Today has been the 16th yahrzeit of my dad, Cantor Hirsh Zvi (Harry) Rabinowitz
With Jill in shul at yahrzeit memorial board
Leading Maariv Service at CHABAD Noranda
Harry’s abridged ancestral family tree (extends to over 20 generations)
Harry was born in Volksrust, Transvaal, South Africa on 28 September 1914.
Volksrust – Wikipedia
Volksrust is a town in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa near the KwaZulu-Natal provincial border, some 240 km southeast of Johannesburg, 53 km north of Newcastle and 80 km southeast of Standerton.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volksrust
Here is a collection of images to remember him on his yahrzeit.
With his parents and two older brothers Leib and Isaac, who were born in Jerusalem.
His two younger sisters Rachel and Sarah were born in Cape Town.
Harry was a musician and cantor, a baritone who sang in many languages in concerts, recitals, operattas and on radio
Here is a small selection from his scrapbook:
On the radio
He was often accompanied by his sister Rachel Rabinowitz, a concert pianist.
Harry made a record of Popular Yiddish Melodies with Solly Aronowsky’s orchestra on His Masters Voice
Chazonim Oif Probe – an entertaining track from the LP
To hear more sound clips, go to the bottom of this page and click on the image.
A review
With my mother, Rachel
With me, my mom, aunty Rachel and my bobba, Chana Chesha Miriam
With other world class chazonim in Johannesburg, including Moshe Stern and Johnny Gluck.
Singing with his choir
His matseva at West Park Cemetery, Johannesburg
To hear more sound clips of Harry (plus others) including Chief Rabbi Louis Rabinowitz, click on this image below:
