About Jessica
From an early age, I led prayers with my mother, Cantor Ann Turnoff.
“I feel quite blessed to be able to say that I received my cantorial training in the traditional manner, from my parent who is a Cantor.”
Of course, the fact that my mother is a Cantor is not exactly traditional. This is part of the reason I am so passionate about a practice of Judaism that supports and even requires constant change and growth. Ceremonies which embrace tradition as well as new expressions of “family” are yet another way Judaism is changing and growing, becoming more open, more aligned with unity.
I understand firsthand the challenges and joys of interfaith marriage and interfaith family life. When I married my husband, we became part of more than a million Jewish/interfaith American families.
I’m also a psychotherapist (LMHC), supporting people with a psych-spiritual approach to wellness. Any relationship guidance I offer in the wedding planning process is based on best practices from leading researchers in marriage and family therapy.
For those precious moments when you stand with your beloved and make the vows that bind you as a family, it is invaluable to be held in calm, sacred space. Creating this space is something I do as a therapist, and something that I love to create as I usher couples into their married life.
I served as Cantor at a Reform synagogue in Jupiter, Forida for 12 years, and have been a guest soloist at many congregations throughout the Northeast, Midwest, and South Florida. I enjoy singing a variety of musical styles and have performed jazz concerts with the Joe Scott Trio, folk with Peter Yarrow of Peter Paul and Mary; I’ve recorded with Gloria Estefan’s band, The Miami Sound Machine and even some electronica. As a faculty member at The Barbara Brennan School of Healing, I taught workshops on spirituality and human development in the US and abroad.
I hold an MA from Northwestern University, BA from Haverford College and was a visiting undergraduate at Harvard College.