Abbe Lyons was one of the first three American women to be ordained as

cantors A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

in the

Jewish Renewal Jewish Renewal () is a recent movement in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with Kabbalistic, Hasidic, and musical practices. Specifically, it seeks to reintroduce the "ancient Judaic traditions of mysticism and meditation, ...

, along with

Susan Wehle Susan Wehle (May 14, 1953 – February 12, 2009) was ordained the first American female Jewish Renewal cantor (hazzan) in 2006. Wehle was a cantor for Temple Beth Am in Williamsville, New York, and Temple Sinai in Amherst, New York, for nine y ...

and Michal Rubin. They were ordained on January 10, 2010. She now works for the Congregation Tikkun v’Or in

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...

, where in addition to being a cantor she leads the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar ( ...

and bat mitzvahs. Prior to becoming a cantor, Lyons earned a degree in voice performance from

Ithaca College Ithaca College is a private college in Ithaca, New York. It was founded by William Egbert in 1892 as a conservatory of music and is set against the backdrop of the city of Ithaca (which is separate from the town), Cayuga Lake, waterfalls, and ...

, then moved to California to study the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Education. It was there that she became involved in Jewish Renewal.

References

Hazzans Women hazzans American Jews Ordination of women in Christianity Ithaca College alumni Living people Jewish Renewal Year of birth missing (living people) {{Judaism-bio-stub