Shalom, friends!

Shalom, friends!

Madeleine LeBeau is a cantorial student at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music of Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, where she is an Atara Scholar and will be ordained in 2030. Her love of Jewish music and community began at age four at Temple Rodef Shalom in Northern Virginia, where she immersed herself in every aspect of Jewish life – singing in choirs, performing in Purim shpiels, and taking on leadership roles. Through these experiences, she came to understand that authentic community – genuine connection and belonging – is what sustains vibrant Jewish life.

For Madeleine, the cantor's role is threefold: building and sustaining community, teaching, and leading meaningful song.

Building and Sustaining Community

At Princeton University, Madeleine found her home at the Center for Jewish Life, where she served as president of Kesher, the Reform Jewish community, and grew weekly service attendance more than sixfold. She created translated and transliterated machzorim and song supplements so students at every level of Hebrew fluency could pray, and directed and arranged for Koleinu, Princeton's Jewish a cappella group, which sang at the White House and opened for the Maccabeats. After graduating summa cum laude in 2024 with a major in History and minors in Judaic Studies, Vocal Performance, Music Theater, and Theater, she completed a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education as a chaplain intern at Princeton-Penn Medical Center, offering more than 400 hours of spiritual care to patients and families during illness and recovery.

Teaching

Madeleine believes learning is the heart of Judaism, and she has taught at nearly every stage of Jewish life. As a teenager, she founded a non-profit that connected the Greatest Generation – those who fought and won WWII – with today's teens through events nationwide. Since 2023 she has tutored b'nai mitzvah students in prayer and trope, first at Temple Rodef Shalom and now at Temple Emanu-El and Temple Shaaray Tefila. At Princeton she developed and taught a ten-week course on Jewish liturgy, and at Temple Emanu-El she designed a "Learning Liturgy" curriculum for adults covering Hebrew roots, translation, and the melodies that deepen worship – work she continues today as leader of Torah Study at Shaaray Tefila. Her senior thesis, Hymns and Hers, explored the role of women in authoring Reform American Jewish hymns and earned both the C.O. Joline Prize in American History and the Carolyn Drucker Prize in Judaic Studies.

Leading Meaningful Song

Madeleine leads services with intention and warmth, creating inclusive worship where congregants feel genuinely uplifted. As cantorial intern at Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City, she plans and leads Kabbalat Shabbat with the clergy team, independently leads Saturday morning minyan, co-leads the congregation from S'lichot through Simchat Torah, and co-directs Shir Leadership, the teen choir. She has also served as cantorial soloist at Har Sinai Temple in Pennington, Temple Micah in Lawrenceville, and Temple Rodef Shalom, and as a clergy intern at Temple Emanu-El.

In her free time, Madeleine can be found playing guitar, writing and arranging music, keeping up with the latest on Broadway, gathering friends around her table for meals and game nights, and attempting to break out of escape rooms (with a pretty solid track record)!