New cantor brings a bit of Broadway to E.B.

Marnie Camhi

EAST BRUNSWICK - As a high school student, Marnie Camhi, the new cantor at Temple B'nai Shalom, Fern Road, showed off her musical gifts on Broadway in the children's chorus for "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," even meeting the legendary Andrew Lloyd Webber in the process.

It was also about that time that she decided to become a cantor.

"I had been singing in my temple's youth choir since third grade," recalled Camhi, formerly of Long Island. "And then my temple brought in its first female cantor. She took me under her wing and mentored me, and singing in the synagogue became a second home for me."

This love for singing and Jewish music, combined with her involvement in National Federation of Temple Youth (NFTY), led Camhi to the decision that a cantorial career would be the perfect way to combine her two passions - Judaism and music.

After majoring in music at the State University of New York at Binghamton, Camhi attended Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, School of Sacred Music. She received her master's degree in sacred music in 2005, writing her thesis on Jewish American art songs. She then served as a cantorial intern at Temple Chaverim in Plainview, N.Y., for four years and was invested as a cantor earlier this year.

"I am so excited about my new home at Temple B'nai Shalom," she said of the synagogue where she became cantor this summer. "I look forward to working with Rabbi [Eric] Milgrim and to reaching out to our congregation. I hope to introduce many traditional and new melodies and niggunim to our community, and to be an important source of comfort and support for our congregation."

One of Camhi's key roles at Temple B'nai Shalom will be to prepare students for their B'nai mitzvahs through private tutorials and blessings classes.

"I love working with the students in helping them prepare for their big day," Camhi said. "I remember my own bat mitzvah like it was yesterday, and I want all the kids to have the same sense of joy and accomplishment that I did. It was one of the biggest days of my life, and I want to ensure that it is special for every one of our students."

Camhi also has plans to revitalize the temple's youth choir.

"This was very important to me growing up, and I would love to see our young children and our teens find a love for music, Jewish and otherwise, at our temple," she said.

Camhi plans to teach Torah cantillation in the Adult Education program. She will also play a key role in Temple B'nai Shalom's new programming thrust, "Awaken the Jew Within," giving classes on and performing a variety of Jewish music.

"I love all Jewish music," Camhi said. "What cantor doesn't love Ben Steinberg and Michael Isaacson? But I have also been influenced by the music of Solomon Sulzer. My musical tastes are eclectic - from Bonia Shur, Stephen Richards and Debbie Friedman to Billy Joel and Pink Floyd."

During the first couple of Shabbat services she officiated, Camhi was pleased to see that her new congregation loves to sing.

"There's great spirituality and power in singing," she said, "and we'll see to it that our voices reach the heavens."