He left Europe to serve as a cantor in New York City. As David Olivestone wrote in “Jewish Action” (Fall, 2003): “He possessed a magnificent tenor voice of great beauty and extraordinary range, with a remarkably agile falsetto. In addition, he had perfect pitch and could read the most difficult musical score at sight.” Both his congregants and his concert audiences loved the sweet timbre of his voice, and his heartfelt singing evoked the emotions of his listeners. According to an old Jewish saying, “Words that come from the heart enter the heart,” and this was also true with the songs of Yosselle Rosenblatt.

His fame spread, and his concerts were reviewed in the New York Times and other leading American newspapers. Although this was an age when many Jewish immigrants were abandoning their traditional Torah way of life in order to assimilate into the American culture, this was not the case with Yossele Rosenblatt. Despite his success and fame, he continued to fervently fulfill the Torah’s path of mitzvos, and even when he gave concerts to the general public, he would wear his large black yarmulke and frock coat.  Through his spiritual songs, he expressed the yearnings of our people, and he was affectionately known among our people as “Yossele.” He felt a deep concern for the suffering of our people; thus, in 1917, he went on a concert tour of thirty cities in order to help raise funds for the many Jews who had suffered greatly during World War I.

His successful appearance in Chicago during that tour presented him with a great challenge. An invited guest at the Chicago concert was Cleofonte Campanini, general director of the Chicago Opera, who was so struck by Rosenblatt’s artistic ability that he visited him immediately after the concert and offered him $1,000 per performance – a very high fee in those days – if he would sing the role of Eleazar in Halevy’s opera, La Juive. Campanini carefully outlined a contract with terms that he believed would ensure that Rosenblatt would not have to compromise on his traditional Jewish way of life. For example, he could retain his beard; he would not have to appear on Shabbos and the Jewish Festivals; and kosher food would be obtained for him. Although Cantor Rosenblatt was greatly tempted by the offer, in the end he decided not to accept it.

The offer and its refusal caused a storm, with reporters from both the general and Jewish media vying to understand how Yossele Rosenblatt could turn down such an offer. After all, this was “America” – the land where even new immigrants could achieve fame and fortune. In an interview with the trade journal “Musical America” (June 22, 1918), Rosenblatt admitted: “The cantor of the past and the opera star of the future waged a fierce struggle within me.” He added that “suddenly a voice whispered in my ear, ‘Yossele, don’t do it!’ ” The “cantor” within his soul overcame his desire to be a famous opera singer.

Cantor Rosenblatt’s loyalty to Judaism led him to help Rabbi Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz, a leading Torah educator and head of Yeshiva Torah Vodaath, with a new outreach project. Rabbi Mendlowitz was involved in starting a new Yiddish Chareidi newspaper which would provide a Torah perspective and thereby serve as an alternative to the secular Yiddish newspapers which were read by most of the Jewish immigrants to America. Rabbi Mendlowitz and Cantor Rosenblatt were the main investors in this new publication. Among the talented writers it attracted was Rabbi Leo Jung, a prominent community leader who wrote weekly articles in English. The publication, however, was going against the strong trend towards assimilation during that period, and after a few years, the newspaper went bankrupt. This caused Cantor Rosenblatt and Rabbi Mendlowitz to go into debt, and Cantor Rosenblatt did concert tours in order to pay his creditors.

In 1933, he was offered a movie role that he could accept in good conscience. The proposed movie, “Dream of my People,” would show the Jews of America the Land of Israel with its sacred sites and newly built cities and towns. In this movie, Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt would sing his own compositions at the biblical sites relevant to the words of those prayers.

For Yossele, this was an opportunity to visit the Land of Israel – the realization of a lifelong dream of his own. While he was in the Land, he gave concerts, and he participated in the services of various synagogues. Among those who attended one of his concerts was the well-known Hebrew poet of the modern Zionist movement, Chaim Nachman Bialik. After hearing Cantor Rosenblatt sing his famous rendition of Shir Ha-ma’alos (Psalm 126), Bialik proposed that it become the national anthem of our people. The psalm opens with the following words: “When Hashem will return the captivity of Zion, we will be like dreamers.” 

Yossele hoped to later go on a European concert tour, in order to raise funds which would enable him and his family to settle in Zion.

On Shabbos, June 17, 1933, he led a “farewell” service held at the Hurva Synagogue in Jerusalem.  The next day, after filming a scene at the Dead Sea, Yossele suffered a sudden heart attack. Within a short while, his soul left this world.

He was buried on the Mount of Olives, and over 5,000 Jews came to the levaya - the honoring and escorting of the soul as it begins its journey to the World to Come. (Scenes from this moving event were later included in the movie.) The eulogy was given by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook.

Over seven decades later, Yossele Rosenblatt’s impact continues to be felt. Many of his compositions have become staples in the repertoires of Ashkenazic cantors and are regularly sung in synagogue services and concerts. His recordings have been repeatedly reissued, and there is also a recording of the songs that he sang when he was in the Land of Israel.

I have attached a link to a recording of Cantor Rosenblatt chanting an ancient Hebrew prayer for our endangered people – a prayer which is especially relevant for our own situation when our people living in the Land of Zion are facing very great danger and anti-Jewish hatred is spreading all over the world. The following is an English translation of this prayer:

“Our brethren, the entire family of Israel, who are delivered into distress and captivity, whether they are on sea or dry land – may the Omnipresent One have mercy on them and remove them from distress to relief, from darkness to light, from subjugation to redemption, now, speedily, and soon –and let us say: Amen.”