Rabbi-Cantor Hillary Chorny
Co-Host of Temple Beth Am Podcasts
Rabbi-Cantor Hillary Chorny completed her cantorial investiture, rabbinical ordination, and a Masterʼs degree in Sacred Music at the Jewish Theological Seminary before joining the staff of Temple Beth Am in August, 2014.
Raised in San Diego, CA, she grew up with a deep attachment to the Conservative Jewish community. In 2008, Hillary graduated American University in Washington, D.C. with a B.A. in Jewish studies and a minor in vocal jazz performance.
After working as a Judaics instructor and music director in various Jewish communities and camps, Hillary pursued her dream of becoming a cantor. In time, she was inspired by her teachers and family to also pursue the rabbinate. She and her husband, Rabbi Daniel Chorny, met in Israel, and continue to enjoy learning together.
Rabbi-Cantor Hillary Chorny has hosted 142 Episodes.
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Are You Coming Back? - A Personal Conversation About The Jewish Future With Jodi Berman
January 25th, 2021 | 1 hr 9 mins
In this wide ranging conversation, Rabbi Cantor Hillary Chorny talks with Jodi Berman, Associate Executive Director at Wilshire Boulevard Temple, a large Reform synagogue in Los Angeles, where she has served for 6 and a half years.
She is a consultant, professional trainer, and development coach and has presented and delivered keynote addresses at multiple leadership conferences. She is a certified trainer of the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and other leadership growth tools and has conducted leadership training and Board development for multiple groups around the United States including private companies, Federations, synagogues, non profit agencies, schools and camps, and partners with many of these organizations with regard to their leadership and development needs.
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Shabbat Sermon: Morning: - Matzah: Origins of a Treat/Bo
January 23rd, 2021 | 13 mins 9 secs
Rabbi-Cantor Hillary Chorny's Shabbat Sermon at Temple Beth Am, Los Angeles, on January 23, 2021.
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Navigate And Master The Prayerbook - Bonus Episode: Modifying the Liturgy
January 19th, 2021 | 48 mins 26 secs
Rabbi Cantor Hillary Chorny leads an adventure through the siddur focused on structure, themes and music of the Jewish prayer experience. All Hebrew levels welcome.
This class was conducted at Temple Beth Am Los Angeles via Zoom on Jamuary 19, 2021.
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Are You Coming Back? - A Personal Conversation About The Jewish Future With Sara Shapiro-Plevan
January 18th, 2021 | 58 mins 56 secs
In this wide ranging conversation, Rabbi Cantor Hillary Chorny talks with Sara Shapiro-Plevan.
Sara Shapiro-Plevan is all about relationships. Her essential focus: understanding the way relationships influence our ability to improve our practice, understand our work, and engage effectively with others as we build sustainable networks, communities and workplaces. She is the co-founder of the Gender Equity in Hiring in the Jewish Community Project (GEiHP), which works to transform the endemic culture of gender bias that continues to keep women from senior staff positions within Jewish organizations. The GEiHP supports organizations as they ensure that their systems, processes and hiring practices reflect the Jewish values of equity and fairness. By strengthening organizations’ awareness of gender bias and helping them to respond, the GEiHP hopes to see more women rise to positions of leadership. Sara is also the founder of Rimonim Consulting, where she consults primarily with Jewish organizations, schools, congregations, and foundations to develop a networked, collaborative culture. She believes powerfully in our human capacity for dialogue and partnership, and in that vein, works to support shifts from hierarchical structures to relational, flatter, networked relationships. Sara will complete her doctorate in education from the Davidson School of The Jewish Theological Seminary in 2021, and her research aims to enable individuals, teams and communities to understand how they best work in relationship so that they might begin to shift their capacity to work in productive, connected ways to realize their--and their communities'--hopes and dreams.
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Shabbat Teaching: Parshat Bo: Telling the Story
January 16th, 2021 | 27 mins 1 sec
Rabbi Hillary Chorny's Shabbat Teaching at Temple Beth Am, Los Angeles, on January 16, 2021.
