Ruth Slater was one of the first female cantors in Canada
Ruth Slater was a mezzo soprano and a prominent Hamilton cultural ambassador who was one of the first female cantors in Canada.
A cantor in the Jewish faith is a clergy member known for singing the liturgical portion of a service and at bar mitzvahs, or sings and chants the prayers.
It was traditionally a position held by men through the centuries, but in the latter half of the 20th century women began stepping into the role.
Slater — who died April 9 at age 90 — became the cantor to Temple Tikvah, a Reform congregation in St. Catharines, in the early 1970s. In 1982, she moved to Temple Anshe Sholom in Hamilton, where the Burlington resident had once sung as a temple soloist in the 1960s.
Esther Ghan Firestone is recognized as the first female cantor in Canada, having started singing in a Toronto synagogue in the 1950s. She died in June 2015, also at the age of 90.
At the time Slater started as a cantor, however, she did not know of any other women in that role. She later helped found a group called Kol Nashim (the Voice of Women), made up of Firestone and five other women cantors, who performed throughout the Golden Horseshoe. The Toronto native retired from Temple Anshe Sholom in 2002.
Slater didn’t see her role as being part of the women’s liberation movement. She told The Spectator in a 1975 profile she considered it an appreciation of women’s role in society. She said a simple gesture led to her becoming a cantor — the congregation asked her.
“Being one who never turned down a challenge, I said yes,” Slater said.
She was enthusiastic about the job. The Spec reported her eyes radiated enthusiasm when she talked about her work.
“I love it,” Slater said. “Both the music and the service. To have the opportunity to do it is extremely meaningful to me.”
Slater also sang at Hamilton celebrations and was a member of the now defunct Opera Hamilton (1961-2014) and the city’s professional theatre company. She served from 1974 to 1981 as the company manager of Opera Hamilton — where she once sang the title role in the company’s production of “Carmen” in 1965 — and for 11 years after that she was the marketing director of Theatre Aquarius.
She was also a conductor of the Burlington Opera Society, had her own weekly classical musical showcase called “A Little Night Music on K103-FM” and served as president of the Hamilton Council of Hadassah, which was known for its giant annual bazaar. In the 1960s, she was involved in fashion work.
Former mayor Bob Morrow accompanied Slater on the piano at several functions, including a Polish community celebration in 1995 to mark the 50th anniversary of V-E Day.
“She was a wonderful, lovely person. She had a gorgeous voice. She was very loyal to her community, but she extended her music far beyond.”
He recalled she would attend choir sings at City Hall at Christmas and performed at a 2000 Easter visit to the city by televangelist Robert Schuller. The Copps Coliseum event was attended by more than 6,000 people.
When she was a student in the United States, to add to her income she sang in Presbyterian, Methodist and Baptist churches, and at Roman Catholic weddings and funerals. She was also a temple soloist in synagogues in Detroit, New York and other cities.
Slater is survived by two children, three grandchildren and a sister.