18 | SEPTEMBER 5 • 2024 J
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T

he Shul Sisters, the country’s first 
female cantorial trio, will perform at 
Hadassah Greater Detroit’s Judi Schram 
Autumn Celebration, to be held at Adat Shalom 
Synagogue in Farmington Hills on Tuesday, 
Sept. 10, from 6-9 p.m. 
The event will honor Hadassah Greater 
Detroit Past President Nancy Bechek Bluth for 
her leadership, dedication and generosity over 
the last 25 years. She will receive the 2024 Judi 
Schram Woman of Inspiration Award, named 
in memory of Hadassah Greater Detroit Past 
President Judi Schram, a children’s book author 
and speech pathologist. 

Hadassah Greater Detroit represents more 
than 8,000 members of Hadassah, The Women’s 
Zionist Organization of America, in Michigan, 
Ohio and Pennsylvania. 
“Hadassah is about people, healing and 
changing lives in Israel, the U.S. and around the 
world,” Bluth said. “I am grateful for this honor 
and for the privilege of serving Hadassah along 
with so many inspiring women.” 
Bluth has served as region president, 
Midwest resource chair, National Presidential 
Development co-chair and on a variety of 
national committees. She has also received 
Hadassah’s National Leadership Award. She 

currently sits on several committees, including 
those overseeing national strategic planning 
and governance. As region president, she 
focused on leadership training, which she 
offered to Hadassah volunteers all over the 
country. She and her husband, Larry, have been 
generous supporters of the Hadassah Medical 
Organization, Hadassah’s nonprofit medical 
center in Israel, and Youth Aliyah, Hadassah’s 
program for at-risk children in Israel. 
Judi Schram, for whom the Hadassah Greater 
Detroit Autumn Celebration is named, had
a zest for life that permeated every activity, 
from preschool speech pathologist to active 
community volunteer, from philanthropist to 
blogger of travel and life, published author, 
poet, painter and president of Hadassah 
Greater Detroit. Throughout her battle with 
cancer, she retained her optimistic and realistic 
perspectives on life and love, continuing to 
observe life’s vagaries as she and her husband, 
Brad, traveled around the world. Five of 
Schram’s 20 children’s books have been 
published, and her painted and fabricated 
mosaics adorn the homes of her many friends.
The Shul Sisters, cantors Laurie Akers 
(Congregation Or Shalom, Chicago), Rachel 
Brook (Anshe Emet Synagogue, Chicago) and 
Rachel Goldman (Congregation Beth Yeshurun, 
Houston), believe in music’s capacity to lift 
women’s voices and remind us of our inherent 
worth. 
They have performed at the Women 4 Joe 
Inauguration celebration with Mayim Bialik in 
2021 and the Illinois Holocaust Museum’s 2022 
Humanitarian Awards Gala featuring President 
George W. Bush. Cantor Akers’ song “Stand 
Strong” has served as the anthem for numerous 
social justice programs nationwide, and her 
compositions can be found in numerous Jewish 
liturgical anthologies. Cantor Brook, the first 
female senior cantor in her congregation’s 
150-year history, performed on Live with 
Carnegie Hall: Be the Light. Cantor Goldman 
has been featured in the Houston Symphony, 
the Houston Opera Chorus and the Los Angeles 
Jewish Symphony. 
The co-chairs of the event are Mimi 
Markofsky and Allison Berlin. The event 
includes a silent auction, event presentation and 
concert, which will be live-streamed. 
Tickets at $136 (in person) and $54 (online) 
can be reserved any time by calling the 
Hadassah Midwest office at (248) 683-5030. 

First female cantorial trio in U.S. to perform at Hadassah 
Greater Detroit’s Judi Schram Autumn Celebration.

JN STAFF

OUR COMMUNITY

Hadassah Welcomes 
the Shul Sisters

