THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Friday, October 2, 1959 44 'Whatever Happened, I Could Sing': Cantor Jakob Goldstein, Modest Hero of the London Blitzkrieg The strangest series of Jewish music concerts ever given began in the Manor House Tube Sta- tion of London, England, back in 1940 while the Luftwaffe roared overhead. Mrs. Barbara M. Ribakove, in a Seven Arts Feature, tells the story of the dauntless Cantor Jakob Goldstein, beloved Haz- zan of London's Great Syna- gogue, whose voice lent strength and courage to the beleaguered 12,000 men and women who huddled together every night, seeking comfort against whining motors and falling bombs. Jew and non-Jew had come to know the kindly, one-time cantor of Vilna, whose white clerical collar and black suit could be seen dodging from bomb site to hospital ward to death bed, tirelessly assuming more and more duties of the hard-pressed chief rabbi, Dr. Joseph Hertz. "One night," writes Mrs. Rib- akove, "when the raid was heavy, Cantor Goldstein and his wife Tiba, took shelter in the Manor House Station. Picking their way through the dark, crowded tunnel, they were rec- ognized by a congregation mem- ber. " 'Reverend,' a voice said, `could you sing—maybe—just a little song?' Cantor Goldstein stopped. He peered into the dark. 'But everyone is asleep,' he protested. The man shook his head. 'We're really not sleep- ing. Please, Cantor, my wife is not taking it so well.' The Can- tor stooped down. Very softly, he began a song, a Yiddish song, quiet and tender." And as the woman raised her face, the story goes on, other people stirred, sat up . . . Accompanied by a man with a portable organ who could play by candlelight, Cantor Goldstein sang seven nights a week until the blitz of London was over. Although the gentiles understood few words of the Yiddish and Hebrew songs, "the sound of prayer, of faith in the future, of hope pouring out of sorrow needed no translation; they understood—and learned the songs well enough to ask for favorites again and again ... "When a bomb fell close by, the Cantor sang louder. When the Extends best wishes to their tunnel quivered, people laughed aloud and joined him on the many Jewish customers and imrizr) mit) rrn0 PLANTERS friends. refrains, shouting them above the roar." Once he broke off in The Ideal Oil the middle of a song to help a woman give birth to a baby. "British newspapermen, de- scending into the tunnel to hear him and report, asked when he slept. The cant or answered blankly that he didn't know. He didn't need to know. He was born not to sleep but to sing." Just before Yom Kippur, Mrs. WM ODORLESS HEALTHY TASTY 111 •••••••• ••• •••• •• • •• • • • Wishing All Our • • Friends • • and Customers • • • • • A • • HAPPY NEW YEAR • • Premium Quality I Don Blackburn • • • & Co. • • • 1133 W. Baltimore • Detroit 2, Mich. "Electrical Stuff" • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • : • • oomm*************1 IMPINM11•1■1111. L'SHONO TOVO TIKOSEVU Detroit Council of Pioneer Women Wish Their Members, Their Many Friends and Contributors, and the Entire Jewish Community A Very Happy and Healthy New Year Mrs. Sam Wasserman New Year Greetings To All Members and Friends of the an hour, when the warning siren wailed to take cover, no one moved. The cantor "dropped his eyes before they met the Rabbi's," and he went on singing. "The drone of the bombers filled the air," Mrs. Ribakove goes on. "The anti-aircraft bat- teries began to fire. The thud of bomb hits began, like a giant walking the earth. As the Can for reached Un'sane Tokef, a land mine crashed into Totten- ham, a thousand yards away. A window shattered behind the choir upstairs . . . The Cantor . spread out his arms and shouted above the screams and sirens that filtered in the ruined win- dow, 'The service is over! Go to the shelter!' "A man stood up. 'Please con- tinue the service, Cantor. While you sing, nothing will happen to us!' And again, no one moved." Chanting a quarter hour into the service, at the Avodah pray- er, Cantor Goldstein was over- come by exhaustion, hunger and concern for the safety of his congregation. He fainted. Hours later, he was back in the synagogue singing the N'ilah prayer. Years after the war, Cantor Goldstein denied being a hero. "I was in no greater danger than anyone else," he said. And it was easier for me. Whatever happened, I could sing." Jakob Goldstein, now Hazzan of the Sons of Israel Congrega- tion in Brooklyn, N.Y., has sung in synagogues and concert halls of Paris, London, Poland, Israel, South America and the United States, "But the greatest con- certs he ever gave, the ones for which he will be longest re- membered and most beloved, were those that were accom- panied by the sounds of terror in the tunnels of war-time England!" And in the great tradition of his father, young Israel Gold- stein was graduated as cantor this year from the Hebrew Union School for Sacred Music. Harry Glaser, president Jack Sherman, vice-president 2.319.11SULILLAS .9.1.SULSULSULRAMPAS19-MSULCULti Greetings DEALERS CREDIT BUREAU I GOP Delegate — 10th District Happy New Year DEARBORN CHINA CO. Gifts for all occasions — Showers, Weddings, Birthdays, Etc. 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Max Lewenhof WEBSTER FLORIST & NURSERY 6031 JOY RD. WEINSTOCK BRISKER MLAWER , ! . AID SOCIETY 1 wishes its members and friends a Happy and Prosperous New Year AIM 16953 James Couzens From Lee Franklis Over 35 years of Dependability CHAIM WEIZMANN SOCIETY ;1 Ribakove writes, Dr. Hertz warn- ed the cantor to limit the serv- ices to less than an hour. The Germans were now flying over London by day as well as night. Cantor Goldstein agreed to watch the signal from the offi- ciating rabbi. Then he and the congregation would go to the shelter. But a delegation from the , congregation stopped him on the way to the bima. " 'Cantor— don't cut the service short. Do it as you do it every year. Any- one who wants to leave can leave.' Cantor Goldstein mur- mered, 'But the Rabbi has said . . . ' A member of the congre- gation leaned forward. 'Don't look at the rabbi,' he suggested. 'Sing.' " Twenty-five hundred English Jews crammed into the 1300- capacity synagogue. 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