Betty Robbins (born Berta Abramson, April 9, 1924 – February 19, 2004) was a notable

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds. In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...

. She was one of the first female cantors. She was the first woman appointed as a cantor in the 20th century.

Career

Robbins began singing while in 1932 at the age of 8 while living in Poland. She was not allowed to sing in the all-male choir in synagogue and instead sat opposite the boys and sang so loudly the cantor relented. She cut her hair short to fit in and later was the soloist in the choir of the German synagogue in Danzig, Poland for six years prior to fleeing the Nazis. Robbins is sometimes reported to be the first female cantor, although the unofficial cantor

Julie Rosewald Julie Rosewald (1847–1906), called “Cantor Soprano” by her congregation, was America's first unofficial (due to the fact that she was female and not ordained) hazzan, cantor, serving San Francisco's Congregation Emanu-El (San Francisco), Tem ...

preceded her. Robbins was appointed cantor of the

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...

Temple Avodah in

Oceanside, New York Oceanside is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the southern part of the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. The population was 32,109 at the 2010 census. History Originally known as South Bay, the Eng ...

, in 1955, when she was 31 and the temple was without a cantor for the

High Holidays The High Holidays also known as the High Holy Days, or Days of Awe in Judaism, more properly known as the Yamim Noraim ( he, יָמִים נוֹרָאִים, ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm''; "Days of Awe") #strictly, the holidays of Rosh HaShanah ("Jew ...

. Her appointment was reported on the front page of ''The New York Times''. In addition to her cantorial work, Robbins taught religious education at the Sinai Reform Temple in

Bay Shore Bay Shore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. The population of the CDP was 29,244 at the time of the 2020 ...

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

and later in

Lake Worth, Florida Lake Worth Beach, previously named Lake Worth, is a city in east-central Palm Beach County, Florida, United States, located about north of Miami. The city's name is derived from the body of water along its eastern border known as the Lake Worth ...

, where she also continued to serve as a cantor.

Personal life

Robbins was born in

Kavala Kavala ( el, Καβάλα, ''Kavála'' ) is a city in northern Greece, the principal seaport of eastern Macedonia and the capital of Kavala regional unit. It is situated on the Bay of Kavala, across from the island of Thasos and on the Egnat ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

in 1924 and moved with her family to Poland when she was four years old. Robbins attended

heder A ''cheder'' ( he, חדר, lit. "room"; Yiddish pronunciation ''kheyder'') is a traditional primary school teaching the basics of Judaism and the Hebrew language. History ''Cheders'' were widely found in Europe before the end of the 18th ...

in Poland, defying a rabbi who refused to let her in at first but then allowed her to attend if she sat behind a curtain in the hallway. In 1939, Robbins and her parents left Poland due to the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

invasion and immigrated to Australia because Sydney sounded Jewish to Robbins' father, the Russian born Samuel Abramson. She married a member of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

named Sheldon Robbins, who she met at a Temple Emanuel dance while he was on leave from his

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

base. They married in a civil ceremony in

Mackay, Queensland } Mackay () is a city in the Mackay Region on the eastern or Coral Sea coast of Queensland, Australia. It is located about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is described as being in either Central Queensland or North Queensland ...

, on September 18, 1943 and in a religious ceremony at the

Brisbane Hebrew Congregation The Brisbane Synagogue is a heritage-listed synagogue at 98 Margaret Street, Brisbane City, City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Arthur Morry and built from 1885 to 1886 by Arthur Midson. It was added to the Queenslan ...

on October 25, 1943. On August 8, 1944, Robbins immigrated to the United States. Robbins' older brother Moishe Abramson left the family while they were still living in Poland to move to

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. Her son, Steven Blue Robbins, teaches at the Fowler College of Business at San Diego State University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robbins, Betty Women hazzans 1924 births 2004 deaths Greek Jews Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Australia Australian emigrants to the United States 20th-century American Jews American people of Greek-Jewish descent Performers of religious music People from Kavala Musicians from Gdańsk People from Oceanside, New York People from Bay Shore, New York People from Lake Worth Beach, Florida 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century Australian women singers 21st-century American women