4A
Federation Star
JEWISH INTEREST
June 2022
How I came to write on Judaic music Inspiration from a top-shelf book By Arlene Stolnitz
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he book sat on the of Canadian cantors and top shelf of the library was a contributor to Yidin our den. The title dish, American-Jewish and on the spine intrigued me! It Argentine-Jewish newspapers. was “On Wings of Song” by Stolnitz was born in Vilna, Reverend Nathan Stolnitz. Russia and, by 1926, had Who was he? I had never heard settled in Toronto. He founded anyone in the Stolnitz family the Ontario, Canada Cantor’s Arlene Stolnitz Association and was associated mention him, even though his last name was the same as ours. Standing with Yivo. on a stepladder, I carefully retrieved the He wrote several books, including book from the shelf. I checked with my “Music in Jewish Life” and “On Wings husband and discovered that Reverend of Song,” the book we owned, which was Stolnitz was, in fact, a distant relative published in 1968. He was the Toronto who lived in Toronto, Canada. We correspondent for the Day-Journal, Der had a copy of his book, yet nobody in Tog, the New York Yiddish daily, often the family seemed to know anything writing under the pen names A Ostrover, about him. A St-ts and A. Vilensky. (As an aside, Stolnitz’s book contained essays and published from 1914 until 1971, Der articles he had written for various CanaTog was the first Yiddish newspaper to dian cantorial conferences and organizainclude women on the editorial board.) tions. Some were talks he had given to Stolnitz was active as a pulpit cantor these groups at their meetings. Included and in cantorial organizations, both were topics such as “The Great Debate in Canada and the U.S. He died in on the Originality of Jewish Music,” “The Miami in 1969 while vacationing with Influence of the Shofar” and “The Inspihis wife, Jennie. rational Power of the Kol Nidre Melody In spite of all my research, I still had in Jewish Generations.” no clue regarding his connection to my Another section included biograhusband’s family, which remains true to phies and pictures of more than 60 this day. well-known cantors of that time. An interesting note about Stolnitz’s These included not only living canbook, “On Wings of Song,” is that it was tors but some who had perished in the published partly in Yiddish (reading from Holocaust. Sprinkled throughout the right to left), with most of the book in book were endless pictures of ReverEnglish (reading left to right). end Stolnitz attending functions with well-known hazzanim. There were names I had heard of, such as Cantors Moishe Kousevitsky, Gershon Sirota and even someone I had met at the North American Choral Festival, Velvel Pasternak. Included were Stolnitz’s two brothers, also religious leaders in their respective countries, Abraham Isaac Stolnitz (Nathan’s father), who died in Poland in 1927, and Rabbi Dr. Efroim (Henry) Stolnitz, his uncle, of Tampa, Florida, who died in 1937. I was fascinated by the book and wanted to know more about the man who had written it. As I was flipping through the book, an idea began to germinate in my mind; I could write articles as well, but mine would be focused on the music of Judaica. So now you have it … seven years I had already been writing background later, I have written 10 articles per month, material for music the Sarasota Jewish amounting to 70 articles! And my writing Chorale would sing in performance. The appears in several Federation papers on music of Jews in the diaspora would be the West Coast of Florida, from Sarasota my subject. to Naples! But first, I had to find out more about I have Cantor Nathan Stolnitz to my husband’s family namesake. I was thank for the inspiration I received curious to know why Stolnitz referred to merely by finding his book on that himself as “Reverend” Stolnitz. Thinktop shelf!! ing back, I remembered a time in the Arlene Stolnitz, founder of the Sarasota post WWII era when cantors used the Jewish Chorale, is a member of the Jewish title “reverend” rather than “cantor.” My Congregation of Venice. A retired educator unresearched theory is that this was an from Rochester, New York, she has sung in attempt of Judaic clergy to become part choral groups for over 25 years and also of the mainstream religious establishment sings in The Venice Chorale. Her interest after the recent horrors of antisemitism in the preservation of Jewish music of all during the war years. kinds has led to this series of articles on In further research, I discovered Jewish Folk Music in the Diaspora. Stolnitz was well known as the dean
