Musical Clergy Search

Latest Updates:

Candidate Weekends:

• Cantor Josh Ehrlich - March 2 - 5 -  View Schedule for Visit and Read Cantor Ehrlich's bio here
• Rabbi Jessica Kate Meyer - February 23-26 - Read Rabbi Meyer's bio here

January 5, 2023:

Our Musical Clergy Search is moving into high gear, and our committee is engaged in conversation with several intriguing and promising candidates. They each bring different talents and passions. Some are most energized by inspiring us within the sanctuary; others are most passionate about exploring the richness of Jewish music in any setting. Some are highly trained vocalists; others, ba’alei tefillah (prayer leaders) who focus on meaningful congregational singing. Some have spent their careers in synagogues like ours; others have worked primarily in less traditional institutions, building Jewish identity and commitment from the ground up. Interestingly, some of our strongest, most musical candidates were ordained not as cantors but as rabbis.

Our recruitment efforts remain active and applications are still coming in. That said, the Search Committee has conducted several second-round interviews, and we have advanced two candidates to onsite visits with the full committee in the next two weeks. We expect to bring in at least two or three more candidates for similar visits. Once finalists are determined, we anticipate presenting them to the congregation for full weekends during the month of February, and we welcome your engagement, participation, and conversation throughout this journey. In preparation for the weekend visits, we would like to share with you the Search Committee’s articulated vision of Chizuk’s musical leadership, a summary of which is found below. Help us assess our candidates and determine the right fit for us. Please reach out to either of us at search@chizukamuno.org, or to any member of the Search Committee, with your questions, concerns, and advice.

Joel Suldan and Meira Silverstein
Co-Chairs, Musical Clergy Search Committee

December 2022:
The Musical Clergy Search Committee is actively and broadly recruiting, and we’re pleased to report that of the many applications we’ve received, several appear to be quite promising. The committee has spoken with each applicant, and we have already scheduled second-round interviews.  Candidates who move on to the next stage will be invited for a one-day visit, during which time they will meet with the full Committee as well as members of the senior staff of the Shul and our schools. For the final round, the most promising candidates will then be invited to spend a Shabbat with us, most likely during February, when they will lead us in prayer and study, interact with adults and students alike, and field questions from members of the Congregation and our Board of Trustees.  Stay tuned for further information!

Recruitment efforts are continuing, so if you know of anyone you believe would be a good match for us, please encourage them to contact us at search@chizukamuno.org or leave a message with Chizuk’s main office: (410) 486-6400. We welcome applications from candidates of all genders, orientations, and backgrounds.

Meira Silverstein
Joel Suldan
Co-Chairs, Musical Leader Search Committee

What We Seek:

Chizuk Amuno has a long, rich musical heritage, of which we are deeply proud. We seek a musical leader who will help us evolve that heritage to create an inspiring musical culture within our synagogue and schools. The person who fills this position will need to be passionate about the ability of music to energize and unite a synagogue community and to elevate the prayer experience. They will need to be an enthusiastic learner and teacher of traditional and contemporary melodies. They will model a life of Torah and Jewish commitment. Perhaps more than anything else the person who fills this position will know how to build community. They will be excited about developing strong relationships with the leaders, teachers, and students within our schools, and with as many as possible of our members. They will want to inspire congregants to be active, vocal singers and daveners from our seats in the sanctuary, and will enjoy teaching them to lead services from the bimah. They will work enthusiastically with young people from preschool through high school, helping them find regular ongoing roles in the congregation’s liturgical life and ensuring that they will never feel like a stranger in any Jewish service.

Job Requirements:

Specific duties will include:

• develop and lead the implementation of a plan for infusing our services with spirit and soul, bringing new energy to our regular attendees and increasing our attractiveness to those who have not been fully inspired by our current offerings
• infuse the revitalizing energy of Jewish music into our services, our schools, our programs, and the lives of our members
• collaborate with staff and lay leaders across all parts of our congregation and schools to mobilize enthusiasm for this project
• create roles for students of all ages within our services so they come to feel more at home in our sanctuary
• teach our congregants the melodies and skills that will enable them to become more active participants in our liturgical life
• demonstrate, in and out of the sanctuary, how traditional and contemporary Jewish music can touch us deeply and enhance our connections to the divine and to each other
• cultivate rich relationships with congregants
• serve as a frequent (though certainly not the only) sh’liach tzibur for Shabbat and holidays

The individual who holds the position will be involved with b’nai mitzvah students, but will not have direct responsibility for b’nai mitzvah tutoring or for administering the training program.

We welcome candidates of all genders, orientations, and backgrounds.

Musical Leader Search Committee

Co-chair Meira Silverstein
Co-chair Joel Suldan
Rachael Abrams
Sam Andorsky
Yifaat Asher
Adam Baumwald
Brian Block
Bob Hallock
Ted Merwin
Sam Moskowitz
David Roffman
Barbara Scott
Michael Temchine
Lynn Tucker
Joshua Weisberg