Chapter 2 - Mishkan Tefila

Summary

Although Leonard Bernstein wrote music in a variety of genres and styles, he was unusual in that he consistently created music infused with a Jewish flavour, whether consciously or not, throughout his career. Bernstein’s Jewish background has provided ample fodder for numerous articles and books, but most scholars are unaware of the true significance of his childhood synagogue in Boston, Congregation Mishkan Tefila. Its rabbi, Herman Rubenovitz (1883−1966), the cantor, Iszo Glickstein (1891−1947), and especially its music director, Solomon Braslavsky (1887−1975), made a lifelong impression on Bernstein. Mishkan Tefila served as the venue for some of Bernstein’s earliest piano performances, and he heard an organ and a choir here for the first time; it continued to serve as a Jewish anchor for him even as an adult. In the absence of early formal musical training, the synagogue became, in effect, Bernstein’s conservatory, and these three men his professors.