Installation of Senior Cantor, Emma LutzFriday, March 25 at 6:15 p.m. | In-person and Online
Since joining Stephen Wise Temple & Schools in 2016, Cantor Emma Lutz has made a significant mark on the Wise community. She has guided our Wise School students, mentored our youth, shared moments of joy and sorrow with our families, and brought beautiful, soulful music into our Sanctuary. On Friday, March 25, we will officially install Emma as our senior cantor. As part of a special Shabbat evening, we will host incredible cantors, rabbis, and musicians from around the country—as well as young singers from our Wise community—all gathering on our beautiful hilltop campus to celebrate Cantor Emma Lutz with joyous song. We hope to see you here in person for this this momentous occasion, which will be followed by a celebratory reception on Nahmias Plaza. The service will also be streamed online. We look forward to being together for a special evening of song, as we mark this meaningful milestone in our community.
When I was a little girl, my grandmother shared with me the story of how she became the first bat mitzvah on the West Coast. In May of 1939, when so much of the world was shifting and even crumbling around her (a bit like today), she stood on the bima at Temple Sinai in Long Beach and proudly led her congregation in prayer. Later on, when she was installed as president of her Hadassah chapter in 1998, she was honored in a special ceremony on the bima at Stephen Wise Temple for those two great accomplishments achieved some sixty years apart.It is no accident that I also ended up on this bima. As you well know, the hard work, commitment, and generosity of those in our family and extended family so often lays the groundwork for our own stories.Please join us for a special Shabbat service & celebration on Nahmias Plaza at 6:15 p.m. on March 25 when I am officially installed as Senior Cantor of Stephen Wise Temple & Schools. The service will, of course, be accompanied by great and prayerful music, lifted up by the voices of our youth and so many cherished cantors and colleagues from around the country. And yet, it is the presence of our community–your presence–that will make the evening truly sacred.
Success in the war against Iran – which every American and Israeli should hope for – will only strengthen the tendency of both leaders to highlight their dominant personalities as the state axis, at the expense of the boring institutions that serve them.
Tangy, bright and filled with irresistible umami flavor, turshi is the perfect complement to burgers, kebabs and chicken, as well as the perfect foil for eggs and salads.
On Purim, re-reading Persia, we stand at the intersection of the past and this very moment. May we merit not merely a temporary cessation of war, but true peace — the ultimate end of all conflict.
When future generations tell your story and mine, which parts will look obvious in hindsight? What opportunities will we have leveraged — and decisions made — that define our legacy?
For over half a decade, I had seen how the slow drip of antisemitism, carefully enveloped in the language of social justice and human rights, had steadily poisoned people whom I had previously considered perfectly reasonable.
Today, amid rising global antisemitism and uncertainty in the Diaspora, many Anglos considering aliyah are searching not only for housing but for belonging.
Their assumptions about the attack on Iran are based on a belief in the resilience of an evil terrorist regime, coupled with a conviction that Trump’s belief in the importance of the U.S.-Israel alliance is inherently wrong.
As Bar Ilan University professor Joshua Berman engagingly and convincingly demonstrates in his “Echoes of Egypt” Haggadah, the process by which the Passover story took shape was as a polemic against the belief system and symbols of authority of Pharaoh and his people.
We may never know each other’s names. We may never meet. Yet for those minutes, across oceans, time zones, and screens, we share something deeply human.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.
Installation of Senior Cantor Emma Lutz
Lisa Ellen Niver
REGISTER
When I was a little girl, my grandmother shared with me the story of how she became the first bat mitzvah on the West Coast. In May of 1939, when so much of the world was shifting and even crumbling around her (a bit like today), she stood on the bima at Temple Sinai in Long Beach and proudly led her congregation in prayer. Later on, when she was installed as president of her Hadassah chapter in 1998, she was honored in a special ceremony on the bima at Stephen Wise Temple for those two great accomplishments achieved some sixty years apart.It is no accident that I also ended up on this bima. As you well know, the hard work, commitment, and generosity of those in our family and extended family so often lays the groundwork for our own stories.Please join us for a special Shabbat service & celebration on Nahmias Plaza at 6:15 p.m. on March 25 when I am officially installed as Senior Cantor of Stephen Wise Temple & Schools. The service will, of course, be accompanied by great and prayerful music, lifted up by the voices of our youth and so many cherished cantors and colleagues from around the country. And yet, it is the presence of our community–your presence–that will make the evening truly sacred.
