Cantor Jill Abramson
Cantor Jill Abramson leads Congregation Shir Ami with a thoughtful, caring, and vibrant spirit and a passion for justice. Before joining our Shir Ami family in 2019, Cantor Abramson served 12 years as Senior Cantor at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale where she taught learners of all ages and was highly admired and respected as a religious leader.
Cantor Abramson received ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in 2002, where she also serves as Faculty and Program Associate in the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Grinnell College and brings a strong international commitment to her social justice work having lived in Cameroon, West Africa, taught English in Indonesia, and conceived an Israeli and Arab teen-age choir as part of the international peace program, Building Bridges for Peace. Before coming to WRT, she served for five years at Congregation Sukkat Shalom in Chicago, IL, where she was also Director of Education. Combining her love of youth-work and the outdoors, Cantor Abramson also spent several years as Assistant Director of Shwayder Camp in the Colorado Rockies.
In November of 2013, Cantor Abramson built a cohort of nearly 20 members from her synagogue who traveled with her to Israel to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Women of the Wall—an organization committed to pluralism and the rights of women to pray openly at the Western Wall. Selected as a Global Justice Fellow from the American Jewish World Service, Cantor Abramson traveled to the Dominican Republic with a cohort of today’s most influential rabbis in January of 2017 on a human rights mission.
Cantor Abramson is also an active member of the American Conference of Cantors, where she has overseen membership testing. She also reviews new compositions for publication and has served on the Admissions Committee at Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at HUC-JIR.
Cantor Abramson has served as Hebrew coach to the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and is also a featured soloist on “Shirei Tshuvah” a collection of music for the Days of Awe. She is also active as a recitalist of Baroque music in collaboration with classical guitarist, Steve Bloom.
She is married to Rabbi Jonathan Malamy. They reside in White Plains with their son.
Community Presence:
Scarsdale Hartsdale Women’s Interfaith Council, Presenter.
Living in America, Guest Presenter, Hitchcock Presbyterian Church.
Yearly Concert Fundraiser with the Church of St. James the Less, to benefit children’s camp in Mt. Vernon .
Other Interests:
Reading, Yoga, Cycling and Cooking
You may listen to some clips from an album posted on WRT’s website. Cantor Abramson is the soloist or has a solo in tracks 2, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, and 19 https://westchesterreformtemple.bandcamp.com/releases She is a background singer on some of the other tracks.
Cantor Jill Abramson
was installed as our new Spiritual Leader on August 4th 2019
in a fun and moving Shir Ami Style event!
Click here to see our August Newsletter and more about the Installations for Spiritual Leader, Rabbi Emerita and new Board Officers.
Cantor Jill Abramson leads Congregation Shir Ami with a thoughtful, caring, and vibrant spirit and a passion for justice. Before joining our Shir Ami family in 2019, Cantor Abramson served 12 years as Senior Cantor at Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale where she taught learners of all ages and was highly admired and respected as a religious leader.
Cantor Abramson received ordination from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in 2002, where she also serves as Faculty and Program Associate in the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Grinnell College and brings a strong international commitment to her social justice work having lived in Cameroon, West Africa, taught English in Indonesia, and conceived an Israeli and Arab teen-age choir as part of the international peace program, Building Bridges for Peace. Before coming to WRT, she served for five years at Congregation Sukkat Shalom in Chicago, IL, where she was also Director of Education. Combining her love of youth-work and the outdoors, Cantor Abramson also spent several years as Assistant Director of Shwayder Camp in the Colorado Rockies.
In November of 2013, Cantor Abramson built a cohort of nearly 20 members from her synagogue who traveled with her to Israel to mark the 25th Anniversary of the Women of the Wall—an organization committed to pluralism and the rights of women to pray openly at the Western Wall. Selected as a Global Justice Fellow from the American Jewish World Service, Cantor Abramson traveled to the Dominican Republic with a cohort of today’s most influential rabbis in January of 2017 on a human rights mission.
Cantor Abramson is also an active member of the American Conference of Cantors, where she has overseen membership testing. She also reviews new compositions for publication and has served on the Admissions Committee at Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at HUC-JIR.
Cantor Abramson has served as Hebrew coach to the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and is also a featured soloist on “Shirei Tshuvah” a collection of music for the Days of Awe. She is also active as a recitalist of Baroque music in collaboration with classical guitarist, Steve Bloom.
She is married to Rabbi Jonathan Malamy. They reside in White Plains with their son.
Community Presence:
Scarsdale Hartsdale Women’s Interfaith Council, Presenter.
Living in America, Guest Presenter, Hitchcock Presbyterian Church.
Yearly Concert Fundraiser with the Church of St. James the Less, to benefit children’s camp in Mt. Vernon .
Other Interests:
Reading, Yoga, Cycling and Cooking
You may listen to some clips from an album posted on WRT’s website. Cantor Abramson is the soloist or has a solo in tracks 2, 5, 7, 8, 12, 17, and 19 https://westchesterreformtemple.bandcamp.com/releases She is a background singer on some of the other tracks.
Cantor Jill Abramson
was installed as our new Spiritual Leader on August 4th 2019
in a fun and moving Shir Ami Style event!
Click here to see our August Newsletter and more about the Installations for Spiritual Leader, Rabbi Emerita and new Board Officers.
