Our Clergy
Senior Rabbi, Michael Z. Cahana
Rabbi Michael Z. Cahana joined our community in July, 2006, becoming the 18th Senior Rabbi to serve Congregation Beth Israel in Portland, Oregon. Leading congregations throughout the East Coast, Rabbi Cahana has strived to create vibrant and inclusive Jewish communities. Through his leadership and programming, Rabbi Cahana has reached out to unaffiliated Jews, interfaith families and others who have struggled to find a home in the Jewish community. Rabbi Cahana brings to Congregation Beth Israel his passion for creating a warm, supportive community in which Jewish learning and worship are exciting and engaging.
Rabbi Cahana's academic interests are the interface of religion and science with a particular emphasis on medical ethics. He has served on the Central Conference of American Rabbi's Committee on Human Sexuality and chaired its ad hoc committee on Physician Assisted Suicide. He continues to serve on community boards and inter-religious councils, and is a past President of the Oregon Board of Rabbi.
In 1999, Rabbi Cahana was featured, along with his family, in the critically acclaimed documentary "The Last Days." The film tells the true stories of five Hungarian survivors of the Holocaust, including Rabbi Cahana’s mother - the renowned Holocaust artist Alice Lok Cahana. "The Last Days," which was produced by Steven Speilberg's Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation, won the 1999 Academy Award for "Best Documentary." In 2009, he accompanied his mother to Rome where one of her large-scale paintings became the first piece of Holocaust art on permanent display in the Vatican museum.
Rabbi Cahana has published on such diverse topics as physician assisted suicide in Jewish law, the Unvoiced Tetragrammaton, and the role of religion in Battlestar Galactica.
Born in Houston, Texas, Rabbi Cahana comes from multiple generations of rabbis including his late father, Rabbi Moshe Cahana, and his older brother. Rabbi Cahana began with a career in theater, including acting, directing and theatrical design. He later earned an MFA in Architectural Lighting from Parson’s School of Design. Soon, however, family tradition of the rabbinic life called him, leading to his ordination in 1994, becoming the first Reform rabbi in his family's history. Rabbi Cahana integrates his rabbinical training with his theater background to create an environment in which prayer becomes an art form. During worship, there is an aesthetic of thought, when individual moments can inspire movement and change.
While studying in Jerusalem, he met his wife, Cantor Ida Rae Cahana who is formerly the Senior Cantor of Manhattan's Central Synagogue and now serves as Adjunct Clergy at CBI. They live in Portland with their son, David, and triplet daughters Sarit, Liora and Idit.
Rabbi Cahana can be reached via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Cantor, Judith Blanc Schiff
Cantor Judith Blanc Schiff has served as Senior Cantor of Congregation Beth Israel since her investiture from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1980. She received her BA in English from the University of California at Los Angeles and a Master of Music in Voice from Manhattan School of Music. As a member of the American Opera Center at the Juilliard School, Cantor Schiff created the character of the Old Lady in the premier of Alan Leichtling’s opera A White Butterfly.
Cantor Schiff created the role of the Evil One in David Schiff’s opera, Gimpel the Fool, which was performed at the 92nd Street Y in New York City for two seasons and in Portland in 2003. Her performance as Sura can be heard on the Naxos recording of the opera.
She has performed with the Oregon Symphony, the Seattle Symphony, Chamber Music Northwest, the Aspen Music Festival and the Kansas City Lyric Opera.
Cantor Schiff can also be heard on the CD “The Music of David Schiff” (Delos Records) performing the Suite from the Sacred Service. The Sacred Service was commissioned by Arlene Schnitzer, June Nagel and Ruth Helfond in memory of Simon and Helen Director, in honor of Congregation Beth Israel's 125th Anniversary.
She has sung the premiers of many works composed by her husband David for events at Congregation Beth Israel: the mini-opera Vashti, or the Whole Megillah; Psalm 150, commissioned by Michael and Alice Powell for CBI’s 150th anniversary; and Havdalah service composed in honor of her 25th anniversary as Congregation Beth Israel’s Senior Cantor.
Cantor Schiff and her husband David are the parents of Daniel Schiff and Jamie Schiff Sperling.
Cantor Schiff can be reached via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Cantor, Ida Rae Cahana
Cantor Cahana served as Senior Cantor for Central Synagogue, NYC, from 2002 - 2006. She has also been cantor and scholar-in residence for synagogues throughout the United States, including Emanuel in Dallas Texas and Beth-El in Providence, RI. A recognized soloist in light opera, musical theatre, and oratorio, Cantor Cahana is a graduate of Carnegie-Mellon University, earned cantorial investiture and a Master's Degree in Sacred Music from Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion, and holds a Master's Degree from New England Conservatory of Music.
She has appeared in New York City on Broadway at Town Hall and in concert at Lincoln Center's Merkin Concert Hall and Alice Tully Hall as well as the 92nd Street Y. Cantor Cahana is a soprano soloist on Transcontinental Music's 5 CD set of High Holiday music, Yamim Noraim. Her work is included on the acclaimed Milken Foundation's Archive of American Jewish Music recordings, and the American Conference of Cantors at 50, A Celebration CD. Cantor Cahana has served on the Board of the American Conference of Cantors and was their placement director for two years. It has been a particular delight for her to have coached cantorial students as a faculty member at both the Jewish Theological Seminary and HUC-JIR, NYC. She and her family, Rabbi Michael Cahana and children David, Sarit, Liora, and Idit, happily live in Portland, Oregon.
Cantor Cahana can be reached via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Rabbi Emeritus, Emanuel Rose, D.H.L., D.D.
Rabbi Rose came to Beth Israel in 1960 from Temple Emanu-El, New York. Rabbi Rose is widely recognized throughout the state for his ongoing involvement in social and political issues of significance to the citizens of Oregon. He is a regular speaker at major civic events. He is a graduate of Hebrew Union College, B.H.L., M.A.H.L., D.H.L., with an Honorary D.D. from HUC-JIR and a L.H.D. from Lewis and Clark College.
Rabbi Rose can be reached via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
