Moishe Oysher
How A Yiddish Song Yearning For Moldova Became An Anthem For Jewish Immigrants Everywhere
Nostalgia songs took on a profoundly somber tone after the Jewish communities of the towns they mentioned were murdered in the Holocaust.
Yom Kippur Playlist: Hot Tunes for Judgment Day
J.J. Goldberg is back with a Yom Kippur playlist. Among the guest artists are Leonard Cohen, Amy Winehouse, Eminem, Chava Alberstein and Bob Dylan. Listen, enjoy and repent!
A Passover Concert: Songs of Liberation and Longing
To get us in the spirit of the Seder, here are a few songs of exodus, freedom, rebellion and an only kid. We’ve got selections by Bruce Springsteen, Chava Alberstein, Pete Seeger, Moishe Oysher, Bob Dylan, Shuli Nathan, Paul Robeson, Paul Simon, Lahakat HaNachal, the Maccabeats and many more, including two late and very much lamented friends, Debbie Friedman and Meir Ariel. Also Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Songs to Atone By: Dylan, Jolson, Streisand, Oysher
As we approach Yom Kippur, J.J. Goldberg has put together a song list to capture the spirit of the day including tunes by Dylan, Streisand and The Beatles.
Clip: The Cantor's Son (Dem Khazns Zundyl)
The Cantor’s Son (Dem Khazns Zundyl) Restored with New English Subtitles by The National Center for Jewish Film Available for DVD Purchase and Public Performance at jewishfilm.org USA, 1937, 90 minutes B&W, Yiddish with English subtitles Directed by Ilya Motyleff (& Sidney Goldin, uncredited) “May be the most exhilarating example yet exhumed of the once-thriving, completely global Yiddish cinema.” -The Boston Phoenix Mar 25, 2008 “More than being a pastoral romance or a glorified cantorial, The Cantor’s Son is an anti-Jazz Singer with Louis Freiman’s script designed to dramatize Oysher’s return to the fold.” -J. Hoberman in his book Bridge of LIght This Yiddish feature film musical drama marks the screen debut of singer and cantor Moishe Oysher (Overture to Glory and The Singing Blacksmith). Shot in Pennsylvania near the Pocono Mountains, the film features Oysher in the title role of a wayward youth who makes his way from his Polish shtetl to New York’s Lower East Side (the film includes rare glimpses of the Lower East Side and of 2nd Avenue Yiddish theater marquees of the period). While washing floors in a nightclub several years later he is “discovered” and becomes a well-known singer. Ultimately, Oysher’s character returns home to the Old Country and reunites with his parents and his childhood sweetheart. In his book on Yiddish cinema Bridge of Light, critic J. Hoberman calls The Cantor’s Son an “anti-Jazz Singer,” further remarking that the film’s story parallels …
Cantor Moshe Oysher - Candle Lighting
Moishe Oysher: Music Born in 1907 in Bessarabia, Imperial Russia (Moldova) and died in 1958 in New York. Although he may have come from a family of cantors going back six generations, he seems to have been drawn to the stage and popular entertainment from an early age. Oysher joined a Canadian travelling Yiddish theatrical troupe in 1921 and moved to New York City in 1923. By 1932 he had started his own company, entertaining in the USA and South America. After returning to the USA from Buenos Aires in 1934, he had difficulty finding work in New York’s Yiddish Theater. When he was offered the opportunity to sing for the High Holy Days at the First American-Rumanian Synagogue in NYC’s Lower East Side, he accepted the position and became a cantorial sensation! Despite his great success as a cantor Moishe Oysher was ever the entertainer and became quite famous for his starring roles in three Yiddish films including, “The Cantor’s Son” (1936), “The Singing Blacksmith” (1938), and “Overture to Glory” (1940). He was also a successful recording artist. Moishe Oysher was able to combine his passion for the Chazzanut with his love of performance, creating a crowd-pleasing style that thrilled audiences in synagogues and theaters. His recordings represent the world of our fathers and grandfathers who appreciated Oysher’s rich voice and fiery style.
