Every cantor of Congregation Beth Israel’s long history was on hand Friday, Nov. 14, for the installation of the newest of their number, Cantor Rayna Green.

Her predecessors, Cantors Judith Schiff and Ida Rae Cahana, not only celebrated her, and handed her Beth Israel’s cherished Czechoslovakian Memorial Trust Torah Scroll as a ceremonial marker of her elevation as the Reform synagogue’s third Senior Cantor, they were also instrumental in her choosing the cantorate at her path in the world.

“Cantor Schiff was the first cantor I had ever met,” Cantor Green told The Jewish Review last week. “I really admired her and the relationship she had with the congregants, and I thought, ‘I want to do that. I want to use my music to connect with congregants.’”

Cantor Cahana, Cantor Green continued, showed that being a cantor was more than being a keeper of musical liturgy.

“[Cantor Cahana] was my first voice teacher and helped me really expand my musical appreciation,” Cantor Green said. “They both took me under their wing and mentored me. I went to cantorial school because of their support and guidance.”

Many of the other major influences of Cantor Green’s life and career were present for the big weekend – from Cantors Jennifer Frost and Dave Malecki to friends and family as well as Beth Israel’s Artist-In-Residence Kim Schneiderman, all of Beth Israel’s current clergy, both of the synagogue’s choirs and Beth Israel’s house band, Llama Lo. They were joined by Cantor Eyal Bitton of Portland’s Congregation Neveh Shalom for a celebratory concert and reception Saturday night.

“I’ve been saying to [Cantor Bitton] for years that we keep singing together at very sad occasions,” Cantor Green said – the pair have regularly performed at community Oct. 7 memorials since 2023. “I said we really need to sing at some joyous occasions too.”

What better occasion than this – a formal celebration of Cantor Green’s new role in a synagogue she has been part of in one way or another for 20 years.

“Many Cantors are hired at a synagogue, they move to a brand-new city, and they start the position; it’s, ‘Hi, nice to meet you,’ and then they spend the next year or more getting to know everyone,” Cantor Green said. “I am so fortunate that I have been building relationships for 20 years with some of these congregants, and so I’m very fortunate that I get to build off of all of those experiences and relationships.”

She will build on the foundation of the women who came before her – as Senior Rabbi Michael Cahana pointed out Friday night, Beth Israel has only had female cantors in its long history.

“[Cantors Schiff and Cahana] paved the way for all women who wanted to be cantors one day,” Cantor Green said. “It never even occurred to me that because I was a woman, I would be limited in my ability to become a cantor because I had these two incredible women to look up to and learn from.”