Q&A: Meet Anshai’s New Cantor

Cantor Matt Austerklein, his wife, Rabbi Elyssa Joy Austerklein, and their kids, Georgie and Beatrice.

We’re thrilled to welcome Matt Austerklein as the newest member of our clergy team at Anshai Torah. Matt brings a deep love for Jewish music, a passion for teaching, and a heartfelt commitment to building community. As he and his family prepare for their move to Dallas, we had the chance to sit down with him and learn more about his journey, his vision, and what excites him most about joining our congregation.

What makes Anshai feel different?

From the very first conversations, there was this sense of warmth, sincerity, and deep connection. My family and I had been in other communities, but Anshai just felt different. What sealed it for us was how genuinely people embraced our whole family -- not just me, but my wife, Rabbi Elyssa Joy Austerklein, and our kids, Georgie and Beatrice. They immediately had people who wanted to know them, kids to play with, places to run around. We felt like people were truly looking out for us. That’s what you want in a religious community, a place where people look out for each other. It felt like home.

When do you start?

I officially begin August 1, 2025. We’ll be settling in over the next couple of months, getting our bearings. Dallas is a big town but we’re excited to start this next chapter.

What are you most excited about?

Meeting everybody. That’s the great thing about working in a synagogue, you meet people from all walks of life and connect with them through Torah, prayer, and music. That’s the easy and fun part for me. I love learning how people connect spiritually through music, it’s a way to find God, to express the soul, and to feel something real. I’m always looking to meet people where their heart leads them.

What does a cantor do?

A cantor is kind of like a music minister, but in modern congregational life, it’s a lot more. I lead services, teach, preach, officiate life cycle events, and offer pastoral care. I function as a full clergy person. While I may not have a rabbi’s legal training, I serve in every other way and music is the foundation I bring to all of it.

Have you always practiced music?

Since I was five. I was that kid running up and down the synagogue aisles singing at the top of my lungs. For my bar mitzvah, I learned a lot of traditional liturgy and people just kept asking me to come back and lead. Synagogue became a place where I felt at home and it still is.

What were you doing before Anshai?

I spent about ten years in full-time cantorial roles in Conservative synagogues. Then I had the opportunity to be a faculty research fellow at Oxford University where I studied how the role of the cantor evolved from a function into a deep spiritual vocation. For the last few years, I’ve been working on my PhD in Jewish studies (remotely) at the University of Halle-Wittenberg. I just finished my dissertation and have been combining that academic work with part-time cantorial ministry and lecturing around the country.

Why does G-d care about music?

Music models human community. It shows how we relate to each other, whether we’re singing together or being sung to, the dynamic shifts. Even people with memory loss often respond to music in ways that feel almost miraculous, something comes back to life in them. I believe G-d speaks through that part of us. Music touches something primal. It’s how we organize our spirit, connect with each other, and reach toward the Divine. That’s why I think God cares deeply about music.

What else should we know about you?

I’m a writer and a teacher. I’ve been publishing weekly reflections on Jewish music for nearly two years on Substack. Sometimes it’s scholarly, sometimes it’s more pop culture or contemporary, but it’s always meant to help people connect. I also have a little creative project produced by UCLA called Jewish Music Guy where I make fun, educational videos because sometimes joy is the best teacher. I also love Irish music and have done a Yiddish-Irish pub sing for the last three years. And I’m a big Shakespeare fan and have led “Jewish-Shakespeare Weeks” at both synagogues and universities — something I’d be excited to bring to here to Dallas.