Cantor Hinda Labovitz decided that she wanted to be a cantor halfway through cantorial school, like many of her friends and family members knew she would.
She joined Ohr Kodesh Congregation in June 2014 with a desire to combine her three loves: education, Judaism and music.
“The moments that I love most about my job are when I’m engaged in those three things,” Labovitz said.
Lizabeth Wagger, Ohr Kodesh’s president, can recall first hearing Labovitz’s singing during the search for a new cantor.
“I just remember her beautiful alto voice,” Wagger said.
She said Labovitz was the perfect fit for the Chevy Chase congregation, which sought a cantor with tunes and the ability to encourage participation: “We are a congregation that wants to sing along with our cantor.”
Now, Labovitz is being honored for more than a decade of service. The Ohr Kodesh community will hold a Feb. 8 gala of musical performances, dinner and dancing, with the opportunity for guests to sponsor new ritual objects in Labovitz’s honor.
Leading services is one of Labovitz’s favorite aspects of the job. When she plans a service or makes a musical decision during a service, she said she thinks about the people in the room, from a congregant who enjoys a certain tune to another who likes a text sung in a particular way.
“If I’m even able to make eye contact with them while we’re doing that, I feel like there’s these little moments of connection,” Labovitz said. “A service is not just text with music. It’s not a song. It’s moments of connection that get to be all strung together like a string of freshwater pearls.”
Wagger said Labovitz’s biggest challenge at the start of her tenure was growing the synagogue’s Alvin Browdy Religious School. As both the cantor and religious school director at Ohr Kodesh for eight years, Labovitz has seen “monumental growth in [the shul’s] youngest demographic” — the religious school that once had 24 students now serves more than 100.
“I invested a lot of energy early on in the growth of the school, partnering with each of our rabbis; it’s never been just me,” Labovitz said. “I’m blessed to have been partners with two incredible rabbis and with an amazing staff team.”
Because of Ohr Kodesh’s growth over recent years, there are lots of b’nai mitzvah students tasked with learning Torah. Labovitz has taught these fifth graders and some adults and even done some voice coaching.
“I’m hopefully grounding our students in their tradition through this avenue of music,” Labovitz said.
Wagger, whose three sons attended religious school under Labovitz’s leadership, said she regularly receives positive feedback about the cantor who doubled as religious school director.
“Every parent and every student has said how much they enjoy working with our clergy, but Cantor Labovitz in particular,” Wagger said. “[She is] very flexible, [asking] ‘What would the child like to do? What is the child comfortable with? You don’t have to do more than you can, but we want you to do as much as you want to.’”
Parents in the Ohr Kodesh community appreciate her flexibility and the fact that the clergy “doesn’t have a cookie-cutter approach,” Wagger added.
In addition to mentoring fifth graders, Labovitz works with congregants of all ages, as the synagogue has become largely multigenerational.
Labovitz has personally been impacted by being a part of the Ohr Kodesh community, especially during a difficult time for her family: Her son, Ronen, died at 39 days old in 2019.
“The Ohr Kodesh community showed up for us in ways that I could never thank them enough for,” Labovitz said. “I mean, I think we had meals for six months. … The community is one that cares very deeply for each other.”
She added that any time a member of the synagogue has a new baby or medical issue, someone will set up a “meal train” for that person, “and unless you access them [to donate a meal] in the first 10 minutes, you’re not going to get a slot.”
“They showed up in food, they showed up in coloring books for my kids and minyans three times a day every day of shiva and then welcomed us back into the community lovingly even during COVID,” Labovitz said.
In the weeks and months after Ronen’s death, multiple people approached Labovitz to talk about their losses or miscarriages, in what she calls “living our grief out loud.” She said she is grateful for these conversations because infant loss is seen as a taboo subject.
Labovitz, who is working on a book about Ronen’s life and bereaved parenting in biblical literature, said Ohr Kodesh community members have read her writing and offered feedback.
“I don’t know what it would have been like to go through that experience anywhere else,” Labovitz said. “This community supported us and continues to support us in many, many ways.”
She looks forward to celebrating with this community at the Saturday gala, where she will give a sermon titled “A View from the Cantors’ Study.”
“I’m not someone who enjoys being in the spotlight or somebody who usually seeks out the spotlight, although my job very much is in the center of the room on the bimah, and it feels really good to be recognized and to be honored,” Labovitz said.
I think its wonderful to hear good things about my Ima, cantor hinda labovitz