IKAR MUSIC - OUR DAVENING TEAM

At IKAR we believe that music is a central part of how we worship, communicate and celebrate together.

THE REGULARS

Rabbi Sharon Brous
*see rabbi bio

Hillel Tigay Musical Director & Shaliach Tzibur

Hillel was selected to be a University Scholar the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in musicology. He specialized in composition, classical guitar (which he studied in Spain), the renaissance lute (which he performed in a troupe) and pop music (which he has performed with a band since his teen years). After graduation he moved to Los Angeles to pursue a recording career and was offered a recording contract from A&M Records. The record was shelved, but Hillel likes to think that it received good shelf space. He moved on to co-found the Jewish rap band MOT and release a record on Warner Brothers records in 1999. Though it didn't take the world by storm, it took his family by storm. The son of a rabbinical scholar Hillel has spent his life in expressing his love of yiddishkite in many ways including cantoring during High Holy Days since his high school years (where he became known as Cantor Tifay due to a typo in the local Jewish Exponent). He has spent years living in Israel and has been the bar mitzvah tutor at Beth Am in Los Angeles since 1991. He now acts as musical director/cantor for IKAR and spends his time writing his own Jewish music and leading IKAR services.

Ross Levinson "The Beat"

Ross Levinson grew up in Brooklyn, NY acting, acting out, and playing violin and football. He began studying piano at age 5 and switched to violin at age 8. He has written music for television and film, is currently a Professor at CSULA, performs live with a number of bands, has a son (Jamie) on his way to college, and loves davening and drumming at IKAR.

Jaclyn Beck "The Voice"

Music has always been an incredible force in my life. Wherever I've been, in whatever I've done, I've always found solace and strength in song. Music heals like no other remedy, and it speaks where words do not suffice. For me, singing is prayer. The act of song is a direct connection to and expression of the divine. I feel blessed and honored to work alongside such extraordinarily gifted spiritual leaders and musicians who have consistently inspired me, and am so grateful to be part of a community that is as authentically Jewish as it is committed towards the pursuit and actualization of a more just world. It is with this in mind and heart that I reveal and rejoice through the form of song.

Devorah Brous

When I am not drumming at Ikar and soaking up my sister's Torah, I am banging out rhythm as a community organizer. I spent 15 years designing campaigns in Israel and the Palestinian Territories to advance human rights, community self-reliance, and environmental justice. In 1999, I founded BUSTAN and ran it for 9 years. I have zero degrees in music and no formal musical training but two master's degrees in Peace/Conflict Studies for whatever that's worth on the davenning team. I experience the nexus between community and the Source most tangibly when silence, sound, and rhythm are braided together to inspire soul-textured niggunim. I am in love with Larry Weber and due with our first child this Sukkot!

Rabbi Lizzi Jill Honeyrose Heydemman Rabbinic Fellow

Lizzi was recently ordained from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. Lizzi spent the past two summers teaching Jewish text, ritual, spirituality and music at the Brandeis Collegiate Institute (BCI), as well as last spring she worked with the Jewish Farm School at Tierra Miguel Farm, the organic educational farm near San Diego which provides Ikar's CSA. Lizzi graduated in '04 from Stanford University with Honors in Religious Studies and Philosophy, focusing on the intersections between religion and health. In addition to her loves of Judaism, Ikar, the Ikar staff, and the Ikar Davening team, Lizzi relishes the time she spends playing music, rollerblading and running on the beach, and supporting local farmers' markets. Check out Lizzi's music on the web at www.soundclick.com/lizzijillhoneyroseheydemann

Ronit Tsadok

Following a year at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem, Ronit is thrilled to be re-joining the IKAR team as the Rabbinic Intern.

Ronit grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, attended Rutgers University, worked in retail, and taught at a Solomon Schechter Day School. She left all that behind to come to the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies where she is now a fourth year student.

In Ronit's free time, she enjoys singing, studying, and teaching.

THE IRREGULARS

Gabriel Botnick

Despite loving music and hating to sit still, Gabriel never questioned the uptight synagogue atmosphere "Back East" - that is, until he moved to LA and discovered Ikar. Stumbling upon this innovative community by happenstance, he quickly threw down his cufflinks and picked up a drum. For more than five years, Gabriel has lent some rhythm and vocals to Ikar's davening team. Now in rabbinical school, he hopes to tell the world that synagogue can be both fun and moving.

Shira Freidlin

Shira's full Hebrew name, Shira Zehava, means "golden song." Thus her parents provided her with the inspiration to explore her love of music and her joy in singing, which she enjoys wholeheartedly at IKAR. She is currently pursuing rabbinic ordination at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at AJU and is looking forward to marrying her fiance, Jonathan Kirzner this winter.

Avram Mandell

Avram Mandell is the Director of Education at Leo Baeck Temple. Previously he was the Education Director of Temple Beth El in San Antonio, Texas. He holds a Masters in Jewish Education from Hebrew Union College in Los Angeles. He worked in synagogues and the Reform movement for over 15 years. He also served as the Assistant Director of U.R.J. Camp Harlam and the advisor to N.F.T.Y. Pennsylvania Area Region. He enjoys camping, basketball, improv and standup comedy and his amazing wife Abby Fifer Mandell.

Rabbi Penina Podwol

Penina was introduced to the musical majesty of IKAR's davening during her time serving as IKAR's rabbinic intern. The melodies, the beat and the energy of the community have elevated her prayer life to new heights. Since she and her husband, Aaron, remain members of the community, she cherishes the opportunity to continue to sing with the illustrious davening team.