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Are You Coming Back? - A Personal Conversation About The Jewish Future With Joey Weisenberg
January 11th, 2021 | 1 hr 1 min
In this wide ranging conversation Rabbi Cantor Hillary Chorny talks with Joey Weisenberg. A virtuosic multi-instrumental musician, singer, and composer, Joey has devoted himself to opening up the sounds of people singing together in community. The founder and director of Hadar’s Rising Song Institute, which aims to cultivate the grassroots musical-spiritual creativity of the Jewish people, Joey works to educate and train communities around the world to unlock their musical-spiritual potential and make music a vibrant, joy-filled force in Jewish life.
Joey is the author of Building Singing Communities, a practical guide to bringing people together in song, as well as The Torah of Music, a treasury of Jewish teachings and insights about the spiritual nature of music, which received the National Jewish Book Award in 2017.
A devoted student and teacher of ancient and traditional Jewish melodies, Joey also composes new nigunim that have moved and inspired Jews around the world. He has released seven albums with the Hadar Ensemble, most recently Nigunim Vol. VII: Songs of Ascent (2019).
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Shabbat Teaching: How Could I Rejoice? When Enemies Fall.
January 9th, 2021 | 23 mins 35 secs
Rabbi-Cantor Hillary Chorny's Shabbat Afternoon Teaching at Temple Beth Am, Los Angeles, on January 9, 2021.
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Are You Coming Back? - A Personal Conversation About The Jewish Future With Rabbi Adam Greenwald
December 14th, 2020 | 51 mins 20 secs
In this conversation with Rabbi Cantor Hillary Chorny, Rabbi Adam Greenwald talks about life as non-pulpit clergy in Los Angeles, reflecting on this past year’s journey in spirituality, parenting, and leading a global introduction to Judaism network. He reflects on the dearth of spontaneity in this environment, and the ache that we all have to be missed when we’re not present. We wonder together: what does it even mean to pray these days without the true presence of community to surround you?
Rabbi Adam Greenwald is Vice President for Jewish Engagement at American Jewish University, where he oversees the Maas Center for Jewish Journeys and the Miller Introduction to Judaism Program. He also serves as a Lecturer in Rabbinics at the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies. Rabbi Greenwald is the editor of On One Foot an introduction to Judaism textbook in wide use across the United States. In 2016, he received the Covenant Foundation's Pomegranate Prize in Jewish Education. Rabbi Greenwald is married to Anne Hromadka, a curator and arts educator, and they are the proud parents of Gracie
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Navigate And Master The Prayerbook - Shabbat Siddur Skills
December 8th, 2020 | 32 mins 15 secs
Rabbi Cantor Hillary Chorny leads an adventure through the siddur focused on structure, themes and music of the Jewish prayer experience. All Hebrew levels welcome.
This class was conducted at Temple Beth Am Los Angeles via Zoom on December 8, 2020.
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Are You Coming Back? - A Personal Conversation About The Jewish Future With Sal Litvak
December 7th, 2020 | 51 mins 23 secs
Sit down with author, writer, and Torah-spreader Sal Litvak as Rabbi Cantor Chorny enters her first “Are You Coming Back?” conversation with a congregant. Learn how Sal sees each of the multi-faceted connections with the Jewish community having transformed under COVID, from tiny neighborhood prayer gatherings to spiritual connections in his own family. This wide-ranging conversations covers everything from golf to guns to Gemara, all on the way to the final question - Are you coming back?
Sal Litvak is an author, filmmaker, and spiritual leader. He was born in Santiago, Chile and moved to New York at age five. Sal graduated from Harvard College, NYU Law, and UCLA Film. His first movie, the raucous and inspiring When Do We Eat?, became a cult hit and Passover tradition. His next film, the historical epic Saving Lincoln, explored the 16th president’s crisis of faith as he leads the nation through its darkest hours. The film pioneered a new visual style called CineCollage that places actors within a world crafted from authentic period photography. Sal created both films with his wife and writing partner, Nina Davidovich Litvak. A pair of miracles propelled Sal on his faith journey, leading him to become the Accidental Talmudist. He and Nina share daily posts on Jewish wisdom, history, and humor with over one million followers in 70 countries.
