DJ Couple Celebrates 10 Years on Air
CSI radio jocks bring alternative Jewish music, and the voices of women, to a receptive audience

Staten Island Advance - Friday, February 22, 2008

"You don't have to be Jewish to love the Garners."

So says Rabbi Eliezer Garner who, with his wife, the "Rockin' Rebbetzin" Michele Garner, is celebrating the 10th anniversary of their first broadcasts on WSIA , 88.9 FM, the radio station of the College of Staten Island.

Their Sunday morning shows -- his: "Kabbalah Airwaves"; hers: the "Kol Isha Show" -- have brought alternative Jewish music and the voices of Jewish women to listeners not only on Staten Island, but, through the station's Webcasts, around the world.

What they've gotten in return, they say, is priceless: Enduring friendships with radio staffers and some of the students they've met in their 10 years on the air; holiday dinner guests from a wide variety of backgrounds; an insider's look at the lives of turn-of-the-century youth.

"It keeps me young to be with these kids," said Rabbi Garner, founder of the Or P'nimi Center for Spiritual Judaism in Willowbrook.

The station appreciates their contributions as well.

"The Garners add something different and unique to our programming," said Philip Masciantonio, general manager of WSIA. "They really bring something different to the mix, and they are like the elder statesmen of the station."

In 1997, Rabbi Garner decided to take the training for a pilot program the college offered to give the public access to its airwaves. He suggested his wife take the training too, so she could assist him.

"I thought I would be handing him the CDs," Rebbetzin Garner said. To complete the training, they each had to produce a demo CD, and she decided to make hers a compilation of women's music.

"I went around to Jewish bookstores looking for music," she recalled. "There really weren't that many CDs out there."

Knowing a niche when she saw one, she dubbed herself the "Rockin' Rebbetzin" and went on the air herself.

Her show remains somewhat radical in that, for observant Jews, it is forbidden for a man to listen to a woman sing. Rebbetzin Garner still opens each show with an announcement of its content, so people will have a chance to change the station.

"Michele is providing much-needed dialogue for women artists who are committed to the halachos of Kol Isha," said Ashira Morgenstern, a Jerusalem teacher and songwriter whose "Kol Isha Blues" opens every one of the Rockin' Rebbetzin's shows.

Aliza Dubin, a native of South Africa who now lives in New Jersey, said she met the rebbetzin at a birthday party and was invited to send her a CD.

"It was exciting to me that she was willing to play my original music on the air for others to hear," Mrs. Dubin said. "It was great exposure and made me feel validated as a female singer-songwriter."

The Garners' involvement with WSIA has opened many doors for them, they say.

They judged the Jewish Battle of the Bands at CSI; have been involved with the Harmony Street Fair and the annual Back to the Beach celebrations, and inaugurated a summer concert series at the Greenbelt Recreation Center.

Frequently seen in the "Advance," they also have been interviewed by the "Jewish Press," the "Jewish Week" and the "Jerusalem Post."

Their newest venture is a Kol Isha performance series at the Jewish Music Cafe in Park Slope, Brooklyn. The cafe has become a popular Saturday night "date night" destination so the women's series will occupy the space on Sundays.

The first show, this Sunday, will feature Ashira, Mrs. Dubin and Rachel Ravitz, a singer/storyteller from Brooklyn. The doors will open at 7 p.m. and the show is for women only.

The Jewish Music Cafe is at 401 Ninth Street, Brooklyn. For information, visit www.jewishmusiccafe.com.  

By Leslie Palma-Simoncek
Reprinted here with permission from the