Shabbat Shirah: Celebrating 50 Years of Women In the Cantorate

2025 marks a watershed moment for the Jewish people. This year we mark the 50th anniversary of the ordination of Cantor Barbara Ostfeld, the first woman to be ordained as a cantor. This is a milestone not only for our friend and colleague, but a momentous occasion for all of us.

We are honored to take time this year to mark this anniversary with songs, prayer, stories, and more. Here you will find ways to join in the celebrations, educate your community, and support this occasion.

Our kickoff event will be Shabbat Shirah of 5785, February 7, 2025. The Shabbat of Song has long been a time to celebrate the importance of music in Jewish life. This year, as we continue that tradition, we will be providing resources
to honor Jewish women's roles in helping shape the sound of worship.

Here you will find sample cue sheets to help you center women composers with an emphasis on female-identifying cantors as composers. We hope these sample cue sheets can be easily used by congregations that have a cantor, those that want to share this occasion with their choir, and those that don’t have a cantor, but who love music.

We have been gifted with a blessing for us all from Cantor Ostfeld. We hope that her words bring her presence to each of our congregations as she, and those who followed in her footsteps, have allowed more of our congregants to feel represented on each and every bimah across our movement and beyond.

We also have materials that you can use to help promote this occasion with your congregation or organization: Our logo, and a brief synopsis of the history of women in the cantorate that can be printed for Shabbat or shared in advance.

We hope you will join with congregations around the Jewish world to celebrate our past, honor our present, and help shape the future so that we might continue from strength to strength.

Click here to download the full Shabbat Shirah guide, queue sheets, and other materials.