AJRCA Spotlight: Cantor Jackie Rafii

We are delighted to highlight our talented and dedicated community  & alumni members.

Today we are thrilled to spotlight AJRCA alumnus, Cantor Jackie Rafii.

Cantor Jackie Rafii is the daughter of Persian immigrants who came to the United States from Iran following the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Like many who emigrated at that time, her parents arrived with limited resources but a steadfast determination to rebuild their lives. Through hard work and perseverance, they reestablished their careers and created a home where education and service were deeply valued. Jackie and her brother Ben were both encouraged to pursue their passions and educational goals.  Jackie is currently serving as the Senior Cantor at Valley Beth Shalom Synagogue and her brother, Ben is an ENT surgeon specializing in the care of singers and other professional voice users.

When Jackie was four, her family joined Wilshire Boulevard Temple, drawn by its egalitarian values. They wanted Jackie, like her brother, to have the opportunity to be called to the bimah and chant Torah—something not available to women in many Persian congregations at the time. Jackie’s love of music blossomed early as she sang for a decade at Wilshire Boulevard Temple and later joined the Madrigals advanced choir at Beverly Hills High School.

Despite her musical gifts, Jackie initially chose a different path, earning her law degree from UCLA and practicing law for three years. Yet a series of meaningful experiences led her to realize that her true calling lay not in the contracts but in sharing her passion for Jewish music and building community through song.

Following that revelation, Jackie left her law career to pursue cantorial studies full-time at the Academy for Jewish Religion California (AJRCA), while simultaneously serving as the full-time cantorial soloist at Shomrei Torah Synagogue (now Hamakom). AJRCA’s flexible Sunday-through-Tuesday class schedule enabled her to balance work and study, culminating in her ordination as a Cantor. After five years at Shomrei Torah, she joined Valley Beth Shalom in Encino, where she now serves as Senior Cantor.

Jackie is also an alumna of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship, a prestigious program that has supported graduate students pursuing careers as rabbis, cantors, and Jewish educators for over 30 years.

In a transdenominational model like AJRCA, rabbinic, cantorial, and chaplaincy students of all denominations learn together.  While growing up in a Reform Temple, Jackie believes the Conservative movement, with its commitment to tradition and its openness to innovation, is where she feels most comfortable and can contribute the most.  She credits Rabbi Haim Ovadia and Dr. Saba Soomekh, faculty at AJRCA, with broadening and deepening her appreciation of her Persian roots and connections to the multi-cultural Jewish people.

AJRCA is not an Ashkenazic or Sephardic institution; it is not just for Reform or Conservative or Reconstructionist Jews; it is a place for all Jews to learn and be ordained.