Debbie Friedman

Debbie Friedman - Topic

Deborah Lynn Friedman was an American singer-songwriter of Jewish religious music, a feminist, and lover of music. She was an early pioneer of gender-sensitive language: using the feminine forms of the Divine or altering masculine-only text references in the Jewish Liturgy to include feminine language.
She is best known for her setting of "Mi Shebeirach" the prayer for Healing, which is used by hundreds of congregations across America. Her songs are used in Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Jewish congregations. It demonstrates her popularity within Jewish religious communities and her imprint on the Jewish Liturgy.
Orthodox Jewish feminist Blu Greenberg noted: "she had a large impact [in] Modern Orthodox shuls, women’s tefillah [prayer], the Orthodox feminist circles.... She was a religious bard and angel for the entire community." According to Cantor Harold Messinger of Beth Am Israel in Penn Valley, PA, “Debbie was the first, and every contemporary hazzan, song leader, and layperson who values these concepts is in her debt.”