Senior Rabbi Ben Spratt and Senior Cantor Shayna De Lowe
5.20.2022
BEN:
The story of tonight is really the story of this community. Ours is the story of two people seeking a home of belonging, only to find it within these walls. In many ways, this is the same story that sparked this entire community. We enter now the 180th year of Congregation Rodeph Sholom. We recall a circle of 20 German Jewish immigrants sparking a center of belonging, helping cohere and acculturate those reaching for a better life. As needs and realities evolved, we would move from Clinton Street to Lexington Avenue to West 83rd Street, moving from Orthodoxy, to Conservative, and to the Reform movement. Each generation of leadership recentering on the needs and power of people daring to reach and strive together.
SHAYNA:
We recall the sounds and textures of German sermons and the slow creep of English, and then even the radical reembrace of Hebrew into our liturgy. We hold the melodies of German drinking songs, the celestial sounds of the golden age of chazanut, and the folk melodies of song sessions and communal singing. We draw on generations of clergy who challenged our structures and priorities to meet the responsibilities of helping establish the State of Israel, addressing homelessness and food insecurity in New York, and the urgency of educational excellence in our neighborhood.
BEN:
More than 70 years ago, Rabbi Louis Newman wrote a reflection on the realities of his leadership. By that point, two decades into his senior rabbinate of this congregation, he said, “We are living in the era of the New Jew in a New Age…[and the task of the clergyperson is] that we may avail ourselves of the opportunities and the challenges of the new epoch.” Throughout his writings and sermons, for Rabbi Newman there were two driving purposes of 20th century American Judaism: integration into American society and the establishment of the State of Israel. Seventy years later, even amidst the continued scourge of anti-Semitism, Jews consistently poll as the most well liked religious group in America. What was then but a dream is now a new dynamic reality. Today, Jews can lead any industry and run for president without question. Israel, despite present and continual threats to her security and democracy, is a global force of might and industry. While there is plenty of work to be done, the existential purposes that defined prior generations of Jews have been achieved. Achieved because of the dedication, the courage, and the generosity of those who came before us who dared to dream.
SHAYNA:
And so, in telling this story tonight, we must center on gratitude, honoring the service and striving that brings us to this moment. We celebrate the generations of clergy – rabbis and cantors – who devoted their lives to the work of shaping this sacred community. We celebrate the generations of educators, who raised learning as our most precious investment. We celebrate our staff, security, maintenance teams, executive directors, and the myriad professionals who pour their lives into the sanctity of every space, every invoice, every phone call, knowing and believing that the grand experiment of community-creation is made by millions of dedicated moments.
BEN:
The heart of this congregation, as all of our clergy and professionals know, beats because of the commitment of the community itself, those willing to be creators themselves. We honor the generations of present and past presidents, officers, trustees, committee chairs, volunteers. We celebrate each person who noticed the absence of another, each person who tried to open wider the doors of belonging, each congregant who gave and gives of themselves to the collective work of community building.
SHAYNA:
We have grown up within these walls alongside colleagues and congregants, our Rodeph Sholom family. What you may not realize is how much we ourselves needed this, needed a home that reminds us of the best of human capacity, a place that taught us what it really means to belong. This place is what it is because of each of you, each person who makes CRS a priority, and we want you to know that we see you and are grateful for you.
BEN:
We are regularly inspired and supported by so many friends and colleagues beyond these walls – those who model for us faith and fortitude, love and laughter. From so many walks and stripes and backgrounds, we are blessed by study partners, kindred spirits, and the many who make up our larger sense of belonging.
SHAYNA:
We are grateful to our parents, our siblings, our families of origin, some of whom are here with us tonight in body, others in spirit and memory– you supported us on rather atypical life journeys, witnessing our wanderings and searchings, and helping us believe in the paths we choose to follow.
BEN:
We are supported and nurtured by our respective families, as well as the larger Spratt-De Lowe family unit. To our incredible wives, Micah and Melissa, we know that what you give and do on any given day makes all of this possible. With all that your careers, our families, and our craziness demands of both of you, you rise and inspire us to keep reaching and dreaming. To our beloved children, Ayalah, Jonah, Amichai, and Noa, thank you for being you—for loving us and each other the way you do, for being our beacons of hope when we need it most, and for bringing so much joy into our hearts and homes.
SHAYNA:
The story of tonight is the story of transformation. In many ways we stand before you as examples of the transformation of our Jewish world and community. We are the Utah-and Missouri-born rabbi and cantor who hail from mixed-faith families. We lack the pedigree of multi-generational Jewish movement connections, but we bear the example of our families modelling for us how to build meaningful Jewish experience ourselves. Prior generations might not have imagined that a former farm girl and a former yeshiva boy would be the ones standing here tonight. This story, the story of us rising as the Senior clergy of this institution…it is a story that could not have been told at any other time in our history.
