The Malavskys, a Family Portrait

A hair-raising gender riot in a synagogue in Brooklyn helped drive the Malavsky’s out of the pulpit and onto the borscht belt circuit, creating new opportunities for female leadership in prayer and new settings for ritual in the late 1940s.

In an apparently unproduced radio drama, the Malavsky Family present an allegory for the trials and successes of Jewish music in the American marketplace.

In two recent interviews, I got a chance to discuss the Malavsky Family with the family itself and to learn more about the family’s lore from grandchildren of the legendary Cantor Samuel Malavsky. In the second interview I was greatly honored to meet Ruthie Malavsky, one of the original family choir members. In this blog post I offer a snapshot of our conversations, highlighting some of the memories that were touched upon that reflect the way the family understands itself and their place in the history of Jewish American culture.