Hazzan Elisheva Dienstfrey
Whether she’s leading the congregation in prayer, helping a student or teaching a new melody, Elisheva Dienstfrey conveys the message that being a Hazzan is the world’s best work. A member of the class of 2000 of the Jewish Theological Seminary’s H. L. Miller Cantorial School, Elisheva came to Agudas Achim fresh from graduate school, and has never looked back.
Elisheva grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico, singing in a children’s choir, led by her father, a radiologist. “People were always telling me that I should be a cantor,” says Elisheva, but she didn’t take it seriously until Cantor Josh Perlman took her under his wing. “He is my role model and the person I want to be like,” she adds. Perlman taught her that a cantor’s job involves not only singing but also working with people in the community and being a “mentsch.”
Originally given the name “Lisa,” at the age of eight, Elisheva asked her parents about her Hebrew name. When they told her that she didn’t have one, she requested that they ask their rabbi what Hebrew name would be appropriate. They settled on the name “Elisheva,” which means “consecrated to God,“ and even though her parents thought this name would not stick, she persisted using her Hebrew name until her family had it legally changed as her 14th birthday present.
Elisheva majored in music and religious studies at Occidental College in Los Angeles. While living in L.A. she met her husband, Tobias, at a Hillel program at the University of Judaism. “He asked me if I wanted an aliyah,” says Elisheva, who thought his offer was an interesting pick-up line. They were separated while she attended the first year of cantorial school at Pardes Institute in Jerusalem, where she studied Talmud, Hebrew and Nusach. “The day after I returned from Israel, Tobias asked me to marry him,” says Elisheva. They were married in 1998 after a two-year engagement.
Along with her musical talents, Elisheva also has the distinction of being a female cantor with a second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. Influenced by the crime rate in Albuquerque, her mother decided to give both of her daughters lessons in self defense along with her son. Elisheva has continued her lessons through her adult life, because the moves provide her with an excellent form of exercise and artful dance.
Impressed by her phone conversations with cantorial search committee members Nancy Hailpern and David Yaffe, Elisheva decided to come for an interview at Agudas Achim for the position of Hazzan. “The community was so warm and welcoming that they swept me off of my feet,” she notes. After her interview in Northern Virginia, Elisheva says she knew that it felt like home.
Elisheva and Tobias have now called Alexandria their home for more than 11 years, and not only have become part of the Agudas Achim family, but have expanded their own little family by four – Margalit, Akiva, Dassi, and Lev. “We have so many blessings in our lives, and Agudas Achim has made that possible.”
Please stop by Agudas Achim to sing, pray, or learn, and introduce yourself to Elisheva and her family. They’d love to meet you!
Hear Elisheva sing:
