Leonard Bernstein and the Boston Jewish Community of His Youth: The Influence of Solomon Braslavsky, Herman Rubenovitz, and Congregation Mishkan Tefila

AbstractThis essay will place Leonard Bernstein within the context of the Boston Jewish community in which he was raised. It was at Boston's Congregation Mishkan Tefila, the family's synagogue, where Bernstein first encountered serious music. The essay places special emphasis on the role of Prof. Solomon Gregory Braslavsky, the music director and organist of Mishkan Tefila, whose influence on the young Bernstein was far greater than scholars have imagined. In 1973 Bernstein wrote to Braslavsky “[I] never forget the tremendous influence you and your music made on me when I was a youngster.” Bernstein, I contend, meant what he said.