Erica Lippitz

Erica Lippitz and Marla Rosenfeld Barugel were the first two female hazzans (also called cantors) ordained in Conservative Judaism. Their ordination was held in 1987,[1] two years after the first woman was ordained a Conservative rabbi.[2]

Lippitz and Barugel were ordained at the same time by the Cantors Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.[1] Since her ordination, Lippitz has served as cantor at Oheb Shalom in South Orange, New Jersey.[3] She is also the director and co-founder of the Kol Dodi choir, director of Oheb Shalom's adult and children's choirs, and a member of the folk-singing group Beged Kefet,[4] which performs nationally and has made three recordings.[3][5] She is a cofounder, with Cantor Perry Fine, of the JTS Cantorial Alumni Association’s Shir Joy Choral Festival.[3] In 2005 she sang at Carnegie Hall.[3]

Prior to becoming a cantor, Lippitz earned a B.A. from the University of Michigan, as well as a Masters in Jewish Communal Service from Brandeis University.[5] She had also served as the director of Loyola University Chicago's Hillel. When she entered the Seminary, she did not believe graduating as a Hazzan would be possible. By the time she graduated, she was one of eleven women in the program.[6]