Hanukkah (spelled various ways, Chanukah is also popular) is a holiday of history, legend, miracles and inspiration. In many ways, the modern state of Israel is a modern Maccabee. Let me explain. After the death of King Solomon, the kingdom of Israel split in two, later Babylon conquered half, destroyed the First Temple and the […]
Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom
I grew up in a very Jewishly musical family- I knew my great grandfather Pinchas , lived in Kalisz, Poland ,was a hazzan/shochet, a cantor and a butcher because in those days you needed a real day job- so many were knowledgeable rabbis and cantors- I knew my grandfather was a famous cantor who […]
A German Bridge of Friendship
A German Bridge of Friendship Some stories cannot be scripted, predicted or imagined. This is one of them. My son Joey showed an interest in learning the German language during middle school when a language was needed to be chosen. Why German? Our family had lost over 70 members on my father’s side […]
Songs of the season, and of the spirit
If not now, when? It is a question people often ask themselves about things they would like to do “someday,” especially when they learn of the death of someone they know. And so it was for Cantor Deborah Katchko-Gray of Temple Shearith Israel in Ridgefield earlier this year. A fourth-generation cantor who had done many […]
Four CDS, Four Bucket List Checks!
Time is precious- we all know that. Sometimes we feel the race of time more keenly than other times. When we are young in years, we have no fear of our final days, no awareness that this journey may have an end to it. As we get older, reading obituaries and breathing a sigh of […]
A Cantorial Musical Reunion
A family journey continues with a cantor’s cousin reunion By Cantor Deborah Katchko-Gray 2006 There are moments in life that seem to transcend time. Growing up I would never have imagined that I would actually meet someone from my family who knew about life before the Holocaust. I have always been interested in my […]
Talented Teens, Our Next Generation!
A recent article I wrote for American Conference of Cantors: Engaging and inspiring our youth has always been a passion of mine. As cantors, we realize there has to be someone after us to continue our love of Jewish music! I’ve heard many wonderful choirs at cantors’ conventions and occasionally, a great youth choir. It […]
Lessons from Professor Wiesel
Don’t identify with all 6,000,000 it is too great. Identify with ONE. If everyone of us could live for one of them, it would be a victory- Your life will be full of meaning- Live a doubly Jewish life for one who could not light candles, say a prayer, sing a Jewish song, hold a […]
Our Patriarch Has Left Us
Our Patriarch has left us- he has left us a lifetime of memories, of kindness, a legacy of education, culture, dedication to health and fitness, a vibrancy and love of life, and a unique gift to all of us here today remembering our beloved Ted, Grandpa, Uncle Ted, Dr. Theodore Zimmerman, Dad, and for me, […]
Sparks of the Divine Again
Sparks of the Divine Again September 30, 2013 Growing up in a cantorial home, it was one of my greatest delights to sit at the kitchen or dining room table with my beloved father of blessed memory, Cantor Theodore Katchko, and listen to him record prayers for me. It was mostly during my first year […]