SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 302
In Memory
of
Deborah Lynn Friedman
WHEREAS, The great American composer and singer, Deborah
Lynn "Debbie" Friedman, has been credited with creating the genre
of contemporary Jewish worship music; and
WHEREAS, Debbie Friedman composed much of her early music
while residing in Houston, Texas, from 1975 to 1984; and
WHEREAS, Her modern settings of traditional Hebrew liturgy
and original compositions are sung by congregants in Reform,
Reconstructionist, Conservative, and some Modern Orthodox Jewish
synagogues, as well as in some Christian churches; and
WHEREAS, Debbie Friedman was called "the Joan Baez of
Jewish song" by the Jewish newspaper The Forward and recorded
more than 20 albums, which together sold half a million copies,
and her lyrics have appeared on Hallmark greeting cards; and
WHEREAS, Her "Mi Shebeirach" prayer for healing is used by
hundreds of congregations across America and is a central part of
the Jewish healing movement, and her "Alef Bet Song" has been
performed by Barney the purple dinosaur and has taught two
generations of Jewish children the Hebrew alphabet; and
WHEREAS, Deborah Lynn Friedman was born in Utica, New York,
to Freda and Gabriel Friedman; and
WHEREAS, Debbie moved with her family to Minnesota at age
five, and she was a 1969 alumna of Highland Park High School in
Saint Paul and a graduate of the after-school Hebrew school
program at the Talmud Torah of Saint Paul; and
WHEREAS, She wrote her earliest songs as a song leader at
the overnight camp Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute in Oconomowoc,
Wisconsin, and recorded her first album, Sing Unto God, with the
choir of her former high school in 1972; and
WHEREAS, Rabbi Samuel Karff brought her to Houston in 1975,
where she taught at Temple Beth Israel and at Congregation Beth
Yeshurun while writing many of her compositions and,
coincidentally, living in the district of Representative Paul
Colbert, who had been her Hebrew school classmate for nine years
in Saint Paul; and
WHEREAS, After leaving her many friends in Houston, Debbie
Friedman continued to compose and performed her songs in concerts
at venues throughout the world, including her live recordings to
sold-out audiences at Carnegie Hall and the Hotel del Coronado,
despite struggling with a debilitating neurological condition;
and
WHEREAS, The story of her music, as well as the challenges
she faced in living with illness, were featured in a 2004
documentary film called A Journey of Spirit; and
WHEREAS, Debbie Friedman became a teacher at Hebrew Union
College-Jewish Institute of Religion, first in New York and later
in Los Angeles, and served on the board of the Academy for Jewish
Religion, California; and
WHEREAS, Deborah Lynn Friedman succumbed to pneumonia on
January 9, 2011, and her memorial service on the opening day of
this Legislative Session was attended and watched on the Internet
by almost 10,000 of her family, friends, and admirers; and
WHEREAS, Deborah Lynn Friedman is survived by her mother,
Freda, and her sisters, Cheryl Friedman and Barbara Egli; and
WHEREAS, Debbie Friedman's songs, including "Mi
Shebeirach," "L'chi Lach," "Miriam's Song," "Oseh Shalom," "Not
by Might," "And Thou Shalt Love," "The Alef Bet Song," "You Are
the One," "This is the Day," and many, many others, have inspired
and comforted millions and will continue to be sung and
remembered as a fitting legacy to this caring and inspiring
person; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 82nd
Legislature, hereby pay tribute to the life of Deborah Lynn
Friedman and extend sincere sympathy to the members of her
family: to her mother, Freda; to her sisters, Cheryl and
Barbara; and to her other relatives and many friends; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this Resolution be
prepared for her family and that when the Texas Senate adjourns
this day, February 23, 2011, which would have been her 60th
birthday, it do so in memory of Debbie Friedman.
Shapiro
________________________________
President of the Senate
I hereby certify that the
above Resolution was adopted by
the Senate on February 23, 2011,
by a rising vote.
________________________________
Secretary of the Senate
________________________________
Member, Texas Senate