Sacred Sound: Exploring Jewish Music and Liturgy is a multisession virtual learning experience that invites participants to journey through the rich history, meaning, and spiritual power of Jewish music. Guided by Cantor Rabbi Jacqueline Marx, this interactive Zoom-based program explores how Jewish musical traditions have shaped—and continue to shape—prayer, community, and Jewish identity across time and place.
Beginning with the earliest foundations of Jewish sound—trop, nusach, and miSinai melodies—participants will trace the evolution of Jewish music from the ancient world through exile, diaspora, and cultural flourishing in medieval Spain and Ashkenazic Europe. The course examines the rise of the hazzan and hazzanut, the transformation of Jewish worship through Classical Reform, and the profound musical shifts of the 20th century, including the influence of Debbie Friedman and the camp movement. The journey culminates in modern Israel, exploring the dynamic interplay between secular and sacred music and its return to synagogue life.
Along the way, participants will gain insight into how liturgical music is created, adapted, and transmitted; how historical moments shape communal sound; and how music functions as both spiritual expression and communal glue. Through discussion, listening, and reflection, this program fosters deeper appreciation for Jewish musical traditions while empowering learners to engage more intentionally with prayer and to see themselves as active participants in shaping their own spiritual experience.
Sessions include:
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- What Makes Jewish Music Jewish? From ancient times through the Temple period – Sunday, January 11, 10:00am PT
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- Exile to Diaspora to Expulsion: Babylon to medieval Spain – Thursday, January 29, 6:30pm PT
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- Europe & Ashkenazi Sounds: The hazzan and the art of hazzanut – Thursday, February 26, 6:30pm PT
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- Classical Reform: Germany to America and beyond – Sunday, March 8, 10:00am PT
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- Out of the Pews, Into the Aisles: Debbie Friedman and the music of Jewish camps – Thursday, March 19, 6:30pm PT
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- Israel, Back to Shul: From secular sound to sacred song – Thursday, April 16, 6:30pm PT
Whether you come with musical knowledge or simply a love of Jewish prayer, Sacred Sound offers a meaningful opportunity to listen deeply, learn broadly, and connect more fully—to tradition, community, and soul.
Cantor Rabbi Jacqueline Marx is founder and co-spiritual leader of Oranim NC, a new Jewish community in North Carolina. She earned her semikha from Pluralistic Rabbinical Seminary (Post-Denominational), and cantorial ordination from HUC’s Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music (Reform), which awarded her an honorary Doctorate of Music. She loves her freelance work as Rabbi-in-Residence at Temple Emanuel of Gastonia NC, high holy day rabbi at B’nai Sholom Congregation in Bristol, TN and B’Mitzvah tutor at Congregation for Reform Judaism in Orlando, FL. Cantor Rabbi Marx considers the welcome and care of souls as her calling. She lives with her family in an enchanted forest near Chapel Hill. Her proudest moment as a rabbi came while speaking at the North Carolina Capitol earlier this year to protest election corruption that would have overturned 50,000 registered votes, including her daughter’s.
