For Senior Rabbi Susan Shankman and Senior Cantor Susan Bortnick, “work wives” just doesn’t cut it.
The two clergy members have been working side by side at Washington Hebrew Congregation for 25 years now.
“I feel so very blessed,” the senior rabbi said.
In 2001, as Bortnick was graduating from cantorial school, WHC was hiring. She was enthusiastic for a chance to study with then-senior cantor Mikhail Manevich, who had an “amazing reputation” serving the WHC community from 1989 to 2020.
“That’s why I came to Washington Hebrew: to have that opportunity to learn from a cantor who had been out in the field for a while,” Bortnick said.
As Shankman finished rabbinical school, she sought a role in a large congregation: “I grew up in a large congregation.”
She had worked in some small student pulpits, but “really wanted to be part of a team.” Shankman knew some former classmates who worked at WHC and raved about the community and opportunities for professional development.
“I really loved what Washington Hebrew represented [and] what the community had to offer,” she said.
The two crossed paths at the Reform temple in Washington, D.C., along with Rabbi Joui Hessel, who had been ordained as a rabbi at the same time.
“All three of us started on the same day when we came into the congregation,” Shankman said.
For 13 years, Shankman, Bortnick and Hessel worked together on a team that included three men, forming what Shankman fondly referred to as a “Brady Bunch.”
“I believe that that is part of the reason that both Cantor Bortnick and I are still here today — that sense of collegiality, collaboration and that sense of team,” Shankman said. “We started as a kind of freshman class — a freshwoman class — all together, and that made it really special.”
“One of the benefits of having come to WHC together and having grown up here together, and gone through the same trials and tribulations over the last 25 years together, there is an innate trust that we have with each other,” Bortnick said. “The partnership with Sue that I have … really makes coming to work so pleasant.”
Shankman said the two complement each other well and keep one another on top of things. Sometimes, the cantor will suggest sermon topics to the rabbi, or the two will think through an idea together.
“We both have a very strong sense of history and legacy,” Shankman said, adding that WHC is nearing its 175th anniversary. “People talk about work spouses. I mean, there’s something beyond that. [Bortnick] really is my work partner.”
In addition to leading services and other synagogue events together, Shankman and Bortnick led a March to Bring Them Home on the National Mall in December 2024, rallying dozens of community members to demand the “immediate return” of the hostages held in Gaza.
They also took part in a clergy cohort at the Institute for Jewish Spirituality for a year and a half.
“We were engaged in a worship initiative for a number of years, rethinking how we did worship — not just for Shabbat, but in general — with a focus on Shabbat,” Bortnick said.
The senior rabbi and cantor incorporated what they learned through the Institute and the worship initiative into their work at WHC. “Having that sense of understanding and partnership has really benefited all of us and what we’ve been able to do,” Shankman said.
The duo will be honored at a May 29 Shabbat celebration at WHC.
“We are so proud of what our Friday evening Shabbat celebration has become that … we want to highlight that,” Bortnick said. “Everything that we’re doing is being incorporated into a normal Friday worship experience here at WHC.”
She said attendees can expect “a whole ton of joy and warmth and love that is going to be palpable.”
“There’s a lot of goodwill towards us, which we both already feel,” Bortnick said.
“Twenty-five years in, I’m still so excited about what we have yet to do,” Shankman said.
