadn’
t been plugged in. “
And if 
I don’
t like the way something 
sounds, I can just do it again,
” 
she said.
When the actual High 
Holidays roll around, Shulman 
will attend services remotely, 
but not only at Kol Ami. She 
hopes to tune in to Temple 
Israel and maybe Adat Shalom 
as well.
“I don’
t want to listen to 
myself!” she said. 

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Marci Schulman

Rosh Hashanah 5781

May 
the 
comi
ng 
year
 
be 
f
i
l
l
ed 
wi
th 
heal
th,
 
happi
ness 
and 
pr
osper
i
ty 
f
or
 
al
l
 
our
 
f
ami
l
y 
and 
f
r
i
ends.

Judi
 
Schnei
der

Br
ett,
 
Patty 
 
•
 
 
Cai
dey,
 
Zack 
& 
Car
ol
i
ne
Br
yan,
 
Ar
r
yn,
 
Ethan 
& 
Aver
y 
 
•
 
 
Br
ad,
 
Mol
l
y,
 
D.
J.
 
& 
Anna
Br
andon,
 
Al
exandr
a,
 
Joey

Wi
shi
ng 
you 
a 
Happy 
New 
Year
 
f
ul
l
 
of
 
heal
th,
 
happi
ness 
and 
ever
ythi
ng 
good 
i
n 
l
i
f
e,
 
i
ncl
udi
ng 
seei
ng 
peopl
e 
i
n 
the 
f
l
esh 
wi
thout 
masks,
 
i
nstead 
of
 
on 
Zoom.
 
L’Shana 
Tovah! 

Beth 
Gotthel
f
 
& 
Steven 
Mi
esowi
cz

2020
5781

May the New Year 
bring to all our 
friends and family 

Rosh Hashanah

With love, 
Arlene & Chuck Beerman

health, joy, prosperity and
everything good in life.

May 
the 
comi
ng 
year
 
be 
f
i
l
l
ed 
wi
th 
heal
th 
and 

happi
ness 
f
or
 
al
l
 
our
 
f
ami
l
y 
and 
f
r
i
ends.
 
L’Shanah 
Tovah!

Pam 
and 
Mi
ke 
Smi
th

