Stern, Moshe
STERN, MOSHE
STERN, MOSHE (1935– ). Born in Budapest, the son of Israel Stern, who was chief cantor, Stern immigrated to Israel in 1950. In 1955 he was appointed ḥazzan to the chief synagogue in Reḥovot, and in 1958 to the *Hechal Shlomo Synagogue in Jerusalem. From 1963 to 1968 he was chief cantor of the Great Synagogue in Johannesburg, and from 1968 to 1977 of Beth-El Synagogue in Boro Park, New York. In 1977 he returned to Israel. Subsequently the High Holidays saw Stern daven for more than a decade at Club Hebraica in Sao Paulo, Brazil, while the rest of the holidays would often find him presiding at the pulpit of the Great Synagogue on Allenby Street in Tel Aviv. Stern was regarded as one of the greatest cantors and extemporizers of our time and was constantly touring the Jewish world giving concerts of Jewish liturgical music. He made many recordings, often of his own compositions, which though traditional in nature are always memorable and showstoppers.
[Akiva Zimmerman /
Raymond Goldstein (2nd ed.)]