It was quite literally a touching moment as Cantor Inbal Sharett-Singer sang with Temple Beth Ami’s preschoolers and joined fingertips with the dozens of four-year-olds.
Sharett-Singer had been visiting the Rockville Reform synagogue as an interviewee for the open cantorial role. One of her tasks? To sing with the shul’s preschool students.
“She took her forefinger and pointed it in the middle where [the Gan Ami kids] could reach, and she asked all the kids to touch their finger to hers,” Rabbi Gary Pokras, the temple’s senior rabbi, recalled.
It’s the moment Pokras knew that he’d found the synagogue’s new cantor.
“It was so powerful, this sense of connection — everyone coming together in such a pure way. That’s when I knew we had found someone really special,” Pokras said.
Sharett-Singer also fondly remembers that interaction.
“Some kids hugged me and said hello, and they were just so warm and sweet,” she said. “I went to my hotel room that night and [got] a feeling that this is where I belong. … And I just fell instantly in love.”
Sharett-Singer became Temple Beth Ami’s cantor on July 1, traveling more than 1,000 miles from Minneapolis to Rockville. But she feels right at home.
“I’m so happy to be on the clergy team [and] very grateful my family is a part of the community,” Sharett-Singer said. “We’ve been embraced so thoughtfully and beautifully by the congregation and my clergy team and the staff.”
Cantorial soloist Dan Lee has filled in for the past year at Temple Beth Ami since Cantor Larry Eschler’s departure. Lee will remain at the congregation for High Holiday services and continue as a song leader in the religious school.
The Temple Beth Ami community had certain criteria in mind for a permanent cantor: someone they found very warm and relatable with a “real presence on the bimah” and who would invite participation and make worship accessible, according to Debbie Ezrin, Temple Beth Ami’s executive director.
“[Members] wanted a voice they could sing along with and somebody who could engage musically with congregants at every stage of life,” Ezrin said.
“We were searching for someone who felt like she was already part of the family, who could become an integral part of the congregation,” Pokras said.
Ezrin and Pokras both said Sharett-Singer checked every box, from her warmth to her ability to connect through music: “Sometimes I feel like she’s a little bit of a walking hug,” Pokras said of the cantor.
Born and raised in Israel, Sharett-Singer brings more than a decade of cantorial experience. She most recently served as the senior cantor at Temple Israel in Minneapolis and as cantor at Riverdale Temple in New York.
“Cantor Sharett-Singer has a real Yiddish neshama — a real Jewish soul,” Pokras said. “She has warmth. She has a sense of connection about her that’s beautiful. And our worship has been just so deeply spiritual and prayerful; it’s wonderful.”
She’s also a seasoned musician, having performed at the United Nations, Stand Up for Heroes alongside Bruce Springsteen and a Minnesota Twins game.
Her current task is to get to know the Temple Beth Ami community.
“The goal is to become more acclimated to her role here, and learn about who we are, what matters to us, and then reflect on her own talents and bandwidth to expand on what we’re doing,” Ezrin said.
“My goal is to … embrace myself in the history of the synagogue, cherish everything done before me, and embellish upon it and be part of it,” Sharett-Singer said. “My goal is to continue having these meaningful, rich musical moments and to make it even more of an inclusive singing community.”
She joins “amazing musicians” in the building, from a “wonderful band of volunteers” known as the Shabbatones to an “incredible” musical group.
“My goal is to work with all the musical groups of the synagogue to craft an even more beautiful, meaningful, inclusive, joyful prayer together, and to empower the congregational voice so we can continue to deepen our hearts and pray together,” she said.
These aspirations align with what Pokras wants for Temple Beth Ami.
“I think music is the language of the soul and our ability to connect spiritually, whether it’s with God or each other or our innermost selves,” Pokras said. “It’s tied in very deep ways to how we express ourselves through prayer, through music. My goal has always been to deepen and strengthen those connections, and [Sharett-Singer is] already doing that.”
He added that her singing constantly fosters “deep spirituality.” Sharett-Singer will not only use her voice to sing, but also to teach the students in Gan Ami and the religious school, and then, eventually, adult education programs.
For now, the community is deep in preparation for the holiest days of the Jewish calendar.
“We’re looking for a joyful High Holiday experience, one that is transformative, and this one with a brand-new member of our clergy for the first time in a very long time,” Ezrin said. “I think people are really hopeful and moving forward to a meaningful holiday season.”
“We are looking forward to many, many wonderful years together and have both great optimism and enthusiasm for the future,” Pokras said.
