Jean Gornish
Encyclopedia
Jean Gornish known as “Sheindele di Chazante", was a chazante
, a female performer of Jewish cantorial and liturgical music. She is often called the first woman chazan, although she never served in that capacity in a permanent position in a synagogue.
Jean Gornish was born in 1916. Her father was a chazan in Philadelphia.
As a young woman, she had a brief career as a nightclub singer in the northeast, where she playing Lam's Tavern in Springfield, Pennsylvania. Her life as “Julia Cornish” or “Jean Walker ‘The Slick Songbird’” was short-lived; by 1936 she had committed herself exclusively to cantorial music, likely because her parents objected to her singing popular music in public. She took the stage name “Sheindele di Chazante” and began to appear on stage, radio, and records, performing both sacred and popular Jewish music. She appeared on the radio on station WPEN.
She approached her performances with the utmost attention to tradition and detail. Although it was her dream to sing for a congregation, she was respectful of religious tradition, aware that her mere presence on stage pushed up against the limits of Jewish law - even the Reform
movement did not train female cantors until the early 1970s. However, Sheindele did take on some ritual responsibilities, conducting the High Holiday choir at Manhattan’s Hotel Astor, leading Passover
seder
s at a number of resorts, and even leading High Holiday services in Philadelphia on more than one occasion.
A reviewer for the Chicago Daily News noted:
By the early 1940s, Sheindele’s popularity had reached such a height that she secured an exclusive contract with the Planters Peanut Company
, which helped her organize a touring schedule and radio programs in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago. In each city, fan clubs threw lavish parties and helped fill theaters such as the 3,000-seat Orchestra Hall
in Chicago
or the Milwaukee Auditorium.
Sheindele performed in traditional cantorial garb - a satin robe and a skullcap, either black or High Holiday white. Her versions of classic liturgical pieces were the bread and butter of her routine. In addition to classic liturgical pieces she also included performances of Yiddish folk songs and brief sermonettes explaining the meaning and context of each number. She understood what her audiences wanted, and regularly finished her concerts with a medley called “Shtetlakh” that included songs about Eastern European shtetl
s such as Zlatopol
, Moliev, and Belz
, concluding with the song “God Bless America.” A reviewer for the Chicago American wrote:
Sheindele never married and never had any children. She lived with a female companion for many years while continuing to perform both live as well as on the radio. Although illness slowed her down during her later years, Sheindele enjoyed a long-running career, strains of which can be heard on the only recording she ever made, the late 1950s LP "Sheindele Sings the Songs of Her People".
Her papers are held in the Philadelphia Jewish Archive Center.
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. Two forms of female cantors have developed:...
, a female performer of Jewish cantorial and liturgical music. She is often called the first woman chazan, although she never served in that capacity in a permanent position in a synagogue.
Jean Gornish was born in 1916. Her father was a chazan in Philadelphia.
As a young woman, she had a brief career as a nightclub singer in the northeast, where she playing Lam's Tavern in Springfield, Pennsylvania. Her life as “Julia Cornish” or “Jean Walker ‘The Slick Songbird’” was short-lived; by 1936 she had committed herself exclusively to cantorial music, likely because her parents objected to her singing popular music in public. She took the stage name “Sheindele di Chazante” and began to appear on stage, radio, and records, performing both sacred and popular Jewish music. She appeared on the radio on station WPEN.
She approached her performances with the utmost attention to tradition and detail. Although it was her dream to sing for a congregation, she was respectful of religious tradition, aware that her mere presence on stage pushed up against the limits of Jewish law - even the Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
movement did not train female cantors until the early 1970s. However, Sheindele did take on some ritual responsibilities, conducting the High Holiday choir at Manhattan’s Hotel Astor, leading Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
seder
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in...
s at a number of resorts, and even leading High Holiday services in Philadelphia on more than one occasion.
A reviewer for the Chicago Daily News noted:
By the early 1940s, Sheindele’s popularity had reached such a height that she secured an exclusive contract with the Planters Peanut Company
Planters
Planters is an American snack food company, a division of Kraft Foods, best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentile for a 1916 contest to design the company's brand icon...
, which helped her organize a touring schedule and radio programs in Philadelphia, New York, and Chicago. In each city, fan clubs threw lavish parties and helped fill theaters such as the 3,000-seat Orchestra Hall
Orchestra Hall
Orchestra Hall may refer to:*Symphony Center, home of Orchestra Hall in Chicago, Illinois*Orchestra Hall *Orchestra Hall...
in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
or the Milwaukee Auditorium.
Sheindele performed in traditional cantorial garb - a satin robe and a skullcap, either black or High Holiday white. Her versions of classic liturgical pieces were the bread and butter of her routine. In addition to classic liturgical pieces she also included performances of Yiddish folk songs and brief sermonettes explaining the meaning and context of each number. She understood what her audiences wanted, and regularly finished her concerts with a medley called “Shtetlakh” that included songs about Eastern European shtetl
Shtetl
A shtetl was typically a small town with a large Jewish population in Central and Eastern Europe until The Holocaust. Shtetls were mainly found in the areas which constituted the 19th century Pale of Settlement in the Russian Empire, the Congress Kingdom of Poland, Galicia and Romania...
s such as Zlatopol
Zlatopol
Zlatopol is a small city in Ukraine, located about 80 km northwest to Kirovohrad, near Kiev.- History :Before the Holocaust, Zlatopol was a prosperous very rich Jewish Shtetl. There was also a gymnasium for rich people in Zlatopol...
, Moliev, and Belz
Belz
Belz , a small city in the Lviv Oblast of Western Ukraine, near the border with Poland, is located between the Solokiya river and the Rzeczyca stream....
, concluding with the song “God Bless America.” A reviewer for the Chicago American wrote:
Sheindele never married and never had any children. She lived with a female companion for many years while continuing to perform both live as well as on the radio. Although illness slowed her down during her later years, Sheindele enjoyed a long-running career, strains of which can be heard on the only recording she ever made, the late 1950s LP "Sheindele Sings the Songs of Her People".
Her papers are held in the Philadelphia Jewish Archive Center.