Cantor Harvey Waldman (1936 – 2018)

It is with much regret that I report that Cantor Harvey Waldman passed away on December 23, 2018.  Cantor Waldman was born on April 12, 1936 to parents Leibele and Molly Waldman.  He grew up in Flatbush with his two brothers, Siebert – his twin, who became an accomplished musician and Morton, the youngest, who became a rabbi.

Despite growing up in a house with a two-tier Hammond organ, a library of classical music, symphonic music, and of course hazzanut, which constantly played over the radio, according to Harvey, he hadn’t really understood what the “fuss” was regarding hazzanut until he was almost 20 years old.  He had musical talent and played woodwind instruments, and went on to attend and graduate from Columbia University and The Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary.  A career on Wall Street then followed.  As a new Hazzan, his first position was in Richmond Hill, Queens where he led services during Shabbat and High Holidays.  During the week he continued his work on Wall Street.

Harvey married Debby in 1972 and they had two children, Genna and Ari.  In 1974, he became the full-time Hazzan at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun on Staten Island.

 Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, Staten Island

Harvey was Hazzan at B’nai Jeshurun for about 9 years and later accepted a position as the full time Hazzan at the East Brunswick Jewish Center in New Jersey, in September, 1982.  He and Debby then moved to East Brunswick where they raised their family.

At EBJC, Harvey led weekly services, High Holiday services, and was responsible for a weekly Bar / Bat Mitzvah class.  At EBJC, a Bar / Bat Mitzvah was required to lead the entire service as well as prepare a Haftorah.  Harvey taught hundreds of students the Friday Evening Service, Saturday morning Torah and Musaf Services, and Saturday Evening Service.  In addition, Harvey led a High Holiday Choir and was responsible for the weekly Junior Congregation Service that attracted students enrolled in the Hebrew School.

He was well versed in chord structure, music modes, and proper nusach, all of which he was able to demonstrate and teach using the piano.

Harvey retired from being a full-time Hazzan in the early 2000’s and continued to travel around the country officiating at High Holidays Services and weddings, many of which were those of his former students, which brought him great joy.

 Waldman under the Chuppah

As an advocate of traditional hazzanut, Harvey maintained a large repertoire of melodies and compositions, both recordings and in music form.  He spent years digitizing and re-mastering the recordings of his father, with the help of Mordechai Sobol.

Harvey Waldman (at right) with Ofir Sobol and Maestro Mordechai Sobol (Sobol, a friend of Cantor Waldman’s passed away on September 15, 2018)

In 2001, Mordechai Sobol produced a series of concerts memorializing Leibele Waldman which Harvey attended in Tel Aviv and R’nanah.  Soon after was the publication of the Leibele Waldman four (4) disc anthology.  Harvey began a blog in 2011 and enjoyed reading and responding to e-mails from all around the world.

Harvey Waldman taping an episode of “Two Hours of Jewish Soul Music” with Charlie Bernhaut on February 27, 2011.  The show can be accessed at http://www.charliebernhaut.com/archive/archive5.html (go to Show #92).

Harvey’s last project was to painstakingly re-master Leibele Waldman’s live recordings from the Chicago Loop Synagogue High Holiday Services from 1967.  The final result was an 8-disc set of recordings including S’lichot, Rosh Hashanah, Kol Nidre, and Yom Kippur Services.

Cover art of disc 1 of 8 of the Live High Holiday Davening at Chicago Loop Synagogue

While passionate throughout his adult life about keeping his father’s music alive, Harvey’s greatest joy was to watch his children and grandchildren grow, and to be present for their many accomplishments – daughter Genna became a doctor and son Ari a law professor.

May his memory be for a blessing.

Dancing to SHUVI NAFSHI

Hadassah (Spira Epstein)

Hadassah, who was born in Jerusalem and whose original name was Hadassah Spira, became interested in Indian dancing at an early age. She studied dance in the United States and abroad, learning a wide range of Indian styles along with Javanese court dance, Japanese dance and modern dance. Her teachers included Ram Gopal and Jack Cole.

Hadassah, a performer of special eloquence, made her professional debut in 1945 and continued to perform Indian, Israeli, Javanese and Balinese dance through the mid-1970's. She appeared at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Mass., four times in the 1950's and 60's and toured India in 1959-60.

Among Hadassah's best-known works was "Shuvi Nafshi" ("Return, Oh My Soul"), based on Psalm 116. Her "Tagore Suite," commissioned by the Tagore Centenary Committee, was performed for the first time in 1961.

In Shuvi Nafshi, the work for which she wanted to be remembered, Hadassah used a certain movement which she had seen employed by the Punjabis, North Indian Muslims and among the Dervishes, as well as in Christian sculpture. She used the Cohannic gesture of blessing—a mudra. She used an ecstatic Sufi movement. She used hand gestures seen in pictures of the Dervishes during the 17th through the 19th centuries. She included the horah, the national dance of Israel, the primary dance step of which is common to other ethnic cultures. The music was a cantorial sung by Cantor Leibele Waldman, who sang in the tradition of Yossele Rosenblatt. She wore a simple costume, moving a stylized version of the tallit, the black and white striped Jewish prayer-shawl.

For a more in depth article on her life, please refer to the Jewish Women's Archivehttp://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/hadassah-spira-epstein Spira Epstein.

HADASSAH, A TRIBUTE a video commissioned for the Exhibit on Hadassah, Dance Collection, Lincoln Center, New York City; remains in the permanent collection. In the video, Marilynn Danitz performs a dance to Shuvi Nafshi.

In the book entitled, "Converging Movements: Modern Dance and Jewish Culture at the 92nd Street Y" By Naomi M. Jackson, she mentions on page 197 with a photo that, "Hadassah's Shuvi Nafshi (1947) was a dance of ecstasy in prayer based on an excerpt from Psalm 116: Return O my soul. The dance was a deeply spiritual expression in which a woman wearing a prayer shawl costume used spins, palm-to-cheek, and upward reaching gestures in an emotional declaration to G-d."

My father had spoken with Hadassah many times and she was a fan of his music. To listen to Shuvi Nafshi, select the play button below.