Baal (at) Tefillah/Musician (Hybrid Remote)

We are looking for someone to partner with Rabbi Jan Uhrbach in co-planning and co-leading davening on Shabbatot (both Friday night and Shabbat morning), High Holy Days, and festivals. The job can be configured to meet the needs of the right person:  Other than the High Holy Days, there’s great flexibility about leading from home via Zoom, or being in person in Bridgehampton or perhaps NYC (during the winter season). We are open to splitting the position between 2 people. High Holy Days and some summer Shabbatot in Bridgehampton/Sag Harbor, on the eastern end of Long Island; other times Zoom from home (east coast time zone), with option for more in person if preferred. The position needn’t but could include leyning, teaching, life cycle, pastoral, and/or admin, depending on the person’s desires, availability and talents. We would consider an ordained hazzan or rabbi, a cantorial or rabbinical student, or a knowledgeable lay person. This position is a great fit for a professional musician who loves davening and wants a reliable income base. Qualifications: Genuine prayerfulness, menschlichkeit, and good ritual sensitivity, Knowledge of liturgy and accurate pronunciation & A beautiful, clear, and moving singing voice, and to modulate between gentler, support of congregational participation, and more commanding and formal vocals, especially on the High Holy Days (this is negotiable if the position is split between two people). Strong pluses: trained vocalist, ability to harmonize, keyboard and/or guitar, (preferably keyboard); trained vocalist; knowledge of a wide variety of Jewish music, including non-Ashkenazi traditions. Gesher | The Bridge Shul is a small but deeply engaged and connected community filled with kind, intelligent and thoughtful people serious about Torah and prayer. Our website  was recently redone and accurately reflects who we are. The community is appreciative and supportive of the clergy, and of each other. Community members linger after services (in person and on Zoom), often for an hour, engaging in substantive discussion of the rabbi’s divrei Torah, and deep, loving, respectful conversation about the most challenging issues of the day.  In the summer season, we have community Shabbat dinners every other week.  We’re as mishegoss-free as a synagogue gets — no ego battles, power plays, or acting out. People behave and speak lovingly and kindly, respect and care for each other. We’re located in the Hamptons, with some of the best beaches in the world and natural beauty everywhere. We do not own our own building. We sometimes have services at Rabbi Uhrbach’s home, and we rent prayer space from local churches. High Holy Days are held at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. Our services and music: We use Siddur Lev Shalem and Machzor Lev Shalem. The clergy team is encouraged to innovate and be liturgically creative. The community appreciates great music. Varying melodies from week to week, and introducing new music, are welcomed. There is no ritual committee.  While committed to the matbe’ah tefillah, Rabbi Uhrbach and the congregation prioritize meaning and the facilitation of deep and genuine prayer over the minutia of hilkhot tefillah. We have always made liturgical choices in crafting the arc of our davening. During Covid, we shortened our services and have retained many of those decisions.  We value a mix of congregational singing, coupled with moments in which the beauty and power of the music awes the congregation into prayerful and contemplative silence. The congregation is still in the process of reclaiming the kind of communal singing we had pre-Covid, a continuing challenge given our commitment to offering Zoom access.  We use an eclectic mix of music consisting of nusah; congregational melodies from a wide variety of Jewish sources, time periods and traditions; original compositions by our current co-rabbi (who is an accomplished, award-winning composer); and appropriate settings from non-Jewish contexts. It is a mix also in terms of “register” – with some easily accessible, simpler tunes, as well as music that is more harmonically and melodically complex. We do very few of the usual Conservative synagogue tunes, and some of our current music is unique to us.  We have keyboard accompaniment for parts of the service on Shabbatot nights and during the HHD, and would like to continue that if possible. We are open to guitar or other instruments. Policies and halakhic hashkafa: We are fully egalitarian, and committed to inclusivity. Movement affiliation: Flexible egalitarian Conservative. We embrace an ethical imperative to provide meaningful remote participation to those unable to attend in person, so Zoom is an option for every service. We include Zoom participants in the minyan count, except that we require a minyan physically present with the scroll for the public Torah reading.  All communal meals are dairy/fish, ingredients-kosher. There are no hekshered restaurants/caterers in the immediate area. The Hamptons is a geographically dispersed rural area, with an exorbitantly expensive hotel and housing stock. For that reason, willingness to drive on Shabbat and chagim is very helpful and thus preferred, though not essential. Salary depends on experience and how the job ends up being configured, with a likely range between $25,000-$40,000. Contact Rabbi Jan Uhrbach ([email protected]) for more information. www.bridgeshul.org. 

(6/20/25)