BEN:
We stand here at the dawn of an American Jewish awakening, with a new set of challenges and opportunities, a new landscape before us. American Judaism is becoming more diverse, more cultural, more spiritual, more Jewishly proud, with more complex perspectives about American politics, justice, Israel, and ritual than any prior generation.
SHAYNA:
As conversions to Judaism rise, as new approaches to Jewish learning and life and community bloom, as Jewish communities are comprised of people who are Jewish, Jewishly adjacent, Jewishly-curious, or not Jewish but living with Jewish values and tools, we need a new driving purpose. Our world is changing at an accelerating rate. More than ever, a wisdom tradition of depth and complexity may give us a compass that sets our sights on a shared horizon. In a world of division and fragmentation, when thickness of relationship is rare and pandemic has driven distance, we believe Rodeph Sholom is poised to be a shining beacon for a new chapter. We will build on our legacy of opening wider our doors of belonging. We will support the lives and the spirits of those in our community by offering Jewish tools as a pathway to thrive.
BEN:
We will see rising generations as trusted leaders and no longer as wayward seekers. We will position Rodeph Sholom as a platform; yes, a house in which people find belonging, but also bringing belonging out into every home. We will raise wisdom and justice as pathways for all who seek. We will see relationship as our most precious blessing and our most necessary responsibility. We will draw on our history and tradition to shape a vibrant vision, one that makes hope a purposeful practice, and empowers us all to live out our namesake: Rodeph Sholom, pursuers of wholeness. We continue the story that birthed this 180-year-old experiment: in seeking belonging, in opening wider our walls, in showcasing the prophetic vision of this being a home for all. And we shape this next chapter, together.
Justin Callis (he/him), our Cantorial Intern, is a fourth-year student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music. He is the recipient of the Reuben Peretz Abelson Prize for dedication to Yiddish Song, the Temple Israel of Boston Cantorial Prize, and the Lee Gura Memorial Prize for Aptitude in Synagogue Choral Music.
Known for his sweet and “sumptuous” (New York Times) tone, American-born Doori Na took up violin at the age of four and began his studies with Li Lin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He quickly made his first performance with orchestra at age seven with the Peninsula Youth Symphony as the first prize winner of the concerto competition. Thereafter Mr. Na went on to win top prizes in The Sound of Music Festival, The Korea Times Youth Music Competition, the Chinese Music Teacher’s Association, The Menuhin Dowling Young Artist Competition, The Junior Bach Festival, VOCE of the Music Teacher’s Association of California, and The Pacific Musical Society. Receiving full scholarships to private high school Crossroads School of Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica, he moved to Los Angeles to study with renown violin teacher, Robert Lipsett, at The Colburn Music School. There he appeared as soloist with the Palisades Symphony, Brentwood Symphony, and Torrance Symphony. During that time, the summer of 2004 was Mr. Na’s first time at the Perlman Music Program where his expression and musical identity were greatly influenced. He has been a part of the program ever since and participated in many of their special residencies in Florida, Vermont, New York, and Israel.
Violinist Michael Roth is a native of Scarsdale, NY and received his early musical training with Frances Magnes at the Hoff-Barthelson Music School. He attended Oberlin College and Conservatory, continuing his studies with Marilyn McDonald. At Oberlin, he won the Kaufman Prize for violin and First Prize in the Ohio String Teacher’s Association Competition. He completed his Master of Music degree at the University of Massachusetts where he worked with the distinguished American violinist and pedagogue Charles Treger and was a recipient of the Julian Olevsky Award. Mr. Roth is currently associate concertmaster of the New York City Ballet Orchestra and has appeared in chamber music and as a soloist with the company, most recently in the debut of “Slice Too Sharp”, a ballet of Biber and Vivaldi violin concerti, and “After the Rain”, violin music of Arvo Part. In addition he is a member of the Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra, Principal 2nd violin of the Westchester Philharmonic, the American Composers Orchestra and the New York Pops. He was concertmaster of the Vermont Mozart Festival Orchestra for many years and often appeared as soloist there, as well as at the Caramoor and Bard Music Festivals. He has played and toured internationally with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and the New York Chamber Soloists.
Sarah Adams, viola, performs locally with the New York Chamber Ensemble, the Claring Chamber Players, the Sherman Chamber Ensemble, the Friends of Mozart, and the Saratoga Chamber Players.
Praised by the New York Times as “irresistible in both music and performance.” flutist, 
Rabbi Mira Weller (she/her) received her ordination at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Los Angeles in May 2022. She studied Culture and Politics at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and received her Master’s in Jewish Education at the Rhea Hirsch School of Education at HUC-JIR. She is the proud recipient of awards for her studies in rabbinic literature, her work in Jewish education, and she was granted the Myrtle Lorch Pfaelzer-Monroe Pfaelzer Award for an Outstanding Female Rabbinical School Student (2022). Rabbi Mira speaks Hebrew and Spanish (so please practice with her!). She has a passion for uncovering new possibilities in the great wealth of our tradition and for making music inspired by Judaism’s many cultures. Her guilty pleasures include cupcakes, classical music, and philosophy.
