On this week’s 51%, we continue our series talking to women religious leaders. Rabbi Debora Gordon discusses how music can help build connection and community.  And we also speak with soferet Julie Seltzer about the art of writing and transcribing holy Jewish texts.  

Guests: Rabbi Debora Gordon, Congregation Berith Sholom; Julie Seltzer, STAM Scribes

51% is a national production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio. It's produced by Jesse King. Our executive producer is Dr. Alan Chartock, and our theme is "Lolita" by the Albany-based artist Girl Blue.

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You’re listening to 51%, a WAMC production dedicated to women’s issues and experiences. Thanks for tuning in, I’m Jesse King. This week, we continue our series speaking to women religious leaders, and celebrate the different ways that women worship - particularly across faiths that may be traditionally male-led. 

Our first guest today has been the rabbi at Troy, New York’s Congregation Berith Sholom for almost 25 years. Rabbi Debora Gordon, aka “Reb Deb,” has been hard at work bringing renovations to Berith Sholom (the congregation currently resides in the state’s oldest building in continuous use as a synagogue), and she’s been brushing up on her technical knowledge to keep members connected with hybrid services during the coronavirus pandemic. 

At the time of our conversation, the delta and omicron variants of COVID-19 were on the rise ahead of the holiday season — so you’ll notice that I kept my mask on as we met in person. But Gordon was eager to share the ways her congregation has come together during these pandemic times. She says female rabbis aren’t uncommon nowadays, especially in progressive, Reform congregations like hers. But she found herself on the path toward becoming a rabbi before that was the case, at a young age. She says she got into it for the community. 

What made you want to become a rabbi?

It started out that when I was at a Jewish summer camp. I was just a little bit more interested in the ritual part of things. And, you know, celebrating Shabbat, Sabbath, or any other of the Jewish pieces. I mean, we were 12, maybe, [and people were saying], "Are you going to be a rabbi when you grow up?" And the funny thing is that, aside from Regina Jonas, who was ordained in the 1930s, in Berlin, and didn't survive the war, the first woman was ordained a rabbi in 1972. So this would have been like '74/'75. None of us had probably ever met a woman rabbi. The funny thing is that it never occurred to us that I couldn't be a rabbi.

As I got into college, I discovered that one of my skills, just because of the home I was raised in, was leading services with a lot of music, integrating music and words, and nurturing the community that way. And I had to decide, actually, cantor or rabbi? And while music was my first way in, what I decided was, "Rabbis talk, cantors sing." Which is super simplified, [but] I had things to say. Over time, it turns out that I have all kinds of skills that nurture community.

What's an example of a song that you particularly like?

Well, besides the fact that there are 100 million of them. So here's one that I reintroduced on Friday night. I don't know why it came back into my head after several years of not being around, but it's the last line of the book of Psalms. At the end, there's "Hallelujah," so you say "jah" at the end. That's a name for God. That's like a breath, right? You're supposed to actually pronounce that "jah," sound at the end. So it goes:

[Gordon singing Halelu]

But what's really magical about [that song]? That tune was created by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who is Pakistani, I think. But someone, possibly Jewish contemporary Jewish songwriter Craig Taubman, brought together this Sufi chant, and these words — because the original words were "Allahu," so invoking God, by the name of Allah, which is a cognate, to the Hebrew "Eloah," and