Shulem Lemmer (born November 6, 1989), known professionally simply as "Shulem," is an American

Belz Belz (, ; ; ) is a small city in Lviv Oblast, western Ukraine, located near the border with Poland between the Solokiya River (a tributary of the Bug River) and the Richytsia stream. Belz hosts the administration of Belz urban hromada, one of ...

Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...

singer from

Borough Park, Brooklyn Borough Park (also spelled Boro Park) is a neighborhood in the southwestern part of the borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, in New York City. The neighborhood is bordered by Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, Bensonhurst to the south, Dyker Heigh ...

, in New York City.Irene Connelly (December 9, 2019)
"An Unexpected Hasidic Pop Star Takes The Stage,"
''The Forward''. He is the first born-and-raised Charedi Jew to sign a major record contract with a leading label,

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

, under its classical music

Decca Gold Decca Gold is a United States–based record label focusing on classical repertoire. It falls under the umbrella of Verve Label Group, owned by Universal Music Group. The label has a new roster of classical artists and partnerships, and was inspir ...

imprint.

Early life

Lemmer was born and raised in

, in New York City. He is a fifth-generation American, from a

family of the

movement.

is a town in Galicia, in

eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, where the Belz dynasty originated. Lemmer is the youngest of eight children. Lemmer studied at the Belzer Cheder in Borough Park, and attended the Mir Yeshiva in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, living in Israel for six and a half years. He began performing at small family events when he was 10 years old; when he was 13 his sister Tzippy, who later died at 23 years of age in a car accident a few weeks after she was married, encouraged him to perform on stage at a brother's wedding. His older brother, Yanky, is the

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. ...

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 ...

Lincoln Square Synagogue The Lincoln Square Synagogue is a Modern Orthodox congregation and synagogue located at 180 Amsterdam Avenue between West 68th and 69th Streets in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1964, the synagogue ...

. The Lemmers are second cousins of renowned Harvard Law Prof.

Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law, U.S. constitutional and American criminal law, criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law Sc ...

. Before becoming a full-time singer, Lemmer was the director of marketing at a technology firm start-up based in

Williamsburg, Brooklyn Williamsburg is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bordered by Greenpoint to the north; Bedford–Stuyvesant to the south; Bushwick and East Williamsburg to the east; and the East River to the west. It was an independe ...

. He also still works as a cantor during the

High Holidays In Judaism, the High Holy Days, also known as High Holidays or Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim; , ''Yāmīm Nōrāʾīm'') consist of: #strictly, the holidays of Rosh Hashanah ("Jewish New Year") and Yom Kippur ("Day of Atonement"); #by extension, th ...

at Congregation Ahavath Torah, a

Modern Orthodox Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

synagogue in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...

Musical career

Lemmer is a

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

. He has not had any formal training; he researched vocal training on YouTube and Google, and learned how to perform "on the job". He released an album in 2017 entitled ''Shulem''. He is the first born-and-raised Hasidic Jew to sign with a major record label, having signed with

under its classical music

imprint. Lemmer consults with a team of rabbinic advisors; his contract stipulates that he can refuse a performance for any reason. In April 2019, Lemmer sang “''

God Bless America "God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin during World War I in 1918 and revised by him in the run-up to World War II in 1938. The later version was recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song. "Go ...

''” at

Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball park, baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, in the Boroughs of New York, borough of Queens, New York City, United States. Opened in 2009, Citi Field is the home of Major League Baseball's New York M ...

. He has toured in American and Israeli cities, and sung in London, Krakow, Frankfurt, and Zurich. The music on his November 2019 major label debut album, ''The Perfect Dream,'' is produced by Jon Cohen and accompanied by London's

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

. It consists of English, Hebrew, and Yiddish songs, including the Israeli song “ Jerusalem of Gold,” and “ Bring Him Home” from the Broadway musical “ ''Les Misérables''.” The title track of the album, "The Perfect Dream," is an original song written for Lemmer by lyricist Don Black. During the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Lemmer was recruited by the

Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

to raise awareness about the virus to Orthodox Jewish communities. On Holocaust Memorial Day, Shulem Lemmer sang at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. In March 2023, Lemmer released his third studio album, ''Kiddush Hashem'', which he produced himself, as well as serving as the co-composer for some of the songs.

Discography

*''Shulem'' (2017) *''The Perfect Dream'' (2019) *''Kiddush Hashem'' (2023)

Personal life

Lemmer lives in the North Dover section of

Toms River, New Jersey Toms River is a Township (New Jersey), township and coastal town located on the Jersey Shore in Ocean County, New Jersey, Ocean County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its mainland United States, mainland portion is also a census-designated ...

, having moved there with his family in 2017. He is married, and has four children. In 2019, he was awarded a Jew in the City All-Star Award. His brother Yaakov Lemmer is a

hazzan A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' (, plural ; ; ) is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term al ...

(cantor) and performing artist who currently serves as Head Cantor of Lincoln Square Synagogue, a Modern Orthodox congregation in New York City. Lemmer and his brother have performed and recorded music together (as "Shulem and Yanky Lemmer"), including a live performance of "Lo Sachmod" with

Shira Choir Shira Choir is an American Hasidic choir which sings in the genre of Hasidic music. The conductor of the choir is Yoeli Horowitz. History Founding Shira Choir was established in the United States in 2001 by Shraga Gold, who was also its con ...

in 2016 and the 2021 studio release ''The Man From Vilna''.

References

External links

*
"Shulem Lemmer singing with Shira, 'Chad Gadyu,'"
June 13, 2015

''The Lakewood Scoop'', January 2020. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemmer, Shulem Living people 1989 births American Hasidim Jewish American musicians Jewish songwriters Hasidic entertainers Yiddish-language singers Hebrew-language singers of the United States Hasidic singers People from Borough Park, Brooklyn Entertainers from Toms River, New Jersey Musicians from Brooklyn Singer-songwriters from New Jersey 21st-century American singer-songwriters 21st-century American male singers Singers from New York City Mir Yeshiva alumni Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Orthodox pop musicians