The Galveston County Daily News

GALVESTON — During the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, somewhere around 1500 B.C., the Bible records the songs of both Moses and his sister, Miriam. But it wasn’t until the 1970s when the first female liturgical singers, or cantors, came to be recognized by modern Judaism.

Now both the Reform and Conservative branches of Judaism recognize female cantors and rabbis, so when Francyne Davis Jacobs comes to sing at Congregation Beth Jacob, 2401 Ave. K, in Galveston, for the annual High Holy Days beginning with Rosh Hashana on Sept. 18, she will not be breaking new ground but instead carrying on a tradition in a faith that itself has thousands of years of recorded history.

“It’s a fairly recent phenomenon to be a cantor, but I knew that that was what I wanted to do when I was in my midteens,” Jacobs said. “I was very involved with both my synagogue youth group and my high school choir. So, when I looked for a way to combine my interests, it seemed perfectly natural to become a cantor.”

The Houston native has traveled and studied in both the United States and Israel. In addition to her religious duties, Jacobs is known to be an avid runner, having completed the 2000 Tiberias Marathon, billed as the world’s lowest marathon since it takes place 600 feet below sea level near the Sea of Galilee, and two Houston half-marathons.

Her official bio reports she also loves Astros games, the beach and her husband, Kevin, and their year-old daughter, Halle, though of course, not necessarily in that order.

“By the time I graduated from Gratz College in Pennsylvania, it was fairly common for women to serve as cantors,” she said. “There was more curiosity than resistance. Perhaps a few were taken aback or surprised, but people warmed quickly to the idea.”

Jacobs said she is excited to be sharing her passion for Jewish heritage and life with the Jewish community in Galveston.

In some ways, her guitar stands out as much as she does. That’s because instrumental music is a relatively new thing to modern Jewish worship. The Bible records the use of instrumental music in ancient Jewish worship, including harps, flutes, trumpets, tambourines and cymbals, as well as now-obscure devices. But for centuries, the only nonvocal sounds used in liturgy in most Jewish congregations have come from the shofar, or ram’s horn. It produces a colorful, though unmusical tone, which permits it to summon or arouse but not to support congregational singing.

“Many congregations allow the use of instruments now, so I sometimes accompany myself on a guitar,” Jacobs said.

Jacobs was invited to participate in this year’s service by Beth Jacob’s rabbi, Todd Doctor, who grew up in the same Houston Jewish community.

Beth Jacob, like most houses of worship on the island, has been in recovery mode since Ike, but Jacobs isn’t worried about any remaining reconstruction problems.

“I’ve been to grand, big-city synagogues and very small and yet lovely ones. But it’s not about the building, it’s about the people,” she said. “They make up the congregation. If the people are warm, the building will be, too.”