Temple Israel of Greater Miami Cantor Rachelle Nelson will showcase the best of Jewish liturgical music and Broadway songs in her upcoming 90 minute concert titled “A Legacy in Melody and Song” on Sunday, April 27 at 4 pm in the sanctuary. The concert will feature, along with Nelson, more than 20 cantors, opera singers and soloists who will join Nelson for what will be her final concert at Temple Israel.
Audience members and performers alike will miss coming to Temple Israel for concerts, prayer services and other programs. Temple Israel will cease its operations at its present location at 137 NE 19th Street in downtown Miami as of June 15, 2025 after 103 years.
After opening its doors as the first Reform Jewish congregation in South Florida in 1922, Temple Israel has flourished with over 1,000 families as members in the 1960s before declining to its current membership of 133 families.
As written on its website templeisrael.net, changing demographics in downtown Miami did not allow the temple to continue operations at its present location. The hope of members is that Temple Israel may continue operations at another site..
Nelson, who was the first female cantor ever hired by a congregation in South Florida when Temple Israel hired her first as a cantorial soloist in 1986, has a long career as both a Cantor at many South Florida congregations and a musical composer for almost four decades,
She is an optimist for herself and Temple Israel and the positive feelings will be shared with performers and the audience in the concert.
“For this concert, I asked each artist to choose one of their favorite songs and share it in concert. This is the personal gift from each artist for a synagogue that has been a leading force in the Reform Jewish world for 103 years,” said Nelson.
For many of the performers, especially the female cantors and cantorial soloists, Nelson was the mentor who inspired them in their careers.
Cantor Lisa Segal of Temple Judea in Coral Gables, who will perform “Ana Doni”, composed by Nelson in the concert, is one of many female cantors who was inspired by Nelson.
“Rachelle (Nelson) hired me to work with her as a Cantorial Soloist at a time when women were not hired to sing in temples. I have been friends with Rachelle for over 40 years and am continually amazed at what she has accomplished for all female cantors today,” said Segal.
The roster of collaborators in the upcoming concert (in addition to Cantors Nelson and Segal) are: Cantorial Soloist Jessica Bass at Temple Beth Am in Pinecrest, Cantorial Soloist Michelle Auslander Cohen of Temple Beth El in Boca Raton, soprano Ana Collado of Miami, pianist/singer Greg Eisenson of Miami, Cantor Joseph Flaxman of Temple Beth Am in Pinecrest, Cantorial Soloist Rebecca Gladstone of Miami, Cantor Evelyn Goldfinger of Temple Solel of Hollywood, soprano opera singer Egllise Gutierrez of Miami, Cantor Debbie Hafetz of Congregation Kol Tikvah in Parkland, singer/songwriter Susan Shane Linder of Miami, Cantorial student Jax Misrahi of Miami, Rabbi/Cantor Paul Offenkrantz of Boynton Beach, Cantorial Soloist Karen Pincus of Miami, classical music singer Silvio Plata, classical singer Isaac Rodriguez, Cantor Emeritus Israel Rosen of Temple Solel in Hollywood, Cantor Jodi Rozental of Ramat Shalom Beth Israel Synagogue in Plantation, Cantor Ronit Rubin of Beth Shira Congregation in Miami, Cantorial songleader Adina Baseman Sharfstein of Congregation Kol Ami Emanu-El in Plantation, Cantor Stephen Texon at Temple Emeth in Delray Beach and and singer Samantha Zaitman, a student at Florida International University in Miami.
Along with Nelson, Alan Mason will lead the concert as both Music Director and pianist. Mason and Nelson collaborated together as Music Director and Cantor at Temple Israel for over a decade. Mason was the Temple Israel Music Director for 27 years from 1991-2008, Nelson returned to Temple Israel in 2021 following her 29 years as Cantor at Temple Beth Am in Pinecrest.
Highlights of the 20 plus songs to be performed include the Jewish liturgical songs and singers “Hashkiveinu”(Hafetz), “L’Dor Vador”(Linder),“Oseh Shalom” (Bass) and “V’Shamru” (Rubin). .
Songs and singers from the musical theater include “Bring Him Home” (Rozental), “For Good” (duet by Eisenson/Misrahi), “Maybe This Time” (Zaitman), “Music of the Night” (Rodriguez) and “Over The Rainbow” (Pincus).
Also included among the songs and singers performing are a medley of Yiddish folk songs (Texton) and the popular song “What A Wonderful World” sung in Hebrew (Rosen).
The concert reaches a climax with Nelson singing with deep emotion the closing song “As If We Never Said Goodbye”.
“It’s an odd feeling that this is the very last time I will be doing a concert at Temple Israel. Temple Israel was my very first pulpit. It was the place that helped to guide me and mold me into the Cantor I longed to be,” said Nelson.
Nelson will be working on a variety of projects that involve her in her favorite roles of composing Jewish liturgical music for the Reform movement and working with young people who inspire to be Cantors and Cantorial Soloists.
“Most of all, I want to continue relishing in the undeniable role of being a grandmother to my very first grandchild Sarah,” said Nelson.
Cantor Rachelle Nelson will be giving her final concert, titled “A Legacy of Music and Song” on Sunday, April 27 featuring more than 20 Cantors, Cantorial Soloists and opera singers at Temple Israel of Greater Miami, 137 NE 19th Street in downtown Miami.. Tickets are $36. For more information, call 305-573-5900 or go to templeisrael.net.
