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Debbie Friedman Tributes

1,500 raise voices in song to remember Debbie Friedman

As the piano struck the first notes of Debbie Friedman’s “Elohai N’Shama,” Cantor Linda Kates paused before the approximately 1,500 people gathered in the sanctuary at Valley Beth Shalom (VBS) and recalled a story about how the late singer-songwriter energized a crowd of Jewish students while teaching them the song.

Debbie Friedman: She will be missed

Composer, Jewish liturgist, singer-songwriter, prayer leader extraordinaire, member of the lgbt community–Debbie touched our lives in ways too many to count. It was Debbie Friedman who taught the liberal Jewish world to pray for healing and just as there were special prayers offered worldwide (including at BCC) over the last few days for her healing, so now will there be prayers offered with the intent to comfort the many who mourn her loss, and to bring her soul to rest under the wings of Shekhinah.

In loving memory of our chazzan, Debbie Friedman

When the New Reform Congregation [now Temple Kol Tikvah in Woodland Hills] was established in 1984, Debbie was our chazzan for 3 years. She responded, and the congregation was thrilled, as truly “the old dreamed new dreams and the youth saw visions.” Our shul was “alive to the sound of music” to Debbie\’s presence and her music. Debbie gave voice to the voiceless through her voice and her passion for justice.

Debbie Friedman: Memorial donations

To all of Debbie’s beloved fans who have inquired about making donations in her memory: A number of years ago, Debbie established the Renewal of Spirit Foundation with the goal of manifesting her life’s work and all that she stood for. Now, donations to the Renewal of Spirit Foundation will enable the projects that Debbie was working on at the time of her death to be completed. These funds will also support future projects reflecting her passions and commitments.

Debbie Friedman: And She Shall Be a Blessing

“I am a Jew because in spite of all the hatred and violence in this world, I believe we must hope and live together as if the world were sheltered beneath the wings of the Shekhinah,” Debbie Friedman wrote as part of her response to the final words of journalist Daniel Pearl in “I Am Jewish: Personal Reflections Inspired by the Last Words of Daniel Pearl,” compiled and edited by Ruth and Judea Pearl, the writer’s parents, and published by Jewish Lights Publishing.

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More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.