Clergy Column by Rabbi Jeremy Morrison
Introducing Gabriel Lehrman, Beth Am's Summer Cantorial Intern
May/June 2022
Cantor Jaime Shpall is completing her seventh year as our cantor and will be on Sabbatical from June 1-August 31. We will miss her, but are happy that she’ll have this well-deserved opportunity for rejuvenation and rest with her family. In her absence, Gabriel Lehrman will be joining our staff as our Summer Cantorial Intern from June 1-August 7, and will be serving in many of Cantor Shpall’s capacities.
Gabriel is no stranger to our community as he grew up at Beth Am; he is the son of Russ Lehrman and Loree Farrar. Congregation Beth Am is Gabriel’s spiritual home: "I am so excited to have the opportunity to come back to Beth Am as an adult and get to know everyone as a cantorial student. I loved growing up at Beth Am, being Bar Mitzvahed by Rabbi Josh Zweiback and consulting with Rabbi Janet Marder and the rest of the team. The seeds for my love of Torah, Judaism, and the Jewish people were planted here at Beth Am. I hope that I can provide the same energy for people at Beth Am that I grew up with.”
Gabriel is completing his third year as a cantorial student at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and lives in Brooklyn. Currently, he serves as the Student Cantor of West End Temple in Neponset, Queens. He is a graduate of University of Puget Sound, has been a Teva Educator with Hazon, and has worked as a Program Assistant for the Foundation for Jewish Camp. Throughout the pandemic, Gabriel has been working as a tutor in our B’nei Mitzvah program, and his students adore him. He is a warm and genuine person, and his singing voice truly lifts up the music of our prayers.
The Beth Am clergy are excited to lead services with Gabriel and to incorporate him, and his many talents, into the daily work of leading our congregation. When you see him, please warmly welcome him back to Beth Am!
L'shalom,
Rabbi Jeremy Morrison
rabbi_morrison@betham.org
We strive to live as a holy community whose study and practice of Judaism inspires and challenges us to "do justice, to love kindness and to walk humbly with our God" (Micah 6:8).