Avram Mordechai Himelstein was born in Warsaw on December 16, 1905
to Reuven Yehuda HaCohen, Rosh Yeshiva in White Russia and Peshe,
whose sweet voice and deep musicality left an indelible impression
on him. He joined the local synagogue choir at age 6, singing
there for 12 years, where he absorbed the traditional tunes of the
prayers from Reb Yehoshua Reichstaler, the local “davener”.
His formal teachers included A. Davidovitz, the distinguished
choir master of the Zalman Nozhik Shul; M. Shneur, conductor of
the Great Popular Choir in Warsaw; Itzhak Shlossberg, conductor of
the Jewish Theatre Orchestra; David Eisenstadt, choirmaster of the
Great Shul in Tlomatzka Street; and Leon Zalman, conductor of the
Popular Choir in Warsaw. By the age of 14, he was conducting
four-voice choirs. For two years he attended the Warsaw State
Academy, followed by a series of performances as conductor of
choirs with the great cantors of the time in Warsaw, such as
Gershon Sirota, Moshe Koussevitsky, and others. He was also very
active in conducting youth choirs, including one consisting of 140
choristers.
In 1936, in spite of blatant anti-Semitism in Poland, his
exceptional talent was recognised and he was offered a position
teaching harmony at the State Academy. Instead, he accepted a
call from the “Tifereth Israel” Synagogue in Rowland Street, Cape
Town to act as its choir director. He arrived in South Africa
bringing with him enthusiastic recommendations from great Polish
musicians. He was accorded excellent reviews and earned an
outstanding reputation in the fields of conducting, composition
and arrangement of music for cantor and choir.
From Cape Town, he moved to Johannesburg, first to the Yeoville
Synagogue, then to the Great Synagogue in Wolmarans Street, the
largest synagogue in Johannesburg and the seat of the Chief
Rabbi. In addition, he was active in training and conducting
choirs for various “Salute to Israel” pageants.
Himelstein regarded the continuity and fostering of chazanut and
of choral shul music as a holy mission, and he devoted much time
to training both cantors and choir directors in the proper ‘nusach’.
Among his protégés are some of the best known cantors (such as
Joseph Malovany) and choir directors of our time.
In his later years, he turned to composing chazanut for cantor and
choir. Two books of his compositions, “Lamenatze’ach” and “LaChazan”,
appeared during his lifetime. In addition, there are many
compositions which exist in manuscript form.
One of his last works, the magnificent “Ad Heina” (“Your mercies
have not forsaken us…”), was written barely two months before his
death. This outstanding piece and many others, have been performed
in synagogues and concert halls by the great cantors of our time
and appear on numerous cantorial albums.
His life was tragically cut short in January 1974. His very last
work, which he did not complete, was a Kaddish for the High Holy
Days. Its opening bars are engraved on his tombstone.
His son Lior, who has followed in his footsteps as a choir
director and arranger of chazanut, lives in California. His other
two children, Shmuel Himelstein and Ilana Katz, live in Jerusalem,
Israel.