As a student at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, I learned from my beloved teacher Cantor Benjie Ellen Schiller that Jewish music has three distinctive moods that allow us to express the innermost yearnings of our hearts: music that is majestic, music that is meditative, and music that creates a space for meeting.

Majestic music, like Avinu Malkeinu or the Kedusha, helps us to connect to our awe of God and our wonder about the mysteries of the universe. Meditative music, like a simple Yiddish niggun or the trance-like Mizrahi Adon HaSelichot, can connect us to the deepest parts of ourselves and our souls. And music of meeting, like the warm Hinei Ma Tov or Shalom Aleichem melodies that open our Friday evening services, have the simple power of connecting us in song to our beloved community.

To Cantor Schiller’s list I would add a fourth “M”: the music of memory. In so many of our encounters over the past five years, many of you have shared with me your favorite Jewish melody or the traditional tune of your childhood synagogue. As your new Senior Cantor, it is my great honor and privilege to both protect those sacred musical memories—all moments of majesty, meditation, and meaning themselves—and to bring our community together to create new memories around both the traditional and ever-evolving music of our People.

While I have been blessed to get to know many of you these past five years, we will have many more opportunities this year to gather and to share songs and stories. My innermost prayer is that we, as a community, will grow as we worship, sing, learn, and connect, sharing old and creating new memories together along the way.

Installation of Senior Cantor Emma Lutz

Friday January 21, 2022, at 6:15 p.m.

Join the Wise clergy and community for a special evening of music and celebration as we officially install Cantor Emma Lutz as Wise’s new Senior Cantor with the help of Cantor Richard Cohn, Director of the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music (Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York), and other extraordinary cantors and musical guests from around the country.

Special Musical Shabbat featuring Elana Arian, Guest Artist in Residence

Friday, February 11, 2022, at 6:15 p.m.

Wise welcomes back renowned Jewish artist and composer Elana Arian for a spectacular musical Shabbat featuring the Stephen Wise Temple band and the talented young singers of our schools and youth programs.

UCLA Concert Series Featuring Cantor Emma Lutz

Spring 2022 (Date TBA)

Havdalah Concert on Nahmias Plaza with Cantor Lutz and Cantorial Intern Josh Goldberg

Spring 2022 (Date TBA)

Join us for an evening of Havdalah and spectacular melodies featuring our Wise musical team as well as cantors and musical guests from the Los Angeles Jewish community.

Jubilee Celebration: 50 Years of Women in the Reform Rabbinate

Friday, June 3, 2022, at 6:15 p.m.

Rabbi Sally Priesand was ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion on June 3, 1972. To mark the 50th anniversary of this historic moment, join Cantor Emma Lutz and Rabbi Sari Laufer to sing, learn, and celebrate in a special Shabbat evening service, featuring female rabbis and cantors from across Los Angeles.