Cantor Andrea Raizen, who has led services on the bima (stage) at Beth Abraham Synagogue since 2007, has announced she will retire on June 30, 2024, at the end of her current contract.

She arrived at the Conservative synagogue eight months before its move from Salem Avenue and Cornell Drive in Dayton View to its current location at Sugar Camp in Oakwood.

“Over the years, Cantor Raizen has redesigned our religious school curriculum, provided one-on-one b’nai mitzvah tutoring, crafted creative Purim shpiels, developed a Yad Squad of lay Torah readers, and led our congregation in prayer and song,” Beth Abraham Synagogue President Scott Liberman noted in a July letter to congregants announcing Raizen’s retirement. “She was a force throughout the pandemic to keep us connected through a daily virtual minyan and weekly Kabba-Locked-In Shabbat programming.”

He added that the synagogue board will explore options for “continuing to provide our members with religious education and musical experiences at Beth Abraham.”

To read the complete September 2023 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.