Avitall Gerstetter ( he, אביטל גרסטטר; born 1972 ) is the first female

hazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' ( he, חַזָּן , plural ; Yiddish ''khazn''; Ladino ''Hasan'') is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this pr ...

(cantor) in

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, ...

and the first female cantor in Germany.

Early life

Gerstetter was born into a Jewish family in 1972. Her father is a

convert to Judaism Conversion to Judaism ( he, גיור, ''giyur'') is the process by which non-Jews adopt the Jewish religion and become members of the Jewish ethnoreligious community. It thus resembles both conversion to other religions and naturalization. " ...

Career

Gerstetter was ordained in 2002. She served as a cantor in Berlin together with cantor Mimi Sheffer and Rabbi Daniela Thau; this was the first time after the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

that women had led the services of the

High Holy Days The High Holidays also known as the High Holy Days, or Days of Awe in Judaism, more properly known as the Yamim Noraim ( he, יָמִים נוֹרָאִים, ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm''; "Days of Awe") #strictly, the holidays of Rosh HaShanah ("Jew ...

. She served until August 2022 as cantor in the Oranienburger Straße Synagogue and in the Hüttenweg Synagogue in Berlin, and has created several CDs. In August 2022 she published a letter in

Die Welt ''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE. ''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...

, stating that converts to Judaism in Germany pose a threat to Jewish communities nationwide. The following week she was fired from her position in the Berlin Jewish Community.

Awards

In 2007 Avitall was awarded the title of ‘Ambassador for Tolerance’ by the ''Bündnis für Demokratie und Toleranz'' of the German government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerstetter, Avitall 1972 births German Conservative Jews Singers from Berlin Hazzans Women hazzans 21st-century German Jews Living people 21st-century German women singers