May/June 2025 Clergy Column

Each page of a Tikkun represents one column in a Torah scroll and has two identical columns side by side. The right side column is vocalized with vowel markings and trope and the left column looks like a Torah scroll, without the vowels or the trope. This book is the number one tool used by B’nei Mitzvah teachers and Torah chanters worldwide. 

So back to the story about this particular Tikkun. As you can see from the picture, this is a well worn book. In fact, the binding has been mended more than once (thanks to Carol Reynolds, a retired librarian from Scottsdale, Arizona who lovingly mended all of my worn Tikkunim). Over the past many years, I have written the names of hundreds of B’nei Mitzvah students in the margins of this book, students from my entire career as a cantor. Now I have to admit that like most cantors and professional Torah chanters, I have multiple copies of the Tikkun, one sits on my desk at work, one at my desk at home, and one that lives on the bima in our Sanctuary. All of my Tikkunim have students' names written in their margins, but I can tell by names, like Danny Gergen and Leah Barish (Austin ~1999) that this one has been with me the longest.

I get so much joy opening these books and finding names of B’nei Mitzvah from long ago right next to the names of students from these past few years. Today I found the names Avi Sacks (2023) and Sam Vorspan (2004) on the same page next to their shared portion, Sh’mini. Sam Vorspan is an adult now. I believe he moved from Austin to become a chef in the East Bay. He must be about 34 now. And Avi, well I met Avi and his parents on his first day of kindergarten at Juana Briones. Avi and my kids, Ella and Sam, all started school together in Jill Denin’s kindergarten class. That morning in August of 2015, I made a connection with Ilana and Loren Sacks. “Aren’t you the new cantor at Beth Am?” Loren asked me. With that question my future seemed to unfold before my eyes; neighborhood trick-or-treating, school graduations, B’nei Mitzvah, a real community of people who “get” us. It was August of 2015, only a few short weeks after we arrived here but it felt like home. Fast forward ten years and Avi, Ella, and Sam are now in high school. They've grown up together and are woven into the fabric that makes up their lives. How time flies by. 

These beautifully worn books of Torah have become a personal time capsule for me. Each name, each student brings me back to a specific time in my cantorate. I feel such immense pride and joy for each and every person that I’ve been privileged to bring to the Torah. My heart is so full.

One of my favorite lessons from our tradition comes from Psalm 90:12. We learn:

Teach us to count our days rightly,
that we may obtain a wise heart.
לִמְנ֣וֹת יָ֭מֵינוּ כֵּ֣ן הוֹדַ֑ע וְ֝נָבִ֗א לְבַ֣ב חׇכְמָֽה׃

The psalmist is not literally asking us to count our days, one by one. Rather, we are encouraged to recognize the brevity of life and to live purposefully, with intention, and open heartedness. 

I have served as Beth Am’s cantor for ten years. Ten years of Shabbat worship, ten years of holidays, religious school, B’nei Mitzvah, births, and deaths. Ten years of life’s ups and downs, and ten years of being together in community. 

Time certainly does fly by. But benchmarks are important; they give us a chance to look back and take stock. And so as I leaf through my Tikkunim. I see the names: Gabby Gani - Bechukotai, Nathan Levy - Balak, Taeva Wegbreit and Melanie Adler - Matot, Leah Shverdin, Joey L., and Dawn Guthart - Kedoshim. The list goes on and on. I imagine each one of these beautiful people. I take stock of all the gifts this community has given me over these ten years. The joy, the smiles and laughs, as well as the tears. We have held each other through deep loss and pain and we have celebrated each other’s s’machot (joyous occasions). Your names and smiles have been written in my Tikkun and engraved upon my heart.

Thank you for this immense privilege. I have loved serving Beth Am for these 10 years and I hope to continue serving the Jewish people in good health for many years to come.

Cantor Jaime Shpall
cantor_shpall@betham.org