Cantor Yosef (Yossele) ROSENBLATT Photo: Courtesy M. Y. EHRENREICH, USA
Cantor Yosef (Yossel) ROSENBLATT, better known as Yossele, was born on 2 May 1882, in Belaya Tserkov (today, Bila Tserkva, Ukraine). He came from a long line of Chazanim (Cantors) and his father was a chazan (cantor) in Kiev. Yossele sang from a very early age. He became a member of his father's choir and was soon declared to be a "wunderkind" (prodigy).
At age 18, Yossele married and soon thereafter, accepted the position of Cantor at Munkács. This position he obtained in competition with 40 other Chazanim. From there, he went to Pressburg (today, Brataslava, Slovakia), where he stayed for five years as the chazan and during this period, he began to publish his numerous synagogal compositions. After a couple of years, he became the chazan of Hannover, (Germany?).
He arrived in the United States in 1912, and was immediately engaged by the Congregation Ohab Zedek in New York and his fame soon grew. He recorded for various record labels and this undoubtedly was influential in ensuring that his name spread all over the country. After appearing in a particularly successful concert in Chicago, Yossele was offered $1000.00 per night to sing in the opera. However, so great was his love for Yiddishkeit (Orthodox Juduiasm), that he turned it down.
In 1922, he was persuaded to enter into a business deal that left him bankrupt. This forced him to give up his cantor duties and concentrate on concerts, in which there was the opportunity for him to make much larger sums of money. In 1927, Warner Brothers offered Cantor ROSENBLATT $100,000.00 to co-star with Al Jolson, in "The Jazz Singer," but they could not persuade him to sing Kol Nidrei (First prayer of the night of Yom Kippur). He felt that it was much too sacred to be used as entertainment.
In 1928, he was appointed chazan of the Anshei Sfard Congregation in Brooklyn and was paid $12,000 a year, the highest salary paid at that time to any cantor. Cantor ROSENBLATT was delighted to be offered the chance to film in the Holy Land by the Palestine-American Fox Film Co. and although he was earning a tremendous salary, he was still paying off the debts of his bankruptcy and when he arrived in Palestine, in 1933, he was virtually penniless.
Sadly, while filming in Israel on 19 June 1933, he was stricken by a heart-attack, at the age of 51. His funeral service was conducted by Chief Rabbi KOOK and attended by more than 20,000 people.
In his lifetime, Cantor ROSENBLATT recorded about 180 compositions, most of which were his own.
Renditions by Cantor Yosef (Yossele) ROSENBLATT
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My Yiddishe Mama
Shir HaMaalos
The Jazz Singer 1927
Hineni
Rachem Nu
Tzadik Rabbi Elozor
Acheinu
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