“So, How Do You Like Your New Job?”

Wow, it’s been a while since my last post. There’s a good reason for that…

What a year of transitions this has been. When you’ve done one thing, one way, and in one place for well over 30 years, it’s jarring when you make a change. As many of you already know, this past July I stepped away from being a pulpit cantor and took on the role of Executive Director for the Cantors Assembly. For years I had been active as a volunteer—serving as an officer and participating on more committees than I could keep track of. Now I have the opportunity to devote 100% of my time working for this incredible organization.

I’ve been asked “So, how do you like your new job?” so many times that I feel like I should just prepare a printed card to hand out with the answer. Here’s my definitive answer: I love this new job. I look forward every day to working on whatever needs to be done, meeting with colleagues or others (most often on Zoom), and helping to solve problems and come up with new ideas.

But I’ve also observed that the “So, how do you like your new job?” question sometimes comes with a subtle connotation. Most of the time, it’s pretty straightforward: people are simply curious and are thrilled to hear my answer. However, I’ve noticed that others react with a barely suppressed sense of surprise, and I suspect a significant desire for a bit of dirt—a little casual schadenfreude. The same people who like to joke about how hard it is to deal with a congregation full of Jews (I never found it difficult) will gleefully point out that now I’m heading an organization comprised solely of professional Jews. You must be miserable all day long, chuckle chuckle. I’ve also been told—always with humor of course—that maybe I shouldn’t tell everyone how much I love my job, as if I’m getting away with something. The implicit message is that a job is something that should by definition be a chore—if you’re enjoying it then you must be doing something wrong or not working hard enough.

Nope, sorry to disappoint. I’m busy, happy, and professionally challenged—using new skills and tackling fresh projects. I was extremely happy at my previous congregation and hoped that I would finish out my career right there. And then this opportunity presented itself, and I took the risk.

So the focus of this blog will migrate away from the observations and musings of a congregational cantor, and reflect my new role—sometimes referred to as cantor to the cantors.

Let the adventure continue!