Moishe Oysher () (March 8, 1906 – November 27, 1958) was an American

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

recording artist A musician is someone who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate a person who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters, ...

, and film and

Yiddish theatre Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satire, satiric or nostalgic revues; melodr ...

actor.Zalmen Zylbercweig, ''Leksikon fun Yidishn teater'', Book 3, 2407. During the 1940s and 1950s he was one of the top Hazzans and his recordings continue to be appreciated due to his rich, powerful voice and creative arrangements.

Biography

Early life

Oysher was born in

Lipcani Lipcani () is a town in Briceni District, Moldova. It is also a border crossing between Moldova and Romania. Overview Lipcani is located on the banks of the Prut river, which forms the border with Romania. The border with Ukraine ( Criva bo ...

Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate was a province (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its administrative centre in Kishinev (Chișinău). It consisted of an area of and a population of 1,935,412 inhabitants. The Bessarabia Governorate bordered t ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

on March 8, 1906. He was born to a Jewish family that traced six generations of . He told writer Khaver-Paver that his grandfather sang folk songs and workers' songs to his students when Moyshe was young, and the heartfelt tunes were ''in my blood,'' and that it was from his other grandfather "" and his father "" that he inherited his gift as a . Oysher's father departed for America when Moyshe was young, leaving him with his grandfather. He started acting in school and played a few roles in the poet Eliezer Steinberg's ''Der Berditchever Rov'' ("The

Rebbe A Rebbe () or Admor () is the spiritual leader in the Hasidic movement, and the personalities of its dynasties.Heilman, Samuel"The Rebbe and the Resurgence of Orthodox Judaism."''Religion and Spirituality (Audio)''. UCTV, 20 Oct 2011. web. ...

from

Berdichev Berdychiv (, ) is a historic city in Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Berdychiv Raion within the oblast. It is south of the administrative center of the oblast, Zhytomyr. Its population is approximat ...

"). He named Steinberg as a profound influence on his life. In 1921, he traveled to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

to join his father. On the way, his

voice broke A voice change or voice mutation, sometimes referred to as a voice break or voice crack, commonly refers to the deepening of the voice of men as they reach puberty. Before puberty both sexes have roughly similar vocal pitches, but during pubert ...

, so in Canada he worked at first as a dishwasher and later a launderer to support himself.

Career

Oysher was able to retrain his voice and began singing again in literary and dramatic clubs. He met actor Wolf Shumsky and traveled with him to Winnipeg, where he played Yiddish theater for three seasons. He was allowed into the Canadian Actors' Union in 1924 and played in the Montreal Yiddish theater under the direction of Isidore Hollander. He may have gone back and forth between Canada and the United States during this time. In 1928, he was on Yiddish radio in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, where his parents had moved, and that same year he was engaged at the Hopkins Theater in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. The manager of the Hopkins theatre, Louis Weiss, was married to the female lead, Florence Weiss; she ended up leaving Louis for Oysher. The pair left for

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

to work at the Lyric Theater. He married Florence Weiss in Newark in January 1929. In 1931, he was accepted into the New York Actors' Union and played in

Anshel Schorr Anshel Schorr (; October 25, 1871 – May 31, 1942), also known by the anglicized name Albert Schorr, was an Austrian-born American playwright, lyricist, theater manager and composer active in the Yiddish Theatre of the early twentieth century. ...

group, and lived in

for a time. He then played with

Boris Thomashevsky Boris Thomashefsky (, sometimes written Thomashevsky, Thomaschevsky, etc.; ) (1868–July 9, 1939), born Boruch-Aharon Thomashefsky, was a Ukrainian-born (later American) Jewish singer and actor who became one of the biggest stars in Yiddish th ...

, then in 1932, he started his own company and traveled to Buenos Aires and across Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. Returning to the U.S., he worked on the radio and starred with his wife in the Harry Kalmanovitsh -

Joseph Rumshinsky Joseph Rumshinsky (1881–1956) was a Jewish composer born near Vilna, Lithuania (then part of Russian Poland). Along with Sholom Secunda, Alexander Olshanetsky and Abraham Ellstein, he is considered one of the "big four" composers and conductors ...

operetta (''This is what's called being loved)''. Around the same time, with the encouragement of friends, he applied to conduct services as for the High Holidays at the

First Roumanian-American Congregation The First Roumanian-American Congregation, also known as Congregation Shaarey Shomayim (), or the Roumanishe Shul (Yiddish for "Romanian synagogue"), was an Orthodox Jewish congregation at 89–93 Rivington Street on the Lower East Side of Manha ...

, in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

and caused a sensation,Shisler, Geoffrey (April 30, 2006).
Moishe Oysher, 1907-1958)
. ''Chazzanut Online''. chazzanut.com. Retrieved 2017-04-06. being perhaps the first singer to step from "" (stage) to "" (pulpit). He thereafter worked around the world in both arenas. Some say that Oysher's voice was like the "roaring of the lion." In regard to his popularity, he was considered "the darling of many Jews.." useumoffamilyhistory.com He liked the

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

style, popular at that time, and he used similar rhythmic melodies in his prayers, respecting always the traditional Bessarabian "

doina The doina () is a Romanians, Romanian musical tune style, possibly with Middle Eastern roots, customary in Romanian peasant music, as well as in lăutărească music. It was also adopted into klezmer music. Similar tunes are found throughout Eas ...

s" and "" moods of the prayers. Oysher starred in three Yiddish films. In 1943 Oysher signed a contract with

Fortune Gallo Fortune Thomas Gallo (May 9, 1878 – March 28, 1970) (born Fortunato Gallo) was an Italian-born opera impresario. Gallo was owner and General Manager of the traveling San Carlo Opera Company from 1913 until its disbandment in the late 1950s. ...

to perform several roles with the

Chicago Opera Company The Chicago Opera Company was a grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and Orchestra, orchestras. The original productions consisted of spectacular design a ...

and a fine career was foreseen, but after a heart attack he had to abandon the idea; he continued to work in radio and as a and recording artist until, after other heart attacks, on the advice of his doctors, he entered semi-retirement. Oysher died in New Rochelle from undisclosed causes in 1958 aged 52, although his age was misreported as 51.