Cantor Moshe Oysher - Happy Chanukah
Moishe Oysher: Music Born in 1907 in Bessarabia, Imperial Russia (Moldova) and died in 1958 in New York. Although he may have come from a family of cantors going back six generations, he seems to have been drawn to the stage and popular entertainment from an early age. Oysher joined a Canadian travelling Yiddish theatrical troupe in 1921 and moved to New York City in 1923. By 1932 he had started his own company, entertaining in the USA and South America. After returning to the USA from Buenos Aires in 1934, he had difficulty finding work in New York’s Yiddish Theater. When he was offered the opportunity to sing for the High Holy Days at the First American-Rumanian Synagogue in NYC’s Lower East Side, he accepted the position and became a cantorial sensation! Despite his great success as a cantor Moishe Oysher was ever the entertainer and became quite famous for his starring roles in three Yiddish films including, “The Cantor’s Son” (1936), “The Singing Blacksmith” (1938), and “Overture to Glory” (1940). He was also a successful recording artist. Moishe Oysher was able to combine his passion for the Chazzanut with his love of performance, creating a crowd-pleasing style that thrilled audiences in synagogues and theaters. His recordings represent the world of our fathers and grandfathers who appreciated Oysher’s rich voice and fiery style.
Cantor Moshe Oysher -Sheyibone Beit Hamikdash
Moishe Oysher: Music Born in 1907 in Bessarabia, Imperial Russia (Moldova) and died in 1958 in New York. Although he may have come from a family of cantors going back six generations, he seems to have been drawn to the stage and popular entertainment from an early age. Oysher joined a Canadian travelling Yiddish theatrical troupe in 1921 and moved to New York City in 1923. By 1932 he had started his own company, entertaining in the USA and South America. After returning to the USA from Buenos Aires in 1934, he had difficulty finding work in New York’s Yiddish Theater. When he was offered the opportunity to sing for the High Holy Days at the First American-Rumanian Synagogue in NYC’s Lower East Side, he accepted the position and became a cantorial sensation! Despite his great success as a cantor Moishe Oysher was ever the entertainer and became quite famous for his starring roles in three Yiddish films including, “The Cantor’s Son” (1936), “The Singing Blacksmith” (1938), and “Overture to Glory” (1940). He was also a successful recording artist. Moishe Oysher was able to combine his passion for the Chazzanut with his love of performance, creating a crowd-pleasing style that thrilled audiences in synagogues and theaters. His recordings represent the world of our fathers and grandfathers who appreciated Oysher’s rich voice and fiery style.
Cantor Moshe Oysher - Mizmor Shir
Moishe Oysher: Music Born in 1907 in Bessarabia, Imperial Russia (Moldova) and died in 1958 in New York. Although he may have come from a family of cantors going back six generations, he seems to have been drawn to the stage and popular entertainment from an early age. Oysher joined a Canadian travelling Yiddish theatrical troupe in 1921 and moved to New York City in 1923. By 1932 he had started his own company, entertaining in the USA and South America. After returning to the USA from Buenos Aires in 1934, he had difficulty finding work in New York’s Yiddish Theater. When he was offered the opportunity to sing for the High Holy Days at the First American-Rumanian Synagogue in NYC’s Lower East Side, he accepted the position and became a cantorial sensation! Despite his great success as a cantor Moishe Oysher was ever the entertainer and became quite famous for his starring roles in three Yiddish films including, “The Cantor’s Son” (1936), “The Singing Blacksmith” (1938), and “Overture to Glory” (1940). He was also a successful recording artist. Moishe Oysher was able to combine his passion for the Chazzanut with his love of performance, creating a crowd-pleasing style that thrilled audiences in synagogues and theaters. His recordings represent the world of our fathers and grandfathers who appreciated Oysher’s rich voice and fiery style.
Cantor Moshe Oysher Live Mussef Pesach 1956 in the pine hotel
Moishe Oysher: Music Born in 1907 in Bessarabia, Imperial Russia (Moldova) and died in 1958 in New York. Although he may have come from a family of cantors going back six generations, he seems to have been drawn to the stage and popular entertainment from an early age. Oysher joined a Canadian travelling Yiddish theatrical troupe in 1921 and moved to New York City in 1923. By 1932 he had started his own company, entertaining in the USA and South America. After returning to the USA from Buenos Aires in 1934, he had difficulty finding work in New York’s Yiddish Theater. When he was offered the opportunity to sing for the High Holy Days at the First American-Rumanian Synagogue in NYC’s Lower East Side, he accepted the position and became a cantorial sensation! Despite his great success as a cantor Moishe Oysher was ever the entertainer and became quite famous for his starring roles in three Yiddish films including, “The Cantor’s Son” (1936), “The Singing Blacksmith” (1938), and “Overture to Glory” (1940). He was also a successful recording artist. Moishe Oysher was able to combine his passion for the Chazzanut with his love of performance, creating a crowd-pleasing style that thrilled audiences in synagogues and theaters. His recordings represent the world of our fathers and grandfathers who appreciated Oysher’s rich voice and fiery style.
