Josef Rosenblatt

Josef (Yossele) Rosenblatt (1882-1933)

Yossele Rosenblatt was born on May 2nd 1882 in Biela Tserkov, in the Ukraine. He came from a long line of Chazanim and his father was a 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.'

At 18 Yossele married and soon after accepted the position of Cantor at Muncaz in Hungary. This position he obtained against the competition of 40 other Chazanim. From there he went to Pressburg, where he officiated for five years and during this period, he began to publish his numerous synagogal compositions.

He then stayed for six years in Hamburg and, according to his account, tried to run away to America. However he was 'overtaken on the steamer and brought back like a criminal.'

When he eventually did arrive in the States in 1912, he was immediately engaged by the Congregation Ohab Zedek in New York and his fame soon grew. He recorded for various phonograph companies 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 per night to sing in opera. However, so great was his love for Yiddishkeit, 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 the pulpit and concentrate on concertising, in which there was the opportunity for him to make much larger sums of money, and so he made extensive tours, including coming to Europe.

In 1927 Warner Brothers offered Rosenblatt $100,000 to co-star with Al Jolson in 'The Jazz Singer,' but they could not persuade him to sing Kol Nidrei. He felt that it was much too sacred to be used as entertainment.

In 1928 he was engaged by the Anshei Sfard Congregation in Brooklyn and was paid $12,000 a year, the highest salary paid at that time to any Cantor.

Rosenblatt was delighted to be offered the chance to film in the Holy Land by the Palestine-American Fox Film Co. Although he was earning a good salary, he was still paying off the debts of his bankruptcy and, when he arrived in Palestine, in 1933 , he was virtually penniless.

Sadly, on June 19th 1933 he was stricken by a heart-attack at the age of only 51. His funeral service was conducted by Chief Rabbi Kook and attended by more than 20,000 people.

Rosenblatt recorded about 180 compositions, most of which were his own.

Rabbi Geoffrey Shisler

[78RPM]

Aheym, Aheym (David Meyerowitz - Herman Wohl) Yossele Rosenblatt HMV ES 322 1926

Akheinu Kol Beit Yisroel (Yossele Rosenblatt) Salomon Kupfer Semer S.33 1929

Akheinu Kol Beit Yisroel (Yossele Rosenblatt) Yossele Rosenblatt Victor 45204-A 1920

Ato Yozarto (Yossele Rosenblatt) Henry & Yossele Rosenblatt Victrola 9443 1929

Eili, Eili (Jacob Koppel Sandler) Yossele Rosenblatt Columbia E5143 1916

Eili, Eili (Jacob Koppel Sandler) Yossele Rosenblatt Victrola 9792-B 1923

El Dor Bamorom (Yossele Rosenblatt) Herbert Slotnick & Yossele Rosenblatt Victrola 9119-A 1927

Elegie (Louis Gallet - Jules Massenet) Yossele Rosenblatt Columbia E5143 1916

El Mole Rachamim (fur 'Titanik') Yossele Rosenblatt Victor 35312-B 1913

Die Nevieh (Moshe Horowitz - Aaron Perlmutter & Herman Wohl) Yossele Rosenblatt Columbia E2699 1915

Hayom Haras Olom (Yossele Rosenblatt) Yossele Rosenblatt Victrola 4034-A 1928

Ich Bet' Dich, Du Grosser Starker Got (Abraham Goldfaden)  Yossele Rosenblatt Odeon X401205 1909

Kol Nidrei Yossele Rosenblatt Victor 35312-A 1913

Lo Amut (Jehoshua Feinsinger - Yossele Rosenblatt) Yossele Rosenblatt Odeon Am 18002-A 1908

Lo Sachmod (Yossele Rosenblatt) Henry & Yossele Rosenblatt Victrola 4183 1929

Mein Heilig Land (Avrom Goldfaden) Yossele Rosenblatt Odeon X401204 1909

My Yiddishe Momme (Lou Pollack - Jack Yellen) Yossele Rosenblatt HMV 18-12368 1926

Ribono Shel Olam (Yossele Rosenblatt) Yossele Rosenblatt RCA Victor 38-1009 1927

Shir Hamaalos (Pinchas Minkowsky) Yossele Rosenblatt HMV ES.504 1929

Shofar Shel Mashiach (Abraham Goldfaden)  Yossele Rosenblatt Victor 45245-A 1924

Tikanto Shabbos (Yossele Rosenblatt) Yossele Rosenblatt Victor 55142-B 1921

V'kach Haya Omer (Baruch Schorr) Yossele Rosenblatt Columbia E5155 1916

Wehal Yadey Ov Horachmin (Jehoshua Feinsinger) Yossele Rosenblatt Columbia E2818 1916

Yaale (Yossele Rosenblatt & Herman Wohl) Henry & Yossele Rosenblatt Electrola E.J. 264 1927

Yohrzeit (Herman B. Silbershtein - Rhea Silberta) Yossele Rosenblatt Victrola 9011-A 1926

Zelner Fun Tsien (Morris Rosenfeld - Ira Arnstein) Yossele Rosenblatt Columbia E4030 1918

Zog Zhe, Rebenyu (Leo Zeitlin & Oscar Potoker) Samuel Malavsky & Yossele Rosenblatt Victor 55291-A 1926

[33RPM]

Lo Amut (Jehoshua Feinsinger - Yossele Rosenblatt) Yossele Rosenblatt Collectors Guild CG 595

V'kach Haya Omer (Baruch Schorr) Yossele Rosenblatt Collectors Guild CG 609 1961

Zog Zhe, Rebenyu (Leo Zeitlin & Oscar Potoker) Samuel Malavsky & Yossele Rosenblatt RCA Camden CAL 597 1960

1 - potpourri from opera Shulamith

2 - also known as Die Yidishe Hofnung

Last update 12-10-2011