Jean Gornish

Jean Gornish (1916–1981), 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.^[1]

Early life

Jean Gornish was born in 1916 in Philadelphia. As a child, she suffered an accident in which she was run over by a garbage truck, but she survived unhurt.^[2] 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”.^[3]

Gorlish's manager, Ben Gottleib, arranged for her to perform on the radio in a regular on Sundays after the news broadcast. Because of her gender, she was unable to perform in orthodox synagogues, which prohibited female performers.^[2]

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.^[3]

Sheindele performed in traditional cantorial garb - a satin robe and a skullcap, either black or High Holiday white.^[3]

References

↑ Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies. Research Library; Monique Bourque; R. Joseph Anderson (1 January 1992). A guide to manuscript and microfilm collections of the Research Library of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies. The Institute. p. 69.
1 2 Allen Meyers (10 September 1998). The Jewish Community of South Philadelphia. Arcadia Publishing. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-4396-1854-7.
1 2 3 Ari Y. Kelman (27 May 2009). Station Identification: A Cultural History of Yiddish Radio in the United States. Univ of California Press. pp. 123–214. ISBN 978-0-520-25573-9.

External links

The Girl in the Silk Skullcap.

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[LibraryBourque1992-1] Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies. Research Library; Monique Bourque; R. Joseph Anderson (1 January 1992). A guide to manuscript and microfilm collections of the Research Library of the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies. The Institute. p. 69.

[Meyers1998-2] 1 2 Allen Meyers (10 September 1998). The Jewish Community of South Philadelphia. Arcadia Publishing. p. 129. ISBN 978-1-4396-1854-7.

[Kelman2009-3] 1 2 3 Ari Y. Kelman (27 May 2009). Station Identification: A Cultural History of Yiddish Radio in the United States. Univ of California Press. pp. 123–214. ISBN 978-0-520-25573-9.