Cantor Jacqueline Rafii Bio

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Cantor Jacqueline Rafii

Cantor Jacqueline Rafii is delighted to lead the Cantorial team at Valley Beth Shalom.

Cantor Jacqueline Rafii joined the Valley Beth Shalom clergy team in 2022, bringing along her vision for building, engaging, and invigorating Jewish community through the power of music. She directs and develops innovative musical programs and services--including the wildly successful Shiru Shabbat service--as the Music Director for VBS and its schools; launched the VBS Youth Choir and revived the VBS Community Choir; created an annual Concert Series; oversees the newly redesigned B’nai Mitzvah program; and shares holidays, special occasions, and sacred moments with our members.

Prior to joining VBS, Cantor Rafii served for five years as the Cantor of Shomrei Torah Synagogue. Highlights include Songstruck, a sold-out Cantors' Concert; the Shabbat Around the World series; Zamru Shabbat; Simcha Shabbat; and founding and directing the synagogue’s first-ever Youth and Teen Choirs. In 2019 and 2020, Cantor Rafii was honored by LA Mayor Garcetti’s office for her impactful work in the community.

Cantor Rafii was ordained as a Hazzan and earned her Master's in Sacred Jewish Music from the Academy for Jewish Religion California. For her Master's thesis, she conducted original fieldwork in the area of preserving, notating, and sharing Persian Jewish prayer melodies with communities around the world. She performed many of these pieces in her Senior Recital, Kol Haneshama, which is available to view below.

Prior to becoming a cantor, Cantor Rafii earned her JD from UCLA School of Law and practiced entertainment law. She also served as a cantorial soloist at major synagogues across Los Angeles, and she was the first-ever female prayer leader at the Iranian Jewish Senior Center’s High Holy Days services.

Cantor Rafii is a published composer and pianist, and performs Jewish music in Hebrew, Ladino, Farsi and English. She is an Alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship. Cantor Rafii lives in Los Angeles with her husband Lev and daughter, Adira.