Family

Oysher was survived by his second wife Theodora (a pianist who had often accompanied him in concert), their daughter Shoshana (Rozanna), his sister Fraydele (a Yiddish theater actress and singer) and her husband Harold Sternberg, a chorister in the Metropolitan opera; their daughter is recording artist

Marilyn Michaels Marilyn Michaels (born Marilyn Sternberg, February 26, 1943) is a comedian, singer, actress, impressionist, author, and composer. Family Marilyn Michaels was born in Manhattan to Russian Jewish émigré parents. Her mother was cantoress and actr ...

. Rozanna married

Armond Lebowitz Armond Lebowitz (25 September 1926 – 30 April 2015) was an American film editor. He worked in many films by Larry Cohen Lawrence George Cohen (July 15, 1936 – March 23, 2019) was an American filmmaker. He originally emerged as the write ...

and they had two sons, David and Brad. Oysher died in 1958, aged 52, and is interred in Cedar Park Cemetery in

Paramus, New Jersey Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H, ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

Filmography

*''

The Cantor's Son ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' ...

'' (''Dem Khazn's Zindl'') 1937, USA, B&W, 90 min, Yiddish with English subtitles. Directed by Ilya Motyleff and Sidney Goldin. Other actors: Judith Abarbanel and Florence Weiss. Based on Moishe Oysher's life. A very poor young immigrant lands a job as a custodian, where he is "discovered" and becomes famous immediately. However, his success seems meaningless as he yearns for home. *'' The Singing Blacksmith'' (''Yankl der Shmid''; the Yiddish title literally means "Yankel the Smith") 1938, USA, B&W, 95 min, Yiddish with English subtitles. Directed by Edgar G. Ulmer. Also with Miriam Riselle and Florence Weiss. This is a classic story of a blacksmith who is a womanizer and almost an alcoholic. One day, he meets a beautiful lady called Tamare and his life changes. *'' Overture to Glory'' (''Der Vilner Shtot Khazn''; the Yiddish title literally means "The

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

City Cantor") 1940, USA, B&W, 85 min, Yiddish with English subtitles. Directed by

Max Nosseck Max Nosseck (19 September 1902 – 29 September 1972) was a German film director, actor, and screenwriter. Biography Nosseck was born in Nakel, then in Prussia, but now in Poland. Nosseck established himself as a director in the Cinema of Germany, ...

. Helen Beverly and Florence Weiss. Oysher is the "Vilner Balabesl" - a cantor in

- with a renowned voice. Two men come from the

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Opera to hear him sing "

Kol Nidre Kol Nidre (also known as Kol Nidrei or Kol Nidrey; Aramaic: ''kāl niḏrē'') is an Aramaic declaration which begins Yom Kippur services in the synagogue. Strictly speaking, it is not a prayer, even though it is commonly spoken of as if it we ...

" on

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...

and are so impressed that they introduce him to European

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

and to reading

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

; they convince him, against the wishes of much of his family (and especially his father-in-law) to become an opera singer in Warsaw. He leaves his job as the Vilnius cantor, and seems at first to be on the path to fame and fortune as an opera star in Warsaw, when the news arrives that his son has died. Grief-stricken, he stumbles over the

aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

he is supposed to sing, starting instead into a

lullaby A lullaby (), or a cradle song, is a soothing song or piece of music that is usually played for (or sung to) children (for adults see music and sleep). The purposes of lullabies vary. In some societies, they are used to pass down cultural knowl ...

he used to sing to his son. In disgrace, he also loses his voice; he tries to return to his life in Vilna; finally, his voice comes briefly back to him on Yom Kippur. He sings the first few lines of the "Kol Nidre", then dies of a heart attack. * In the 1944 movie ''

Song of Russia ''Song of Russia'' is a 1944 American war film made and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The picture was credited as being directed by Gregory Ratoff, though Ratoff became ill near the end of the five-month production, and was replaced by L� ...

'', using the pseudonym Walter Lawrence, Moyshe Oysher sang "Rusland iz ir nomen" ("Russia is Her Name"), music by

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

. *''

Singing in the Dark ''Singing in the Dark'' is a 1956 American black-and-white film about a Holocaust survivor suffering from total amnesia who comes to the United States. It stars Yiddish language film actor Moishe Oysher in his only English-language film performa ...

'', 1956, USA, B&W, English. A motion picture about a Holocaust survivor suffering from total amnesia who comes to the United States and becomes a singer. Oysher sings in English and in Hebrew.

References

External links

(Musical Album:) ''The Power, The Glory, The Soul of Moishe Oysher''. Judaica Sound Archives. Florida Atlantic University

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oysher, Moishe 1906 births 1958 deaths People from Briceni District People from Khotinsky Uyezd Moldovan Jews American people of Moldovan-Jewish descent Hazzans Yiddish-language singers of the United States Yiddish theatre performers Jewish American male actors Male actors from New Rochelle, New York 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American Jews