newjerseynewsroom.com

BY ALAN STEINBERG

COMMENTARY

Cantorial music (in Hebrew, “Hazzanut”) is truly the soul music of the Jewish people, reflecting our joys and sorrows, and our triumphs and tragedies. When a cantor (in Hebrew, “Chazzan”) leads a service, he becomes the messenger of the congregation in communicating to the Almighty the hopes and prayers for the welfare and survival of not only those present but the entire Jewish people as well. The words are powerful in themselves, but a great cantorial voice elevates the words to a level of spirituality that is indeed heavenly and mystical.

Similarly, the violin is the instrument transmitting the deepest reflections of human emotions, joy and pain, revival and mourning. The violin can provide the ultimate background mood for the vocalization of the words of the cantor. When an impresario combines the chanting of the greatest cantor in the world, Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, with the music of the ,premier violinist of the late 20th and early 21st Century, Itzhak Perlman, the ultimate physical manifestation of spirituality is created. Indeed, it can be said that in their new album, Eternal Echoes, scheduled for release by Sony Music Entertainment on Sept. 4, Cantor Yitzhak Meir Helfgot and Itzhak Perlman have produced an artistic tour de force, unprecedented in modern musical history.

The album is a compilation of classical Yiddish folk songs, cantorial compositions, and traditional liturgical selections. The world renowned voice of Helfgot blends with the brilliance of the violin of played by Perlman into a sound that indeed moves a listener’s heart and soul. Among the famed cantorial renditions are “T’Filas Tal”, composed by the legendary cantor Yosselle Rosenblatt and the famed “Sheyibone Beis Hamikdosh” composed by Israel Schorr; Yiddish folk song favorites like “A Dudele”; beloved soulful Hasidic melodies like Ben Zion Shenker’s “Mizmor L’Dovid”; and the ultimate liturgical classic, “Kol Nidre”.

All these selections have been performed by other great cantors and accompanists, be they pianists or violinists. The renditions of the Helfgot-Perlman duo, however on the Eternal Echoes album, achieve a state of spiritual and aesthetic splendor unprecedented not only in the history of cantorial music, but in the annals of classical music in general.

The Helfgot-Perlman partnership is remarkable, not only for its production of Eternal Echoes and the planned world tour, but also for the way the partnership was formed. Helfgot and Perlman were both born in Israel, but that is where the similarity ends.

Yitzchak Meir Helfgot was born in Tel Aviv. He is a member of the world’s largest Hasidic sect, the Gerer Hasidim. He is a devout adherent to Hasidic tradition and Jewish law (in Hebrew, “Halacha”).

Educated as a young man in yeshivas, he was a child prodigy, recording his first works at the age of eight. As an adult, he held various cantorial positions in Israel and Frankfurt, Germany. Yet it was not until he first began to serve in a position in America in the first decade of this century that his fame spread worldwide.

Another world class cantor, Benny Rogosnitzky, really introduced Helfgot to the American Jewish cantorial audience at large. After he heard him perform in 2002, Rogosnitzky began to serve as Helfgot’s mentor.

Cantor Rogosnitzky and his fellow impresario, Charlie Bernhaut formed a venture, Cantors’ World, intended to revive cantorial music. They staged a concert at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, Manhattan in March, 2003.

There were several of the world’s leading cantors participating in the concert, but the highlight of the evening came before intermission when Cantor Helfgot arrived on stage wearing the traditional Hasidic clothing, as he always does, whether in concert or conducting services. Once he began to sing, the audience was in absolute awe.

Helfgot’s fame immediately spread far and wide after the concert. He would go on to give other concerts at Lincoln Center, including a landmark concert by himself at the Metropolitan Opera.

In 2005, Cantor Helfgot signed a contract to become the Chief Cantor of Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The shul is now a magnet for Jewish tourists in Manhattan on weekends. The services on Saturday mornings are literally filled to capacity to hear Cantor Helfgot lead the services, accompanied by the choir conducted by the outstanding Australian musician, Russell Ger. Celebrities flock to hear Helfgot, including the television star “Dr. Ruth” Westheimer and the nationally famous attorney, Alan Dershowitz.

All this is due in no small part to the rabbi of Park East, the venerable Rabbi Arthur Schneier. He is, in my view, the leading pulpit rabbi of the world. Rabbi Schneier is an individual of truly international stature, known and respected not only by every United States President over the last three decades but also by the ambassadors and leading officials at the United Nations.