Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1994-11-17

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The Ohio Jewish Chronicle
''Set vingt Columbus and the Central Ohity,
,,   'Jewish Community since 1922,
VOLUME 72
'NUMBER 47
NOVEMBER 17,1994
14 KISLEV 5755
Israeli public mood sour
despite peace successes
'   \* .     page 4 '
Newcomer in an old land
'    ' '•''** ■ page 4/
Heritage tower celebrates
16th anniversary
\ page 6
|;^.-pJws Green Sunday
y-m'-^m   '.\; \:"; -'\:,;,y    page?
il       JkBpVY THE COVER
,< 7 Cantor Jack Chomsky has taught over 300 Bar
Jp'tttKBat Mitzvah students during his 12-year,
itcniire at Congregation Tifereth Israel. He is
pictured here* with Brian" Herstig, now a graduate
student atBrandeisiJniversify. ,•,.*-"      ' •', }
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EARLY DEADLINES
Hhe deadline for the OJC issue
dated Nov. 24 is noon today, Nov% 17.
The-deadlirie for the issue dated
Dec. 1 will be noon on Wednesday,
Nov. 23.
' The OJC offke wili be closed on Thursday, Nov. 24,'
and Friday, Nov. 25, in obseiyance of the
Thanksgiving holiday.
-BBBraam In The Chronicle ■»■■■
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COMMUNITY FEATURE
Cantor begins 'Bar Mitzvah year' at Tifereth Israel
By Earl Yaillen
Cantor Jack Chomsky, who
has taught over 300 Bar and
Bat Mitzvah students during
his 12 years at Congregation
Tifereth Israel, will be honored by the Sisterhood Torah
Fund as he begins his Bar
Mitzvah year with the synagogue. The program will take
place at Tifereth Israel on Sunday, Nov.20.
Instrumental in bringing a
■number of unique musical
programs to Columbus, Cantor Chomsky showed an inters
.est in music at a young age,
learning to play the accordian
andlhen the piano. He learned
to chant the Haftorah trope
from Hilda Bloch, the wife of
Rabbi Asher Bloch of the
small Conservative synagogue
in Little Neck on Long Island
to which his family belonged.
By thetime he graduated from
high school, he had learned
five Haftorot in addition to
his own and had developed a
-warm relationship -with the
synagogue's cantor, Leo Roit-
man.
Among a small group of students from his high school accepted to Brown University,
he was active in the University
Chorus and became its president and assistant conductor.
He also co-founded a double
barbershop quartet, the High
■ Jinks. It was the only acappela
singing group of its kind at
Brown. Today some former
High-Jinks members are part
of the Rockapella singing group
on the TV-show "Where in the
World is Carmen San Diego?"
Beginning in his junior year
at Brown, he sang professionally at both a synagogue and a
church. Then during a sermon
by Rabbi William Braude of
Temple Sinai, he says it
seemed as if "the heavens
opened up," and he began to
understand the spiritual dimension of Judaism.
This'led to "a decision to attend, the Cantors Institute of
the Jewish Theological Semi-
. nary. While there, he met his
wife, Susan Gellman, who was
studying for her master's degree in social work at Colum
bia University. They were
married in 1982 after his graduation from the seminary and
he was hired as cantor at Tifereth Israel.
He admits that he thought
of eventually returning to the
Boston area, but after a few
years in Columbus, he stopped
looking back.
He feels that Columbus is a ■
special Jewish community and
that both the congregation and
its rabbi, Harold Berman, are
supportive of him, professionally and personally.
He takes the role of cantor,
that of being a Shaliach Tzib-
bur— a messenger of the congregation — very seriously.
According to Cantor Chomsky
his role is to help congregants
Cantor Jack Chomsky conducts the Tifereth Israel Choir
during a performance of High Holiday music at Wexner Heritage House. Pictured are 0* to r., front row) Joaa Marks, Janet
Yaillen, Linda Chene, Paul Cohen, Michael Price, (back row)
Manne Aronovsky and Jerry Benis.
make a connection to God and
heaven; his goal is to foster an
awareness of and create holiness in time and song.
Although he has been involved in many programs,
Cantor Chomsky is proudest
of the avvard winning "An
American Selichot Service,"
which he commissioned to be
written by Gary Friedman and
which premiered here at Tifereth Israel.
He has brought many other
innovative programs to the
area. One combined the Rinat
Choir of Israel, Israel's National Choir, and a local gospel choir. Another was a community-wide concert which
featured a choir of 150 singing
Jewish music as well as Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Baha'i and
Moslem. It was attended by
over 500 people.
The development ofthe Tifereth Israel choir; highlights
the cantor's creativity and determination to have others
share in the beauty he sees in
Jewish music. The choir performs not only at congregational services, but in the community as well
Cantor Chomsky has been
the editor ofthe Journal of
Synagogue Music, the semiannual national publication of
the Cantors Association, since
1988. He has also been a member of the Assembly's Executive Council and was an active
see CANTOR pg. 2
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