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SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 302
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In Memory |
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of |
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Deborah Lynn Friedman |
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WHEREAS, The great American composer and singer, Deborah |
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Lynn "Debbie" Friedman, has been credited with creating the genre |
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of contemporary Jewish worship music; and |
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WHEREAS, Debbie Friedman composed much of her early music |
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while residing in Houston, Texas, from 1975 to 1984; and |
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WHEREAS, Her modern settings of traditional Hebrew liturgy |
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and original compositions are sung by congregants in Reform, |
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Reconstructionist, Conservative, and some Modern Orthodox Jewish |
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synagogues, as well as in some Christian churches; and |
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WHEREAS, Debbie Friedman was called "the Joan Baez of |
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Jewish song" by the Jewish newspaper The Forward and recorded |
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more than 20 albums, which together sold half a million copies, |
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and her lyrics have appeared on Hallmark greeting cards; and |
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WHEREAS, Her "Mi Shebeirach" prayer for healing is used by |
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hundreds of congregations across America and is a central part of |
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the Jewish healing movement, and her "Alef Bet Song" has been |
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performed by Barney the purple dinosaur and has taught two |
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generations of Jewish children the Hebrew alphabet; and |
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WHEREAS, Deborah Lynn Friedman was born in Utica, New York, |
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to Freda and Gabriel Friedman; and |
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WHEREAS, Debbie moved with her family to Minnesota at age |
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five, and she was a 1969 alumna of Highland Park High School in |
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Saint Paul and a graduate of the after-school Hebrew school |
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program at the Talmud Torah of Saint Paul; and |
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WHEREAS, She wrote her earliest songs as a song leader at |
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the overnight camp Olin-Sang-Ruby Union Institute in Oconomowoc, |
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Wisconsin, and recorded her first album, Sing Unto God, with the |
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choir of her former high school in 1972; and |
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WHEREAS, Rabbi Samuel Karff brought her to Houston in 1975, |
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where she taught at Temple Beth Israel and at Congregation Beth |
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Yeshurun while writing many of her compositions and, |
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coincidentally, living in the district of Representative Paul |
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Colbert, who had been her Hebrew school classmate for nine years |
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in Saint Paul; and |
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WHEREAS, After leaving her many friends in Houston, Debbie |
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Friedman continued to compose and performed her songs in concerts |
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at venues throughout the world, including her live recordings to |
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sold-out audiences at Carnegie Hall and the Hotel del Coronado, |
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despite struggling with a debilitating neurological condition; |
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and |
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WHEREAS, The story of her music, as well as the challenges |
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she faced in living with illness, were featured in a 2004 |
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documentary film called A Journey of Spirit; and |
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WHEREAS, Debbie Friedman became a teacher at Hebrew Union |
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College-Jewish Institute of Religion, first in New York and later |
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in Los Angeles, and served on the board of the Academy for Jewish |
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Religion, California; and |
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WHEREAS, Deborah Lynn Friedman succumbed to pneumonia on |
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January 9, 2011, and her memorial service on the opening day of |
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this Legislative Session was attended and watched on the Internet |
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by almost 10,000 of her family, friends, and admirers; and |
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WHEREAS, Deborah Lynn Friedman is survived by her mother, |
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Freda, and her sisters, Cheryl Friedman and Barbara Egli; and |
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WHEREAS, Debbie Friedman's songs, including "Mi |
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Shebeirach," "L'chi Lach," "Miriam's Song," "Oseh Shalom," "Not |
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by Might," "And Thou Shalt Love," "The Alef Bet Song," "You Are |
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the One," "This is the Day," and many, many others, have inspired |
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and comforted millions and will continue to be sung and |
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remembered as a fitting legacy to this caring and inspiring |
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person; now, therefore, be it |
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RESOLVED, That the Senate of the State of Texas, 82nd |
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Legislature, hereby pay tribute to the life of Deborah Lynn |
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Friedman and extend sincere sympathy to the members of her |
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family: to her mother, Freda; to her sisters, Cheryl and |
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Barbara; and to her other relatives and many friends; and, be it |
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further |
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RESOLVED, That an official copy of this Resolution be |
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prepared for her family and that when the Texas Senate adjourns |
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this day, February 23, 2011, which would have been her 60th |
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birthday, it do so in memory of Debbie Friedman. |
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Shapiro |
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________________________________ |
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President of the Senate |
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I hereby certify that the |
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above Resolution was adopted by |
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the Senate on February 23, 2011, |
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by a rising vote. |
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________________________________ |
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Secretary of the Senate |
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________________________________ |
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Member, Texas Senate |