Ben Zion Shenker

Shenker's parents were Mordechai and Miriam Shenker, Polish hasidim who came to America about 1921. Their son was born four years later, and they raised him in Williamsburg. He had two brothers and a sister. Even as a child, he showed interest in cantorial music, preferring to listen to greats such as Yossele Rosenblatt rather than play with toys. Weisser had a Yiddish-language radio program at the time, and Shenker was a soloist on it, with his own 15-minute weekly segment. In performance, mostly during prayers, he was described as having a reedy tenor and perfect pitch. He recorded an album at age 13. When he was about 14 or 15 he visited Rabbi Shaul Taub's house. Taub was the leader of the Modzitz Hasidim, who were known for their often lengthy and sophisticated musical compositions. While there, the young Shenker sight-read some of Taub's sheet music, which surprised Taub, who asked him to serve as a music secretary. Part of Shenker's job was to write musical notation for Taub, including early drafts of unrecorded compositions. == Adulthood ==

Shenker continued his studies in Yeshiva Torah Vodaath, and was ordained a rabbi. He married Dina Lustig, a Cincinnati native, in the late 1940s. Music preservation He started the Neginah label in 1956. The name is Hebrew for "playing of music." For its first album, Shenker trained a choir at the residence of the Bessers in Manhattan, former members of the congregation in Crown Heights. Neginah eventually recorded a total of ten albums, including the most important songs in the traditional Modzitz repertoire, as well as Rabbi Taub's later works and many of Shenker's own 500-plus compositions. Shenker, a humble man, did not mind the anonymity, and was typically surprised when approached as a celebrity. His Yossis Alayich (1965) is also the most commonly used song for Jewish weddings, typically used as the opening song to the first dance at Orthodox weddings throughout the world. Hankus Netsky compared the Modzitz music to symphonies, and stated that Shenker treated them with appropriate gravitas. Statman described the melodies as powerful enough to purify and to reach the stars, and Shenker's mastery of music color and ornamentation as incredible. Shenker was the primary cantor at the Modzitz synagogue in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and later in Midwood, Brooklyn. In the 1980s, he left the established Modzitz synagogue to form a second one, also in Midwood. He regularly composed new songs each year for the High Holidays. He was the rabbi of that synagogue until his death on November 20, 2016, of heart disease. He continued to record music until the last days of his life. Shenker did not make a living from music, rarely collecting royalties. His family owned a sweater manufacturing business, and he was partner in a diamond dealership. == Legacy ==

For his shloshim (ritual event on the 30th day of passing), Cantor Chaim Dovid Berson of New York's Jewish Center and musicians Shim Craimer and Yitzy Spinner performed some of Shenker's work. He had three daughters: Esther Reifman, Adele Newmark, and Brocha Weinberger. Shenker was a prolific artist, with his voice and compositions appearing on dozens of albums. On February 27, 2022, Ben Zion Schenker was posthumously inducted with the inaugural class of the Jewish Music Hall of Fame. ==External links==