Music

Music — in addition to Jewish cuisine — is the soul of our community. We embrace the importance of music in Jewish life and believe that it elevates prayer by providing its own language of hope and holiness during worship. 

Our goal is to incorporate a diverse mix of cross-cultural, religious, secular, traditional, and contemporary Jewish music into our services. We often feature members of the congregation on guitar, piano, flute, ukulele, and other instruments, and on other occasions, we feature local or world-renowned Jewish artists, bands, and special guests such as Rick Recht, Robbi Sherwin of Sababa, Shira Klein a.k.a ShirLaLa, and more.

Our regular musicians include:

Rabbi Amy Feder
Rabbi Amy has always loved music. Since middle school, she's been studying voice, guitar, and piano, singing in choirs, and performing in musical theater. She even taught voice lessons, music theory, and composition at the University of Michigan while working toward her degree in Music and Judaic Studies. At Hebrew Union College, she pursued the rabbinate but couldn't resist taking as many cantorial classes as possible, and even wrote her rabbinic thesis on musical writings in medieval Jewish philosophy. It's rare to find a singing Rabbi with a voice on par with your favorite Broadway stars, but hey, she’s all ours! Enjoy her beautiful voice – in addition to meaningful sermons – at Friday evening Shabbat services.


Rabbi Michael Alper
Rabbi Michael has been playing guitar since elementary school and is a huge fan of Israeli music. He also plays the tof and has an impressive repertoire of Jewish music from different countries and sects. During COVID, when outside musicians couldn't join us, Michael began playing guitar regularly at services. The positive feedback was overwhelming, and it quickly became a new focus of his rabbinate. When Michael plays at services, his goal is to create a participatory atmosphere where everyone feels confident joining in song, and he often repeats music each week so that people have time to learn and embrace new tunes.


Rob Aronson
Resident Shabbat Musician & High Holy Days Music Coordinator
Rob Aronson is a Jewish singer/songwriter who loves to share his passion for Judaism through his music. Rob grew up at Congregation Temple Israel and since 2006 has been actively involved in bringing the joy of Jewish music to worship services.
 

Ruach Band
The Ruach Band is comprised of guitarist/vocalist Rob Aronson, vocalist Julie Aronson, cellist/bassist Jordan Mandel and pianist/percussionist Chris Rowton. Ruach means “spirit”, and they bring spirited, current music to inspire others to lift their own voices and sing along. Rob, Julie, and Jordan are all active Temple Israel members who have been leading joyous musical services, both on monthly Shabbats and on the High Holy Days since 2013.

"Miss Megan" Sturdevant
Miss Megan has served as Music Teacher at Temple Israel’s Deutsch Early Childhood Center since 2011 and is a beloved song leader and performer in our Temple community. She leads Tot  Shabbats, music classes for all ages, daily Camp Shook sing-alongs throughout the summer, and shares musical content online through TI’s social media for all kids and their families to enjoy. 

Click here to listen to this year's Camp Shook tunes!

 

Interested in getting involved with choosing or playing music during worship services? Reach out to Rabbi Amy at afeder@ti-stl.org or 314-432-8050.