Jean Gornish (1916–1981), known as "Sheindele di Chazante", was a
chazante Traditionally, Jewish law has not allowed women to lead the prayer service in the synagogue. Even the Reform movement did not train female cantors until the early 1970s. , a female performer of Jewish cantorial and liturgical music. She is often called the first female
chazan.
Life
Gornish was born in 1916 in
Philadelphia. As a child, she was run over by a
garbage truck, but survived unhurt.
Despite offers of work as a nightclub singer after her high school graduation, by 1936 she had committed herself exclusively to cantorial music. She took the stage name "Sheindele di Chazante".
Gorlish's manager, Ben Gottleib, arranged for her to perform regularly on the radio on Sundays after the news broadcast. She was unable to perform in orthodox synagogues, which prohibited female performers.
By the early 1940s, Sheindele's had signed an exclusive contract with the
Planters Peanut Company, which allowed her to organize a touring schedule and radio programs in
Philadelphia,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, and
Chicago, performing in theaters such as the 3,000-seat
Orchestra Hall in
Chicago and the
Milwaukee Auditorium
Miller High Life Theatre (previously Milwaukee Theatre and originally Milwaukee Auditorium) is a theatre located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The building was extensively renovated between 2001 and 2003, at which point its name changed to the Milwauk ...
.
Sheindele performed in traditional cantorial garb - a satin robe and a skullcap, either black or High Holiday white.
References
External links
The Girl in the Silk Skullcap
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gornish, Jean
Hazzans
Women hazzans
20th-century American Jews
1916 births
1981 deaths
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers