THE ABRAHAM GEIGER COLLEGE

Following the call and need of many Jewish communities inGermany for comprehensively trained cantors, a decade ago in2008, the Abraham Geiger College was founded at the University of Potsdam with the support of the families of Jim and Stephen K. Breslauer. Professor Eliyahu Schleifer (Jerusalem), the world’s leading expert on Ashkenazi synagogue music, has accompanied the work of the foundation into the year 2018. Since April 2018 Isidoro Abramowicz, who completed his studies in 2012 at the college and then moved to the Great Synagogue in Stockholm, is the new head of the Cantor Education. In March 2019, he will be appointed to his new post as cantor at the Pestalozzi Street Synagogue.

In conjunction with the School of Jewish Theology at the University of Potsdam, the education at the Abraham Geiger College ensures academic excellence and practical competence. The goal is to produce experts, who can act as spiritual leaders and teachers in synagogues and other Jewish institutions. From the values of liberal Judaism, the College links Jewish tradition with modern scientific questions in order to strengthen its participation in open society. It is committed to a dynamic Jewish life that actively deals with the intellectual and ethical issues of our time. The Cantors Seminar can draw on its education on a comprehensive music library, which is funded by the Women of Reform Judaism.

The following statements prove that the education at the AbrahamGeiger College is of high importance for the alumni and internationally recognized:

“I feel it is a blessing that I was guided by such invaluable teachers in my cantor studies at the Geiger Kolleg. Her dedication and personal attention were a valuable part of my education, which I will treasure forever.”
Cantor Juval Porat (Los Angeles)

“I found friends and colleagues for life at the Abraham GeigerKolleg and I am honored to have been taught by my esteemed professors Kantor Eli Schleifer and Cantor Israel Goldstein. Beyond musical knowledge, they have been a living example of integrity and modesty. My appreciation for her and her work is indescribable.”
Cantor Aviv Weinberg (Berlin / Magdeburg)