I'm hoping you can help me. My mother, Julie (Hanna) Engel, who passed away forty years ago this April, was one of a very small group of trailblazers who set the stage for women cantors back in the 1970's. (And for the many female cantors and Rabbis in today’s world.) She became a cantor at a reform congregation in Howard Beach, NY in 1976. She became ill with multiple myeloma in 1979 and passed away in the spring of 1980. She was the cantor at Temple Judea for three years (1976-1978) training a choir there as well. I even had the privilege of accompanying her and the choir on the organ for high holidays in 1977.
I recently started to do some research to see if my mother was actually one of the first female cantors in the United States and see that she may very well be in the group of earliest female cantors. I am attaching a picture of her from May of 1977 when she was the cantor there and gave a magnificent benefit concert. She sang for the Long Island opera workshop and had significant roles in both La Traviata and Madama Butterfly.
Due to her having to leave Germany in the late 1930's, she was denied a chance at a professional singing career and fulfilling her lifelong dream of being a professional opera singer. Her family was extremely well off financially in Germany but lost everything when they had to flee and come to the United States. Ironically, her brother, Justin Isner who lived in Canton, Ohio, also had a magnificent voice and was a cantor officiating high holiday services in Auburn, N.Y. just outside of Syracuse. He officiated at my wedding in 1975.
In 1975 my mother performed as cantor for Sisterhood Sabbath at the Nassau Community Temple in West Hempstead, N.Y. but the by-laws prohibited her from becoming the cantor there at the temple I grew up in. However, that paved the way for many of her friends and supporters to encourage her to try out to become a female cantor in neighboring communities. Within a year or even less, she became the cantor at Temple Judea in Howard Beach, Queens, NY, working with Rabbi Bloom where she was adored by the members of the choir she trained and her new community. Her former temple became the Howard Beach Judea Center that was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. We visited there two years ago and even spoke with one of the temple members who remembered her fondly. This woman in her eighties told me that my mother sang and officiated at her daughter’s Bat Mitzvah. That conversation all these years later brought a tear to my eye as she was so fond of my mother. We left this same picture of my mother to proudly display it in their building.
Thanks for taking the time to read this letter. My mother’s life was cut way too short as she died two days before her 58th birthday. My daughter Jodie is named after her cantorial name (Julie) and her daughter's name is Shira which in Hebrew stands for singing or song. How appropriate, although so far, nobody in our family inherited her beautiful voice. I did get my love for music from her and I was fortunate to accompany her and her trained choir at high holiday services in the 1970s. I still have her recordings from the services on a disk and on my computer.
I live in Rockville, MD with my wife of 45 years (Janet). Our son and daughter are both married and live within fifteen minutes of us in Maryland. Between them we have five grandchildren between the ages of three and ten. It is my hope that one day, maybe at one of their Bat Mitzvahs, that we can super impose my mother's voice over the candle lighting blessing or a prayer.
I would like to inquire to see if my mother's name and maybe her story could possibly be included in the various listings of early female cantors in the United States and around the world. I’m happy to also send a few tracks of her voice.
Who else would you suggest I try to contact about this unique story. I have her voice recorded, pictures and disks.
Sincerely,
Mark Engel
9 Pebble Ridge Court
Rockville, MD 20854
240-997-6200 cell
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I'm hoping you can help me. My mother, Julie (Hanna) Engel, who passed away forty years ago this April, was one of a very small group of trailblazers who set the stage for women cantors back in the 1970's. (And for the many female cantors and Rabbis in today’s world.) She became a cantor at a reform congregation in Howard Beach, NY in 1976. She became ill with multiple myeloma in 1979 and passed away in the spring of 1980. She was the cantor at Temple Judea for three years (1976-1978) training a choir there as well. I even had the privilege of accompanying her and the choir on the organ for high holidays in 1977.
I recently started to do some research to see if my mother was actually one of the first female cantors in the United States and see that she may very well be in the group of earliest female cantors. I am attaching a picture of her from May of 1977 when she was the cantor there and gave a magnificent benefit concert. She sang for the Long Island opera workshop and had significant roles in both La Traviata and Madama Butterfly.
Due to her having to leave Germany in the late 1930's, she was denied a chance at a professional singing career and fulfilling her lifelong dream of being a professional opera singer. Her family was extremely well off financially in Germany but lost everything when they had to flee and come to the United States. Ironically, her brother, Justin Isner who lived in Canton, Ohio, also had a magnificent voice and was a cantor officiating high holiday services in Auburn, N.Y. just outside of Syracuse. He officiated at my wedding in 1975.
In 1975 my mother performed as cantor for Sisterhood Sabbath at the Nassau Community Temple in West Hempstead, N.Y. but the by-laws prohibited her from becoming the cantor there at the temple I grew up in. However, that paved the way for many of her friends and supporters to encourage her to try out to become a female cantor in neighboring communities. Within a year or even less, she became the cantor at Temple Judea in Howard Beach, Queens, NY, working with Rabbi Bloom where she was adored by the members of the choir she trained and her new community. Her former temple became the Howard Beach Judea Center that was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. We visited there two years ago and even spoke with one of the temple members who remembered her fondly. This woman in her eighties told me that my mother sang and officiated at her daughter’s Bat Mitzvah. That conversation all these years later brought a tear to my eye as she was so fond of my mother. We left this same picture of my mother to proudly display it in their building.
Thanks for taking the time to read this letter. My mother’s life was cut way too short as she died two days before her 58th birthday. My daughter Jodie is named after her cantorial name (Julie) and her daughter's name is Shira which in Hebrew stands for singing or song. How appropriate, although so far, nobody in our family inherited her beautiful voice. I did get my love for music from her and I was fortunate to accompany her and her trained choir at high holiday services in the 1970s. I still have her recordings from the services on a disk and on my computer.
I live in Rockville, MD with my wife of 45 years (Janet). Our son and daughter are both married and live within fifteen minutes of us in Maryland. Between them we have five grandchildren between the ages of three and ten. It is my hope that one day, maybe at one of their Bat Mitzvahs, that we can super impose my mother's voice over the candle lighting blessing or a prayer.
I would like to inquire to see if my mother's name and maybe her story could possibly be included in the various listings of early female cantors in the United States and around the world. I’m happy to also send a few tracks of her voice.
Who else would you suggest I try to contact about this unique story. I have her voice recorded, pictures and disks.
Sincerely,
Mark Engel
9 Pebble Ridge Court
Rockville, MD 20854
240-997-6200 cell