David Berger is the first full time cantor of CBST.  He received cantorial investiture at the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, School of Sacred Music in May of 2007.  Already an integral part of the musical life of CBST, Cantor Berger served as cantorial intern for two years (2005-2007), working in close partnership with Music Director Joyce Rosenzweig.  Today he serves as CBST’s cantor, working to inspire both listeners and worshippers with music that speaks to their hearts and to reach out to the wider GLBT Jewish community.

 

Recognized as an up and coming voice in the Jewish musical scene, Cantor Berger has been featured at the North American Jewish Choral Festival and is a frequent soloist with the Zamir Chorale of New York.  Reviewed by the Forward as “impeccable” for his performance at the CBST Shabbat Shirah concert, Cantor Berger has appeared in concerts in New York and around the United States, as well as in Israel and Europe.

 

Originally from the suburbs of Chicago, Cantor Berger received a BA in Religious Studies with a focus in Jewish Studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 2001.  He was a major leader in the UIUC Hillel, organizing a community chorus and leading Shabbat and High Holy Day services for Reform students, and earned the Ari and Felicia Trachtenberg Award for excellence in Jewish Life on campus.  Cantor Berger won the Program in Jewish Culture and Society Distinguished Essay Contest in 2001 for his research into Chassidic Judaism.  After a summer spent teaching English in Kiryat Gat, Israel, Cantor Berger came to New York to begin his graduate studies.  He completed an MA in Jewish Philosophy in 2003 at the Jewish Theological Seminary before continuing on to the Hebrew Union College for cantorial school.  While studying for his MA in Jewish Philosophy at the Jewish Theological Seminary, Cantor Berger co-founded Kol Zimrah – an independent music based monthly Shabbat minyan which continues to thrive on the upper west side of Manhattan.

 

In cantorial school at HUC, Cantor Berger distinguished himself in his talent for traditional chazzanut (cantorial singing), twice winning the Cantor Israel Goldstein Prize.  He also earned the Lawrence Hoffman Prize in Liturgy for his work in creative analysis of ritual.  For his master’s thesis, Cantor Berger translated portions of Sefer Maharil, a 15th century legal text with a wealth of information about medieval Jewish music which had never been translated before.

 

Cantor Berger is passionate about his commitment to and involvement in the GLBT Jewish community. During his first year of cantorial school, he volunteered extensively at the Jerusalem Open House (Jerusalem’s GLBT community center), developing a deep and lasting relationship with the queer community in the Holy City and around Israel.  Cantor Berger has served as faculty for the Nehirim GLBT Jewish spirituality retreat for three years, leading workshops and worship for GLBT Jews from around the world.  In 2006, Cantor Berger lead services and taught at Queer Shabbaton in Amsterdam, Netherlands and most significantly, at WorldPride Jerusalem.  Back home in New York, Cantor Berger has demonstrated his commitment to GLBT Jewish community via his involvement with organizations such as Jewish Queer Youth, the Gay and Lesbian Yeshiva and Day School Alumni Association, and Keshet JTS as well as programming at the Manhattan JCC and the GLBT community center.