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A Celebration of Cantor Bernstein :
Personal stories from CBI Members
Quick
Links:
The Cantor Connection to Lisa Braun Glazer
A Cantor's Work is Never Done: Becoming More than a Mentor to Megan Evans
Cantor Bernstein's Ties to the Vollrath Family Will Last a Lifetime
How Cantor Bernstein Inspired Musician Jeremy Gimbel
Celebrating 10 Years with Cantor Arlene Bernstein May 17, 2008
View Photos from the Event
The Cantor Connection
Have you ever wondered how the
Minyan service came to be? How our
popular Tashlich service and the morning
Family High Holy Days services began?
Instrumental in the creation of these and
other beloved CBI traditions has been
long-time member, Dr. Lisa Braun Glazer.
Lisa is proud of the impact her efforts
have had, but notes that good ideas do
not become beloved traditions without
the support of others and the guidance
and encouragement of respected clergy.
For the past ten years the consistently
empowering voice of Cantor Arlene
Bernstein has been inspiring devoted CBI
members like Lisa to make realities of
their Jewish dreams and ideas.
Lisa describes her own Midwestern
Jewish upbringing as “Conservadox.”
After attending Hebrew school three
times a week for eight years, she refused
to have a Bat Mitzvah at 13 because
she objected to the fact that girls weren’t
allowed to read from the Torah or
celebrate in the sanctuary, like the boys.
Lisa and her husband, Jeff initially
joined CBI 20 years ago so daughter, Julie
could attend religious school and because
Jeff, having been raised in the Reform
tradition, was more comfortable here. Yet
it was Lisa who became intimately
involved, serving as chair of the Ritual
Committee, on the Board of Directors,
singing in the choir and leading services.
In 1992 she finally stood on the bimah at
CBI to celebrate her adult Bat Mitzvah.
She went on to serve on the regional and
national URJ boards of trustees.
When daughter Anna was preparing
for her Bat Mitzvah at CBI in 1999,
Cantor Bernstein was new to Beth Israel.
Lisa marveled at the way Cantor
connected with her daughter. “She
speaks to young people in a way that is
caring and never condescending. It's
obvious that she cares deeply and
personally about each one.”
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Lisa has always felt driven to
improve worship opportunities to allow a
variety of people to connect in deeper,
more personal ways. As chair of the
Ritual Committee, she worked to
implement her ideas, always finding
Cantor Bernstein ready to listen,
encourage and inspire. “She is more
patient than I am and though she
doesn't always agree with me, I know I
can count on her honest opinion and full
respect. She is not about ego. She loves
Judaism and I love Judaism and that
transcends differences of opinion. She
has really been instrumental in enabling
and supporting the lay-clergy partnership
in CBI’s worship, and for that I am so
very grateful.”
For ten years, Cantor Bernstein has
inspired Lisa and others to bring their
Jewish ideas to fruition for the benefit of
all. “Arlene suggested I buy a guitar and
learn to play, knowing how it would
enhance the Minyan services I led. I
didn't question her. She's always right
about these things.”
When Jeff's mother recently passed
away, Lisa was asked by the family to
lead the graveside burial service. Lisa
turned to Cantor Bernstein for help with
the daunting and urgent task. "She
cleared her schedule to work with me,
guiding and encouraging me. She
provided me with all the essentials and
gave me the confidence I needed so that
I was truly able to honor the memory of
my mother-in-law in that service."
The connection Lisa shares with
Cantor Bernstein is the essence of what
it means to be connected to our
synagogue. “Arlene is the spiritual
connection to Beth Israel for so many
people. And that spiritual connection has
kept us afloat during the many
transitions CBI has faced in the past ten
years. In many ways she has been the
glue that has held CBI together.”
Lisa feels such deep appreciation and
affection for Cantor Bernstein that she
and Jeff are
purchasing and
dedicating the new
Mishkan T'filah
Shabbat prayerbooks
in honor of Cantor's
decade at CBI.
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A Cantor's Work is Never Done
At 17, Megan Evans has faced more challenges than adults many years her senior. Her mother died when she was eight months old and her father has been a distant figure in her life. She was raised by her maternal grandparents, who have both now passed away.
Megan grew up in San Diego with no strong religious identity. “My grandparents attended High Holy Days services at Beth Israel and the occasional extended family Bar or Bat Mitzvah, but wanted nothing more to do with Judaism. My father, a religious Christian, insisted on taking me to church when he visited once a month.” She found the church experiences unmoving and brushes with anti-Semitism in school left her embarrassed about her Jewish roots.
In spite of life’s challenges, Megan found joy in singing and got involved in community theater where she made some Jewish friends and began to develop an interest in her Jewish heritage. At age 14 she asked her grandmother if she could have a Bat Mitzvah. Grandma Margery Schneider laughed. “It's not as easy as you think. It takes years of study.” Megan was persistent and Schneider agreed to let her attend Religious School at Beth Israel for a year and then “We'll see.”
At Beth Israel Megan met Cantor Bernstein and a new world opened up to her. “Cantor is the most inspirational person I have ever known,” said Megan. “She guided me musically, spiritually and personally.”
