22 | JULY 22 • 2021 

H

istory has been made 
in Metro Detroit. 
Congregation B’nai 
Moshe of West Bloomfield 
has hired Cantor Deborah 
Bletstein, who becomes the 
first full-time female cantor of 
a Conservative synagogue in 
Metro Detroit’s history.
Cantor Earl G. Berris 
retired from the pulpit after 
24 years as cantor of CBM 
following the 2020 High 
Holidays.
Then-President Mark 
Roth initiated a task force 
to explore hiring a cantor. 
Longtime choir member and 
Ritual Chair Marc Sussman 
chaired the Cantor Search 
Committee. “The committee 
overwhelmingly recommend-
ed Cantor Bletstein be hired. 
We couldn’t have been more 
emphatic,” Sussman said.
While Bletstein has led ser-
vices several times as a guest 
cantor for B’nai Moshe, she 
stepped to the bimah for the 
first time as cantor of B’nai 
Moshe on Shabbat morning, 
July 10.
“We are gratified to be 
a part of the congregation 
that is the first Conservative 
synagogue in Metro Detroit 
to hire a female cantor,” new 
President Alan Levenson said. 
“I think it says a lot about our 
board being leaders in our 
community. We are delighted 
that being female was neither 
a positive nor a negative. She 
was recommended and hired 
because she is a talented can-
tor.” 
Bletstein was born and 

raised in Michigan and holds 
a master’s of music from 
Carnegie Mellon University in 
Pittsburgh and earned canto-
rial investiture and a master of 
sacred music degree from the 
Jewish Theological Seminary 
of America in 2007.
She has held full-time 
pulpits in Conservative 
synagogues in Des Moines, 
Iowa, and Portland, Ore., and 
has served as guest cantor 
at numerous congregations 
throughout the United 
States. She is a member of 
the Cantors Assembly and 
the American Conference of 
Cantors and holds an Actors 
Equity Association card. In 
July 2021, she graduated 

with a master of social work 
degree from the University 
of Michigan where she was 
a National Health Service 
Corps’ HRSA Scholar and 
completed a clinical internship 
with teens at the Guidance 
Center in Southgate.
The cantor grew up in this 
area, and her family still lives 
in Southfield. She knows how 
big of an event this is for her-

self and the community. 
“It’s really amazing as 
a woman that I could be 
experiencing this moment,” 
Bletstein said. “Prior to all my 
travels and school and jobs in 
other states, I grew up in the 
Conservative Movement in 
Detroit, and I had no female 
clergy role models in the 
movement in the area. So, 
after all this time, to come 
back home, I just hope I have 
opened the door to what we 
will see more of in this area, 
that women are vitally and 
equally important in these 
roles.

“The congregation has been 
very warm and welcoming 
and after a very long tradition 
of having males in the role, 
to be welcoming me in this 
way has been really fantastic,” 
Bletstein said. “I’m excited for 
the High Holidays, to work 
with Rabbi Shalom Kantor 
and to just open the door to 
new possibilities for the con-
gregation.” 

OUR COMMUNITY

B’nai Moshe hires hometown 
woman as cantor.
A New Voice

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

Cantor Deborah 
Bletstein

“I JUST HOPE I HAVE OPENED 
THE DOOR TO WHAT WE WILL 
SEE MORE OF IN THIS AREA, THAT 
WOMEN ARE VITALLY AND EQUALLY 

IMPORTANT IN THESE ROLES.”

— CANTOR DEBORAH BLETSTEIN

At its May general 
membership meeting, 
Congregation Beth 
Shalom, the Conservative 
Jewish presence in the 
Woodward corridor, 
elected its officers and 
board members for the 
2021-2022 year.
Daniel Barth of Oak 
Park was elected president, 
and Beth Rodgers of 
Oak Park will serve as 
executive vice president. 
Other officers elected were 
Fran Hildebrandt, Aaron 
Schwartz, and Arnold 
Weiner as vice presidents; 
Greta Zalman as treasurer; 
and Howard Fridson as 
secretary.
Also elected to serve on 
the board as directors were 
Kenneth Bernard, Jared 
Chimovitz, Ben Fleishman, 
Sean Fleming, Char 
Gordon, Boris Milter and 
Adele Nodler. Immediate 
Past-President Bryan 
Beckerman and ex officio 
officers Glen Pickover and 
Richard Racusin will also 
serve on the board for the 
coming year. 

Beth Shalom 
Elects Officers 
and Board

Daniel 
Barth