Alan Goodis is a touring Jewish musician playing over 150 events a year. Born and raised in Toronto, Alan is a proud product of URJ Goldman Union Camp Institute. Noted for his dedication to building relationships and community through music, Alan tours throughout the US to serve as an Artist-In-Residence and performer at Temples, Youth Conventions and Jewish summer camps.
Julie Silver is one of the most celebrated and beloved performers in the world of contemporary Jewish music today. She tours throughout the world, and has been engaging audiences with her gorgeous compositions and liturgical settings, her lyrical guitar playing, her dynamic stage presence, and her megawatt smile for over 25 years.
Dan is a product of the URJ Jewish camping movement. He has toured Jewish summer camps across North America for the last 15 years. A classically trained singer, Dan received his Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance at the University of North Carolina. In 1995, realizing the potential of music to make powerful connections with Jewish youth, Dan established the Jewish rock band Eighteen. Since that time, Dan and Eighteen have released 13 albums. Songs like, L’takein, B’tzelem Elo-him, Kehillah Kedoshah, Chazak, Sweet As Honey, and Asher Yatzar have become Jewish communal anthems throughout North America.
Naomi Less is an internationally celebrated singer/songwriter, ritualist and educator. Beloved for her warm smile and inviting presence, communities celebrate her imagination and innovation, tenderness and pizzazz! Her original music is sung in worship communities worldwide. Naomi serves as Co-Founder, Ritual Leader and Associate Director of Lab/Shul and is a leader in amplifying women’s voices through her work at Songleader Boot Camp and her Jewish Women Rock show on Jewish Rock Radio. Naomiadvocates for people struggling with fertility journeys as a performance artist and speaker for Uprooted: A Jewish Response to Fertility Challenges. Fun fact: Naomi and her husband wrote the song shine/Yivarech’cha, a Friday night blessing, specifically composed for URJ Crane Lake Camp, sung every Friday night in the dining hall.
Her destiny became obvious to Joanie Leeds’ parents when, at the tender age of 2, Joanie grabbed the performer’s mic at a party and belted out the entire song“Tomorrow” from Annie. Jaws dropped! No one could remember ever hearing a big voice like that coming from one so tiny and certainly no one would have thought she would one day earn a GRAMMY® Award for her original music.
A composer, multi-instrumentalist, and prayer leader, Elana Arian is one of the leading voices in contemporary Jewish music. Elana’s music is part of Jewish life across the globe, and her compositions are sung in spiritual communities, summer camps, and synagogues from Louisville to London, from Chicago to the CzechRepublic, and everywhere in between. Elana just released her fourth album of original music, The Other Side of Fear, and her compositions have been published in countless Transcontinental Music collections. Elana serves proudly on the faculty of Hava Nashira (Oconomowoc, WI), the Wexner Heritage Foundation (Aspen, CO), Shirei Chagiga (London, England), and as an instructor at the Hebrew Union College in New York, where she teaches in the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music. Elana has performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Tanglewood, and perhaps most memorably, five separate appearances at the (Obama) White House. She lives in New York with her wife, Julia, and their two daughters, Maya and Acadia.
Known for his unique, engaging, and deeply soulful approach, Noah Aronson is considered one of the most sought after Jewish musicians in North America, making over 65 community appearances each year.
There is a reason why Time Magazine has listed Michelle in their Top Ten list of Jewish rock stars.
Kol B’Seder has been composing and performing contemporary Jewish music since the early1970s. Rabbi Dan Freelander and Cantor Jeff Klepper met as college students; over the past 50years they have released numerous CDs and songbooks. With Debbie Friedman (z”l) and others, they forged a new musical sound for American Jewish camps, schools and synagogues. Their songs, such as “Shalom Rav,” “Modeh Ani,” and “Lo Alecha,” have become traditionalJewish melodies around the world. They are delighted to be inaugurating their fiftieth anniversary celebration by appearing in support of URJ camps, where they first composed and incubated many of their early songs.
New York bassist Roger Wagner enjoys a long and diverse career. As soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral bassist, Mr. Wagner has appeared on many of the world’s great concert stages.
Margaret Kampmeier, 
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Sarah Adams 
Michael Roth
Our initiative for young children and their grown-ups provides a slate of offerings including Shabbat and holiday celebrations, music, classroom readiness programs, and new parent experiences. During the pandemic, we have leaned on $1m of seed funding for Sholom Sprouts established through this campaign as we offer age-appropriate virtual programs for our families with young children, who are the future of our community. We look forward to welcoming our littlest members and their grown-ups back to our new fifth floor, as well as hiring a Program Assistant to increase the capacity of Sholom Sprouts to grow. This program provides a crucial entry-point to the congregation and membership for young families.
