To the Editor,

This past Friday evening, there was a very moving service of Beit Shirah (“House of Song”) in celebration of Jon Sobel’s 25th anniversary as Cantor of Temple B’nai Chaim in Georgetown.

That Jon has been the principal cantor for his congregation while holding a very responsible IT position at Yale (his Yale undergraduate major was computer science) is truly remarkable. His background as a Whiffenpoof undoubtedly helped, but it is a daunting task to master the repertoire required of a cantor in any circumstances and especially while also holding a full-time job. And it is also daunting to be involved in the range of congregational activities that a cantor undertakes “in the ordinary course,” easily filling Friday evenings through Sundays with services and teaching.

Cantor Jon has done all of that enormously faithfully and successfully as the multiple testimonials to his work during this service reflected. His own remarks in appreciation of this recognition explained in moving terms why:  “Music helps us reach out to a realm beyond…to connect to the Divine and to each other.” And Cantor Jon did exactly that for all of us privileged to be present at this service — whether he performed solo, or was accompanied by his elder son and also by Rabbi Rachel Bearman in beautiful duets, or by the whole congregation in the dozen pieces sung during the course of the service.

And those of us who have come to view Cantor Jon and his guitar as inseparable were very surprised to learn at this service that he actually took up the guitar for the first time only in 1990 when a particular setting of Shalom Rav that he loves (and performed again at this 25th anniversary service) “needed a guitar accompaniment.” His solo performance of R’tzei Bim’nuchateinu illustrates his remarkable cantor skills that require operatic-quality singing, while the more accessible works for congregational singing, such as those by the renowned Cantor Debbie Friedman (who only recent passed away), are also an important part of a cantor’s repertoire and were very much a part of this service.

Cantor Jon also wrote a special composition for this service to the words of Lamdeini Elohai, that is, in his words, “a prayer asking God to teach us the wonder of creation and to keep that wonder fresh in us.” His piece in haunting beautiful and fits perfectly the words of that prayer, “Teach me, O God, a blessing, a prayer…on the freedom to see, to sense, to breathe, to know, to hope, to despair. Teach me a blessing, a hymn of praise, as each morning and night You renew Your days….”

Cantor Jon’s reach has also extended into the community beyond the Temple’s walls. Each year for the past twenty, he and Rabbi Bearman (and before her, Rabbi Leah Cohen) have welcomed confirmation students from St. Matthew’s Episcopal, Wilton Presbyterian, and Zion’s Hill United Methodist Churches to the Temple to learn more about Judaism and its liturgy. Cantor Jon’s explanations and music performances for them, along with the Rabbi’s discussions, have always been a highlight for youth in these confirmation programs. Cantor Jon also performed at the Kiwanis December Holidays Concerts. He was selected for that role by concert committee chair Judy Zucker, who is a great opera lover and knows outstanding voices when she hears them. In his performances in two successive years (and it was a rarity for anyone to be included in “back-to-back” annual performances for those concerts over two successive years), Cantor Jon would not only perform beautifully in solos but also engage the entire audience that packed the Clune Center’s huge auditorium in very popular sing-alongs that one year included a Sephardic piece with a lively Latin beat!

Cantor Jon’s service has been, and remains, a blessing to all of us, whether members of the Temple or of the larger community that Cantor Jon’s service also enriches so magnificently.

Sincerely,

Steve Hudspeth