Jewish Federation Apartments, Inc.
Is He Izzie Or Isn't He?
The Jewish star who became a cantor.
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Q: Is it true that famed singer Ed
die Cantor changed his name —
from a Jewish one to a Jewish one?
A: It's absolutely true.
"No one is lonely when doing a mitzvah, for a mitzvah is
where God and human beings meet."--A.J. Heschel
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He was born Isidore "Izzie"
Itkowitz in 1892 in New York's
Lower East Side. His career got
its start in 1907 after he won
an amateur contest at a music
hall. This led to numerous
vaudeville appearances, where
he set records for the longest
tours at many of the country's
leading variety houses.
By 1917 he was a top star
with the Ziegfield Follies, then
entered films soon after. Among
the movies in which he ap-
peared were The Kid From
Spain, Roman Scandals and
Ali Baba Goes To Town. He also
was a leading radio star, always
crooning his trademark "If You
Knew Susie."
Although best known for his
theatrical talents, Cantor also
was active in numerous phil-
anthropic agencies, both Jew-
ish and secular. He helped raise
money to resettle Jewish
refugees from Nazi Germany
and made generous donations
to the March of Dimes.
Founder and president of the
Screen Actors Guild and the
Jewish Theatrical Guild, he
wrote three autobiographies,
including his last, The Way I
See It, published in 1959.
Cantor died in 1964 and is
buried in Hillside Memorial
Park in Los Angeles.
But about that name.
"Izzie" was raised by
his grandmother, Esther
Kantrowitz, who is responsible
for the change. When she en-
rolled little Isidore in school, Es-
ther spelled his last name
"Kanter." (Cantor himself lat-
er changed that.) He got Eddie
from a girlfriend, who thought
it was "cute."
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Pioneers in Israel in 1912.
Q: Months ago I remember "Tell
Me Why" coming up with a Jewish
guy named Guido. You must be the
most clever human being on the
face of the planet to find out
something like that!
That was so good I want to do it
again. Can we?
A: I can tell from your com-
ments that you're a brilliant
individual.. Naturally, I cannot
refuse your question.
Another Guido about whom
you should know is novelist
Guido Da Verona (1881-1939).
He was born Guido Verona (he
added the "Da" to make it
sound less Jewish) in Italy and
had a number of books pub-
lished, including Mata Hari
and Life Begins Tomorrow.
But it wasn't exactly light
reading. His works were dark,
despairing, erotic. While ini-
tially popular with a certain
group of readers, Da Verona's
last works had no appeal even
for his most diehard fans. He
killed himself in 1939.
Q: Every place I turn somebody
is using the word "aliyah." About
going to Israel. About going up to
the Torah. Please explain to me
exactly what this word means.
A: Aliyah, or "ascent," does
indeed have quite a few mean-
ings.
The first occurs when some-
one is called to the Torah.
The Torah is placed in an el-
evated place in synagogues as
one way to emphasize its su-
premacy. So when the reader
approaches he is actually phys-
ically ascending, but more im-
portant he is spiritually
ascending as he is granted the
honor of reading God's word.
The second use of the word
refers to a permanent move to
Israel, when someone "makes
aliyah."
Because Israel is the land
God chose for the Jewish peo-
ple, one is reaching a higher .
plane, a different level of spir-
ituality, when he settles there.
And of all places in Israel the
most spiritual is, of course,
Jerusalem. Jews in the Land
of Israel who made pilgrimages
to Jerusalem on Pesach,
Shavuot and Sukkot were not-
ed for having made their own
"aliyah."
Although the term seems to
be applied pretty loosely today,
to "make aliyah" was for many
years accompanied by a deep
sense of idealism and commit-
ment to Zionism. By living out
this dream and helping build
up the Jewish state, one was
reaching a higher plateau, as-
cending to a new level of ded-
ication to the Jewish future.
There also were major
waves of immigration to Israel
specifically called the First,
Second, Third, Fourth and
Fifth Aliyot.
The First Aliyah occurred
from 1882-1903, bringing
about 25,000 East European
Jews to the Land of Israel.
Most were inspired by leading
Zionist groups of the time.
The Second Aliyah was from
1904-1914, comprising 40,000
East European pioneer Jews
who formed labor and self-help
organizations. This was fol-
lowed by the Third Aliyah,
1919-1923, which saw about
35,000 young pioneers who es-
tablished the Histadrut and
founded the nation's first
moshavim.
The Fourth Aliyah was from
1924-1928 and brought 67,000
new immigrants, most of
whom were middle-class Jews
from Poland who settled in
cities and built up urban areas.
The fmal and largest aliyah
was from 1929-1939, with
250,000 Jews — many of them
refugees from Nazi Germany
— settling in the Land of Is-
rael.
A limited number of
refugees came to Israel during
World War II, sometimes
called the Sixth and Seventh
aliyot. About 115,000 Jews
came between 1934-1948, most
of them illegally.
Send questions to "Tell Me Why"
c I o The Jewish News, 27676
Franklin Rd., Southfield, MI
48034 or send fax to 354-6069.