The Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation will honor Lana Shagrin Oyer for her 25-year volunteer role as music director during its annual music service at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 10.
The service will be held at the Sun Lakes All Faiths Chapel, which is open to all members of the community.
The choir’s tribute will include some of Oyer’s favorite songs. Oyer joined the Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation Choir when she arrived in Arizona in 1991, at which time the group only had seven members. Two months later, the choir director relocated and Oyer took over. The Sun Lakes Jewish Congregation Choir now boasts 36 members.
Oyer is a lifelong music lover, who spent six years singing with the Phoenix Symphony Chorus. Two years ago, Oyer took charge of the Interfaith Choral Festival, which was founded 20 years before by Grace Goldstein Roth. Bob Confare led the festival for many years.
Oyer said she believes that music is therapeutic and creates a sense of wonder. She is dedicated to the choir and added that she always feels uplifted after a good choir rehearsal.
‘Is Israel a Jewish state or a state of Jews?’
Later in March, Rabbi Michael Beyo will discuss “Is Israel a Jewish state or a state of Jews?” The Jewish fabric of Israel is a patchwork of numerous factions from many cultures and all corners of the earth. Meeting the needs of all these groups and their interactions results in complicated challenges for Israel. Newspaper headlines such as “Israelis facing seismic rift over the role of women,” “Deep rifts among Israeli Jews are found in religion survey” and “Israel approves prayer space at Western Wall for non-Orthodox Jews” reflect some of these concerns.
Beyo is a published author, university lecturer and historian. Since November 2015, he has been the CEO of the East Valley Jewish Community Center, where he is revered by his history students.
The event will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday, March 26, at the Sun Lakes Chapel Center, 9240 E. Sun Lakes Blvd. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served