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Shabbat Teaching: When Potiphar's Wife Spoke Up
December 5th, 2020 | 24 mins 50 secs
Rabbi-Cantor HIllary Chorny's Shabbat Teaching at Temple Beth Am, Los Angeles, on December 5, 2020.
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Navigate And Master The Prayerbook - Q&A And The Start of Kabbalat Shabbat
December 1st, 2020 | 50 mins 10 secs
Rabbi Cantor Hillary Chorny leads an adventure through the siddur focused on structure, themes and music of the Jewish prayer experience. All Hebrew levels welcome.
This class was conducted at Temple Beth Am Los Angeles via Zoom on December 1, 2020.
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Are You Coming Back? - A Personal Conversation About The Jewish Future With Carrie Bornstein
November 30th, 2020 | 1 hr 5 mins
Rabbi Chorny sits down with Carrie Bornstein to explore life in quarantine and what’s coming next. They explore some of the trickier questions of life in Jewish community at this juncture, like: What was going right in Jewish community, and wrong, before this all began? How can we care for our kids’ mental health during this challenging era? And what will need to be rebuilt when all this is over and we can gather again?
Carrie Bornstein is Executive Director at Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Education Center outside of Boston, Massachusetts. She first joined as a volunteer Mikveh Guide and, since 2012, has transitioned the organization from a robust start-up to a sustainable grown-up, also spearheading the creation of its Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network. Carrie spent many summers at URJ Eisner Camp and was named one of the 18 most influential young adults in Boston by Combined Jewish Philanthropies in 2013. A cum laude graduate of Skidmore College, Carrie received her M.A. in Social Work from Boston University with a focus on Macro Practice, participated in the first cohort of DeLeT (Day School Leadership through Teaching) at Brandeis and spent a year at the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. Carrie practices improv in her spare time and lives in Sharon with her husband, Jamie, and their three children.
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Meditation and Mindfulness with Rabbi Adam Kligfeld
November 25th, 2020 | 9 mins 28 secs
Rabbi-Cantor Hillary Chorny fills in for Rabbi Adam Kligfled and offers up short bursts of meditation infused with the imagery, wisdom, and the rhythms of our Jewish calendar including selected verses from the Torah. Many of these meditations are performed in sitting positions; some standing. Simply find yourself a comfortable space and let Rabbi Chorny's voice and direction guide you into a world of serenity and tranquility.
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Navigate And Master The Prayerbook - Weekday Ma'ariv and Mincha
November 24th, 2020 | 41 mins 52 secs
Rabbi Cantor Hillary Chorny leads an adventure through the siddur focused on structure, themes and music of the Jewish prayer experience. All Hebrew levels welcome.
This class was conducted at Temple Beth Am Los Angeles via Zoom on November 24, 2020.
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Are You Coming Back? - A Personal Conversation About The Jewish Future With Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer
November 23rd, 2020 | 1 hr 8 mins
Rabbi Hillary Chorny asks Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer to share his take on synagogue life in the pandemic and beyond. What have you always loved about shul (and therefore miss)? What have you discovered about shul during COVID, and spiritual practice (or lack thereof), and what are your religious and communal bright lights in this time? What you think are the new horizons in general when it comes to the burgeoning radical equity of synagogue life in an era when a Jew in Portland, Oregon and a Jew on 5th Ave. in NY can practically, but not quite, have the same Jewish experiences?
Dr. Yehuda Kurtzer is the President of the Shalom Hartman Institute of North America. He is a leading thinker and author on the meaning of Israel to American Jews, on Jewish history and Jewish memory, and on questions of leadership and change in American Jewish life. He is the host of Hartman’s Identity/Crisis podcast which can be found at identitycrisispod.com. He is also the author of Shuva: The Future of the Jewish Past, which offers new thinking to contemporary Jews on navigating the tensions between history and memory; and the co-editor of The New Jewish Canon, a collection of the most significant Jewish ideas and debates of the past two generations.
This episode was recorded on October 29, 2020 and it is the first in a series of weekly conversations with Jewish thought-leaders across the country.