Radio Broadcast of Yom Kippur Evening (Kol Nidre) service led by Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn and lay leaders, Dr. Julius Aisner and Solomon Stern, with sermon, “My Religion is the Golden Rule”, September 22, 1955. Wyner Archives of Temple Israel of Boston.

Item Information

Title:
Radio Broadcast of Yom Kippur Evening (Kol Nidre) service led by Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn and lay leaders, Dr. Julius Aisner and Solomon Stern, with sermon, “My Religion is the Golden Rule”, September 22, 1955. Wyner Archives of Temple Israel of Boston.
Description:
This is a radio Broadcast of a Yom Kippur Evening (Kol Nidre) service at Temple Israel, led by Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn and lay leaders Dr. Julius Aisner and Solomon Stern. In part one, the WHDH radio announcer introduces the service with an explanation of the rituals and meaning of Yom Kippur to Jews and names the speakers and soloists. The service, which uses the Union Prayer Book II, begins with the traditional prayer by the rabbi and other congregational representatives for forgiveness before they lead the congregation, and continues with the first part of the service through the Al Cheit, at which time Max Bruch’s Kol Nidrei, Opus 47 for Cello and Organ is performed by Mischa Nieland of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Rabbi Gittelsohn then discusses the history and meaning of the Kol Nidre prayer, after which it is sung by William Morell, the soloist, and the choir, followed by the Aveinu Malkeinu prayer, a special prayer for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who is ill, the prayers of forgiveness, and the Shehekianu. Part two (of two) of a radio Broadcast of a Yom Kippur Evening (Kol Nidre) service led by Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn and lay leaders Dr. Julius Aisner and Solomon Stern, with sermon. The service, using the Union Prayer Book II, includes the sermon, the Adoration, Kaddish and Closing Song. Rabbi Gittelsohn’s sermon addresses congregants who come once a year and say that “my religion is the Golden Rule.” He posits that the Golden Rule, while significant, cannot be fully lived by unless one first develops an essentially religious point of view. For Gittelsohn, there are three requirements of a sustained ethical life: knowing I live in a universe in which my ethical ideals will prevail if I work at them; the assurance that the pursuit of my ethical ideals is precisely the purpose for which I was born, not just a biological coincidence; and the conviction that only by obeying something like the Golden Rule can I achieve the highest happiness available to human beings. These three things add up to religion, he argues, and they are why religion is more primary than even ethics can be. We need the strong arm and direction of God, he concludes, in addition to the Golden Rule, to understand how life has meaning and how we can contribute to that meaning. Then we can do unto others as we would have them do unto us. This service was recorded from Temple Israel and broadcasted on WHDH radio. It included choral music by the Temple Israel Choir, Herbert Fromm, conductor.
Speaker:
Gittelsohn, Roland Bertram, 1910-1995
Musical director:
Fromm, Herbert
Composer:
Fromm, Herbert
Speaker:
Aisner, Julius, 1884-1982
Speaker:
Stern, Solomon, 1905-1989
Performer:
Nieland, Mischa Nieland, 1914-2000
Performer:
Morell, William
Creator:
Congregation Adath Israel (Boston, Mass.)
Date:
September 22, 1955
Format:
Audio recordings (nonmusical)
Location:
Temple Israel of Boston
Wyner Archives
Collection (local):
Past Voices, Audio Recordings, 1934-1979
Subjects:
Yom Kippur
Holidays--Religious aspects--Judaism
High Holidays
Synagogue music--High Holiday services
Reform Judaism--United States
Religion and ethics
Eisenhower, Dwight D. (Dwight David), 1890-1969
Bruch, Max, 1838-1920. Kol nidrei
Places:
Massachusetts > Suffolk (county) > Boston
Extent:
1/4" audio tape (2 recordings)
Permalink:
https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/st74gf71s
Terms of Use:
No known copyright restrictions.
This work is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution No Derivatives License (CC BY-ND).
CC BY-ND icon
Language:
English
Hebrew
Preferred Citation:
Radio Broadcast of Yom Kippur Evening (Kol Nidre) service led by Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn and lay leaders, Dr. Julius Aisner and Solomon Stern, with sermon, “My Religion is the Golden Rule”, September 22, 1955. Audiovisual Collection, Wyner Archives of Temple Israel of Boston.
Notes (object):
Part 1 (58 min., 42 sec.)
Part 2 (45 min., 47 sec.)
Notes (funding):
This project was supported by a Recordings at Risk grant from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). The grant program is made possible by funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Notes (historical):
Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn (1910-1995), social justice activist, Zionist, and writer, was Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel from 1953-1977 and Rabbi Emeritus thereafter. He served as founding rabbi of Central Synagogue in Rockville Center, NY from 1936-1953. During WWII, he became the first Jewish Marine Corps chaplain, and, in 1945, he delivered a moving, oft-quoted eulogy on brotherhood at Iwo Jima. After his retirement he was a co-founder of ARZA (the Association of Reform Zionists).
Solomon Stern (1905-1989), long-term member and President of Temple Israel from 1967-1970 was a lawyer and partner in the Stern Can Company, a manufactory started by his father, and active in Boston Jewish community organizations.
Julius Aisner (1918-1988), an accountant, was a long-term member of Temple Israel.
Herbert Fromm (1905-1995), Temple Israel’s organist and Music Director (1941-1973), was a German-born conductor and composer forced to leave Germany in 1937. A prolific composer of religious music, much of which became part of the standard synagogue repertoire, and secular works, he also published many articles and essays and several books. Rabbi Roland B. Gittelsohn (1910-1995), social justice activist, Zionist, and writer, was Senior Rabbi of Temple Israel from 1953-1977 and Rabbi Emeritus thereafter. He served as founding rabbi of Central Synagogue in Rockville Center, NY from 1936-1953. During WWII, he became the first Jewish Marine Corps chaplain, and, in 1945, he delivered a moving, oft-quoted eulogy on brotherhood at Iwo Jima. After his retirement he was a co-founder of ARZA (the Association of Reform Zionists).
Julius Aisner (1918-1988), an accountant, was a long-term member of Temple Israel. Herbert Fromm (1905-1995), Temple Israel’s organist and Music Director (1941-1973), was a German-born conductor and composer forced to leave Germany in 1937. A prolific composer of religious music, much of which became part of the standard synagogue repertoire, and secular works, he also published many articles and essays and several books.
Identifier:
TI-AV-90036.003
TI-AV-90036.001