To Hear Your Voice

In lieu of rent, Yossele would come up every Friday night and sing zemiros. My grandfather always said, “I got the better end of the deal”

One such person — a fine, erliche Yid whose name always comes up when speaking of great chazzanim — is, of course, Yossele Rosenblatt a”h. Yossele lived on the Upper West Side in Manhattan, in a building my grandfather owned and lived in. During the Great Depression, when there was no money to be had, in lieu of rent, Yossele would come up every Friday night and sing zemiros. My grandfather always said, “I got the better end of the deal.”

At the tender age of 18, young Yossele became the chief cantor of Pressburg, beating out 56 other hopeful candidates. He had a magnificent tenor voice, extraordinary range, perfect pitch, and could read the most difficult musical scores. Most of his repertoire was his own compositions, which were significantly influenced by his chassidish background. Yossele’s commitment to Yiddishkeit, as many know, was unshakable.

In the 1920s, the Chicago Opera contacted him and offered him a position. In order to sweeten the deal, they told him he could retain his beard, not work on Shabbos or Yom Tov, have kosher food made available to him, and would not have to perform with women. Even so, Yossele turned them down. Finally, they offered him an exorbitant amount of money, to which he replied, “I don’t think the shul where I daven, Ohab Zedek of the West Side, would be pleased with me singing at the opera.” To which the head of the Chicago Opera replied, “What if I contact the president of the synagogue and ask him if he’d be okay with this arrangement?” Yossele responded begrudgingly that he would agree to that. Yossele hung up from the opera and quickly called Moritz Newman, then the president of Ohab Zedek, and begged him to tell the opera house that he wouldn’t permit it.  At a time when frumkeit was considered a liability, the famous joke was that someone once asked Yossele Rosenblatt why he charges so much for davening on the Yamim Noraim. “Because,” he replied, “I daven the shtiller Shemoneh Esreh too.”