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On January 20, 2007, at age 16, Megan Evans stood on the bimah at her Bat Mitzvah, leading the service, reading Torah and singing the prayers and songs. “It was the most incredible day of my life,” says Megan. “It was the day I knew I wanted to become a cantor.”
What is it about being a cantor that feels so right? “To be able to share the most profound moments of people’s lives, to marry them, to teach and inspire them, to share their births and their deaths and to share the music; this is what I want to do. Cantor Bernstein has been my mentor and my example and she is so amazing. She lives her career. It’s not just a job.” Megan knows all too well. Cantor Bernstein and Rabbi Glenn Ettman were with Megan long into the night when her grandmother passed away last August.
Megan continues to be very involved at CBI. She attends Religious School, helps out with the Youth Choir and teaches a song-leading class. She always attends Friday night services and often participates in them at Cantor’s request. Her grandmother’s house is for sale as Megan readies herself for the next phase of her life. She begins college at American University in Washington, D.C. this summer, majoring in Judaic studies and theater.
After college, Megan says “I plan to attend Hebrew Union College’s cantorial program. When you become invested as a cantor you get to choose one mentor to introduce you, and for me that will definitely be Cantor Bernstein.” But Cantor is even more than a mentor and a friend to Megan. “If I could pick a mother for myself it would be Cantor Bernstein.”
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Cantor Bernstein's Ties Will Last a Lifetime
 Although Annette and Ben Vollrath met Cantor Arlene Bernstein just three years ago, their ties with her will last a lifetime. These parents of four young children bonded so strongly with Cantor that they named her the godmother of 2-year-old Hannah and invited her into the birthing room when baby Joshua was born last fall.
Dr. Annette Vollrath, a clinical medical director at San Diego Hospice & Palliative Care, and her husband Ben, Ph.D., cofounder of two San Diego biotechnology companies, met Cantor Bernstein when they started exploring Judaism. “We never felt we were outsiders,” explained Annette. “We were not Jews when we started coming and we’re both German. Cantor very openly embraced us as an example of the way the whole congregation embraced us.
“Cantor is the heavenly voice that takes you straight to God,” said Annette. “We feel a very close personal relationship with her. All of us have adopted her into our family as she has adopted our children.”
Annette regards Cantor as an excellent role model of lived Jewish values because of her openness, her warm-heartedness and the fact that she's non-judgmental. The family appreciates Cantor’s strong support of children. “We see the primary role of the godparent as being an adult friend to our children,” explained Annette. “Somebody who can be a good role model and who takes them seriously. Who better than Arlene?”
Annette invited Cantor to be present at Joshua’s birth last fall to answer several needs. “After my mother died last spring – and she had been at Hannah’s birth – it was a real hole to fill. Ben is a wonderful partner, but I wanted to have another woman there because I feel it is a fundamentally female thing to do. She knew instinctively how to be absolutely perfect. As soon as Joshua came out she blessed the moment.”
The Vollraths will celebrate with the whole congregation on Saturday, May 17, when we honor Cantor Arlene Bernstein atA Musical Night in Jerusalem for her
10 years of inspired leadership at CBI.
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How Cantor Bernstein Inspired Musician Jeremy Gimbel
 When Jeremy Gimbel became a Bar Mitzvah at CBI, he didn’t expect to find a career, or a mentor on the bimah.
“You could be a rabbi or a cantor,” the rabbi commented as he and Gimbel stood in front of the Ark at Third and Laurel. “I’d never given it a thought before,” Gimbel said. Cantor Bernstien was new to CBI and Gimbel, the son of long-time members, Joanne and Ken Gimbel, was already involved with Jewish music through Camps Swig and Newman and the CBI ShowBiz youth theatre program. But for the next decade it was Cantor Bernstein who encouraged and guided him and became his clergy model as his talents matured.
“Having Cantor Bernstein here greatly enriched my musical experiences,” he said. He recalled one Friday night service, when he was rehearsing a Niggun with the Friday Night Chai band. The band reached one of those sweet moments when the sound of the music and the awareness of the band members were combining to create something special. Cantor recognized the moment and suggested the band keep playing into the opening of the service, so the moment wasn’t lost, but extended to the congregation. “It was so organic,” Gimbel said. “She doesn’t limit what we’re doing, she encourages us to expand musically. Some people say ‘Make it sound like this.’ She doesn’t do that.”
Now in his last year at UC Davis, Gimbel is an experienced musician and song leader. He is the editor of Birkon Mikdash M’at, the first NFTY bencher (a portable booklet of blessings and songs). He will spend next summer teaching song-leading at Reform camps before spending a year in Jewish community work. Then, he hopes to attend Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion for rabbinic school.
 Jeremy plans to incorporate what he’s learned from Cantor into his rabbinic career, teaching by giving clues and keeping the energy, mood and sanctity of spiritual moments intact. He hopes you’ll join him in celebrating the ten year anniversary of our beloved Cantor Bernstein at A Musical Night in Jerusalem in her honor on May 17. |
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