--- title: Ask the CEO - What Jewish melody holds special meaning for you? description: This week, Naomi Adler, CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, talks about the Jewish ritual she engages in every single day. --- [![Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia](https://blog.jewishphilly.org/hubfs/JewishFederation_May2019/images/logo--color.svg)](https://jewishphilly.org/) - [Philly Stands With Israel](https://go.jewishphilly.org/philly-stands-with-israel) - - [Donate to Philly Stands with Israel Fund](https://donate.jewishphilly.org/page/66252/donate/1) - [Community Resources](https://jewishphilly.org/philly-stands-with-israel-resources/) - [Emergency Allocations](https://jewishphilly.org/ways-to-give/donate-emergency-response-fund/emergency-allocations/) - - [Advocate](https://jewishphilly.org/philly-stands-with-israel-resources/advocate/) - [Israel in the News](https://go.jewishphilly.org/israel-in-the-news) - [Sign up for Israel Emergency Emails](https://go.jewishphilly.org/israel-emergency-emails) - 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What Jewish melody holds special meaning for you? All your questions for Naomi Adler, Esq., answered! This week’s question: **What Jewish melody holds special meaning for you?**     There’s a well-known melody for the prayer over bread, the *Motzi*, that begins with the words, “We give thanks to G-d for bread”: That’s a very special tune to me, because my father wrote it. Yes, really. My father, Samuel Adler, is a classical composer — a student of Aaron Copland and others — and a man very in touch with his Judaism. In the 1950s, while working as the music director for Temple Emanuel in Dallas, he wrote wonderful melodies for different prayers, and his rendition of the *Motzi* became so loved that it was submitted to the Reform movement’s biennial convention. It earned a place in the Reform movement’s songbook, and began to be taught in synaogogues, summer camps and households across the country. Generations have grown up with that melody, all around the world. It’s a tune so familiar that people assume it’s a time-honored tradition. Which is a funny thing to think about, when it’s something that was created by your own dad. But that just serves as a reminder to me of the difference one person can make. I think about that, and about my father, each time I sing the *Motzi*. Shabbat Shalom, Naomi Share [Share on Facebook](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://blog.jewishphilly.org/ask-the-ceo-what-jewish-melody-holds-special-meaning-for-you&title=Ask%20the%20CEO%20-%20What%20Jewish%20melody%20holds%20special%20meaning%20for%20you) [Share on Twitter](http://twitter.com/home?status=Ask%20the%20CEO%20-%20What%20Jewish%20melody%20holds%20special%20meaning%20for%20you?+https://blog.jewishphilly.org/ask-the-ceo-what-jewish-melody-holds-special-meaning-for-you) [Share by Email](mailto:?subject=Ask%20the%20CEO%20-%20What%20Jewish%20melody%20holds%20special%20meaning%20for%20you?&body=Ask%20the%20CEO%20-%20What%20Jewish%20melody%20holds%20special%20meaning%20for%20you?%20-%20https://blog.jewishphilly.org/ask-the-ceo-what-jewish-melody-holds-special-meaning-for-you) ### Sign up for the *Jewish Philly* E-Newsletter [Back to The Latest](https://blog.jewishphilly.org) [Tweets by JFedinPhilly](https://twitter.com/JFedinPhilly?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) ## Find us on ![JFGP_KO_rgb](https://blog.jewishphilly.org/hs-fs/hubfs/JFGP_KO_rgb.png?width=300&height=84&name=JFGP_KO_rgb.png) Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia Two Commerce Square 2001 Market Street, Suite 2300 Philadelphia, PA 19103 [215.832.0500](tel:1-215-832-0500) | [info@jewishphilly.org](mailto:info@jewishphilly.org) *The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia welcomes the participation of Jews across the religious spectrum, interfaith couples and families, and people of all abilities, backgrounds, gender identities, and sexual orientations. 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