Temple Beth Torah of Wellington will formally install Jennifer Duretz Peled as cantor and director of education during a special Shabbat service on Friday, Jan. 27. The service will begin at 7:30 p.m., and the community is invited.
Duretz Peled began her tenure at Temple Beth Torah on July 1. She was the cantor at Congregation Keneseth Israel in Allentown, Penn., for five years before joining the congregation. Prior to that, she was the cantor at Temple B’nai Israel in Clearwater for three years.
She is an unwavering supporter of Israel and has traveled there 19 times. She studied at Universitat Haifa in Israel, where she loved living among such a diverse population of Jews, Christians and Muslims.
She studied opera performance at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where she was the recipient of the Emma Lou Young Vocal Award. She received her degree in voice performance with a concentration in opera at the University of West Florida, where she was a two-time recipient of the prestigious Samuel Gittenstein Vocal Award.
During her cantorial studies, Duretz Peled was the NFTY-STR song-leading advisor for four years. She was the music educator and High Holiday family service leader at Main Line Reform Temple in Wynnewood, Penn.
Duretz Peled received her cantorial investiture in 2008 from the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. She also received a master’s degree in cantorial studies and Jewish music from Gratz College in 2008, where she was the Abramson Fellow. She is a member of the Reform Movement’s American Conference of Cantors.
At the ceremony on Jan. 27, she will be joined by her husband, Rabbi Matan Peled, who is the education director at Temple Emmanuel, and her twin sons, Noam and Shai.
The weekend of installation and celebration will continue with a gala on Saturday evening and a brunch on Sunday morning. For more information on these events, call the temple office at (561) 793-2700. Temple Beth Torah is located at 900 Big Blue Trace in Wellington.
ABOVE: Jennifer Duretz Peled
