Louis "Leibele" Waldman (June 22, 1907 – August 28, 1969) was a Jewish
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 ...
(“
chazzan
A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' ( he, חַזָּן , plural ; Yiddish ''khazn''; Ladino ''Hasan'') is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer
Prayer is an in ...
”), composer and actor, the only American born cantor who may be considered as belonging to the great cantors of the so-called "golden age of jewish cantorial music".
Biography
Louis Waldman born to a family of Jewish Galician immigrants living in the
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets.
Traditionally an im ...
of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Early on he was recognized as a "wunderkind", officiating at the pulpit with a choir by the age of nine. He studied with local musician Shabtai Weingarten. His
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
name "Leibele" is the diminutive form of Leib (לייב). Waldman was the choir leader in the Wayne Street Synagogue of
Jersey City
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Brownsville (1925), the Flatbush Jewish Center (1925–26, with Cantor Samuel Katzman) and in the Galician Synagogue of
Passaic
Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,7 ...
in 1927.
In 1928 he assumed his first adult cantorial position, officiating on 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 ...
at the Beth Israel Synagogue on Columbia Street in Cambridge, Mass. In 1929 Waldman became the cantor of Temple Emanuel of Passaic, where he remained until 1934. Waldman then served one year at the Mount Eden Jewish Center in the Bronx.
At this point in his career, Waldman elected not to accept full-time cantorial positions, instead working on the High Holidays in many prominent venues, including Hunt's Point Palace (1936 and 1937), the Bronx Winter Garden (1938), the Concord Hotel and Grossinger's Catskill Resort Hotel in the
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...
(New York), Laurel In The Pines in
Lakewood Lakewood may refer to:
Places Australia
* Lakewood, Western Australia, an abandoned town in Western Australia
Canada
* Lakewood, Edmonton, Alberta
* Lakewood Suburban Centre, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Philippines
* Lakewood, Zamboanga del S ...
(New Jersey) and The Breakers (New Jersey).
In addition to singing in the synagogue, Waldman developed an extensive film career, appearing in a dozen motion pictures, including “The Voice of Israel” where he appeared with world famous cantors Yossele Rosenblatt, Mordechai Herschman, and
David Roitman
David Roitman (November 1, 1884 – April 4, 1943) was a Russian-American hazzan and composer. Early in his career he worked as cantor in villages and cities in Russia such as Vilna and Odessa. In 1921 he immigrated to the United States and even ...
. In addition he began to develop a radio career, singing for over a quarter of a century on the airwaves, appearing on stations WTBS, WMCA and WEVD, the station of the Forward Association.
During WWII, Waldman sang for Jewish troops stationed all over the United States. The Smithsonian Institution has preserved recordings of Waldman singing “Ich Dank Dir Gott far America” (I Thank You God for America), and the other was “Venn Di Zihn Vellen Kommen Tzurick” (When Your Son Will Come Back From the War). He also performed for many Jewish organizations, including Israel Bonds, the
Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund ( he, קֶרֶן קַיֶּימֶת לְיִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael'', previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Syria (later Mandatory Palestine, and subseq ...
(JNF), and the
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...
.
Waldman initiated a series of recordings, produced by Moses Asch, and issued on his label, ASCH Records. Waldman later recorded for Stinson, Disc, Banner, and following the second world war, RCA Victor. In the 1950s Waldman recorded for ABC and later for a private label, MALOH Records. During most of these years, he recorded with Oscar Julius as his conductor and Abraham Ellstein as his accompanist.
While still a young man, Waldman concertized with the renowned cantor
Zavel Kwartin
Zevulun "Zavel" Kwartin ( he, זבולון קוורטין; March 25, 1874, Novoarkhanhelsk, Yelisavetgradsky Uyezd, Kherson Governorate, Russian Empire - October 3, 1952, United States) was a Russian-born ''chazzan'' (cantor) and composer, a ...
(in his eighties at the time) and Yossele Rosenblatt. In fact, Rosenblatt shared the stage with Waldman during his final concert in the United States before his death in
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 ...
in 1933.
Leibele Waldman died on August 28, 1969, two months past his 62nd birthday, and was buried at Beth David cemetery,
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 ...
, New York.
Legacy
In the words of Waldman's son Harvey:
Filmography
* 1950 Yiddish Comedy Sketches
* 1941 ''Mazel Tov, Jews''
* 1940 ''Motel, the Operator''
* 1939 ''Kol Nidre''
* 1937 ''I Want to Be a Mother''
* 1936 ''Liebe und Leidenschaft'' 'Love and Sacrifice''* 1933 ''The Eternal Jew'' a/k/a ''Avrum Ovenu ather Abraham' or ''Abraham Our Patriarch''''The Eternal Jew'' at ''American Film Institute Catalog'' /ref>
* 1931 ''Khazen oyf'n Proyb'' 'A Cantor on Trial'' (Waldman plays multiple roles in this spoof of a synagogue committee in search of a cantor for the High Holiday services)
Autobiography
Waldman published his autobiography, entitled ''Song Divine'', in 1941.