REGISTER–click here
ARTICLES FROM CANTOR LUTZ:
Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.
Editor's Picks
Israel and the Internet Wars – A Professional Social Media Review
The Invisible Student: A Tale of Homelessness at UCLA and USC
What Ever Happened to the LA Times?
Who Are the Jews On Joe Biden’s Cabinet?
You’re Not a Bad Jewish Mom If Your Kid Wants Santa Claus to Come to Your House
No Labels: The Group Fighting for the Political Center
Latest Articles
Holiness in the Heart of Hollywood: From Modeling to Meaning
Rabbis of LA | Plans for a New Yeshiva High School
Rabbis of LA | Rabbi Shoff and Birth of a New Dream
The Evolution of Fear – From the USSR to College Campuses
Milken Teacher Wins National Milken Educator Award, JFSLA Homelessness Panel
The Sweet Song of Survival
A Big Bear Getaway: Nature, Luxury, and Restoration.
A Moment in Time: God’s Birthday
A Bisl Torah — Spiritual Enslavement
Spiritual enslavement is not confined to the Egypt in the Torah.
On That Day – A poem for Parsha Ki Tisa
When all of the people are counted – All of them, not just the ones who look like us.
Purim and the Ten Commandments
Gavin Newsom Is No Jack Kennedy
Ambition over principle. Political gain over integrity. That is his legacy — a legacy stained in shame.
Print Issue: Iran | March 5, 2026
Success in the war against Iran – which every American and Israeli should hope for – will only strengthen the tendency of both leaders to highlight their dominant personalities as the state axis, at the expense of the boring institutions that serve them.
Diving, Luxury and Wild Discoveries in Central Florida on The Jet Set TV
In a Pickle– A Turshi Recipe
Tangy, bright and filled with irresistible umami flavor, turshi is the perfect complement to burgers, kebabs and chicken, as well as the perfect foil for eggs and salads.
Sweet Kugel Recipes for National Noodle Month
Nothing says Jewish comfort food like sweet noodle kugel.
Table for Five: Ki Tisa
Understanding The Divine
Re-Reading Persia: Thoughts on an Ancient Text in a Modern Moment
On Purim, re-reading Persia, we stand at the intersection of the past and this very moment. May we merit not merely a temporary cessation of war, but true peace — the ultimate end of all conflict.
The War in Iran: Revolution, Assassination, Reconstruction
As Israel is learning in Gaza, achieving regime change from the outside, without a commitment to deep and continuous involvement, is a difficult task.
Who Knows?
When future generations tell your story and mine, which parts will look obvious in hindsight? What opportunities will we have leveraged — and decisions made — that define our legacy?
Nostalgia for the ‘80s and ‘90s and the Lost World of Third Spaces
The nostalgia attached to the ’80s and ’90s often comes from a world where public hanging-out was built into daily life.
You Heard It Here First, Folks!
For over half a decade, I had seen how the slow drip of antisemitism, carefully enveloped in the language of social justice and human rights, had steadily poisoned people whom I had previously considered perfectly reasonable.
Bringing the Best of Diaspora Jewry to Israel
Today, amid rising global antisemitism and uncertainty in the Diaspora, many Anglos considering aliyah are searching not only for housing but for belonging.
Trump’s Critics Have a Lot Riding on the Iran Conflict
Their assumptions about the attack on Iran are based on a belief in the resilience of an evil terrorist regime, coupled with a conviction that Trump’s belief in the importance of the U.S.-Israel alliance is inherently wrong.
The Snake, the Shepherd’s Crook, and the Eye of the Sun: Uncovering the Haggadah’s Hidden Meaning
As Bar Ilan University professor Joshua Berman engagingly and convincingly demonstrates in his “Echoes of Egypt” Haggadah, the process by which the Passover story took shape was as a polemic against the belief system and symbols of authority of Pharaoh and his people.
The Night Watch: How Hundreds of U.S. Volunteers Support Israel Through the Night
We may never know each other’s names. We may never meet. Yet for those minutes, across oceans, time zones, and screens, we share something deeply human.
More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.