Cantor Susan Lewis-Friedman
At a special Temple Beth Zion Congregational Meeting on March 5, 2024 congregants approved the hiring of Cantor Susan Lewis-Friedman for Cantor following a national search. Cantor Friedman has served as Cantor for congregations in suburban Chicago since 2015, most recently at Temple Jeremiah. She invigorated the Adult and Jr. Choirs in each congregation, instituted lay musical participation during worship, created and directed a teen a cappella choir, and led the lay leadership in creation of Purim Schpiels and other musical events.
Cantor Friedman received her Cantorial Ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion-New York in 2015, and is a proud member of the American Conference of Cantors, the Cantor’s Assembly and Actors Equity Association. Her original compositions are often used in worship and have been heard on Jewish Rock Radio. Her album, “Sing, Pray, Repeat!” includes many of her compositions as well as other Jewish songs for kids. It is available free of charge at her website: https://susanlewisfriedman.com/singprayrepeat/.
Cantor Friedman will join Senior Rabbi Brent Gutmann in leading the largest Jewish Congregation in Western New York. Temple Beth Zion President, Ken Polk, shared “We are extremely excited to welcome Cantor Friedman and her family to Buffalo and our sacred TBZ family. She has the experience, warmth, and talent to lead us forward.”
Cantor Friedman, her husband Ross, and their children, Abigail and Zev look forward to becoming members of the Western New York community and, more important, the Temple Beth Zion family. “I am so excited to work with your amazing Rabbi to lead and inspire Temple Beth Zion to be a center of faith, community, and music, and to be a beacon of light in the Buffalo Jewish Community.”
I invite you to click the link below to listen to a song I wrote: Ometz Lev-Courage of The Heart. Through love and the courage to hear one another, may we find common ground.
Cantor Susan Lewis-Friedman
