Shani Ben Or

Shani Ben-Or is the first Israeli to become a Reform ordained cantor. Her home congregation is Kehilat Kol HaNeshama in Jerusalem. She has served in cantorial roles in Israel and around the world: as the cantorial soloist of the United Jewish Congregation in Hong Kong and as student cantor of Central Synagogue in New York. Shani received her dual ordination as a cantor and rabbi from Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem and New York. Shani is an active member of the Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ), both as a professional and lay leader. In 2013, she established T’lamim, a community of young Reform Jewish adults in Israel, and led their minyan in Jerusalem. Together with Boaz Dorot, she is the co-founder of the Nigunim Ensemble, a pioneering ensemble that creates, arranges, and performs sacred music to accompany religious services throughout Israel. Today Shani runs the contemporary track of Ashira Tehilot at the Schechter Institute Rabbinical School, a hub for community leaders focused on prayer and music. Shani aspires to establish a thriving liberal cantorate in Israel: one that is authentic and relevant to the multi-cultural climate of Israeli society, fluent in the musical treasures of Ashkenaz and Mizrachi Jewish traditions, and creates music for a variety of sacred spaces and occasions that are unique to eretz Yisrael.