Photo courtesy Barry Good
By Rhonda Hoffman
Special to the Northeast Times
Having served a Northeast Philadelphia synagogue long and well, Cantor Don Samuels formally retired following a 44-year tenure at Congregations of Shaare Shamayim last month. Leading the final Shabbat (Saturday) morning service (July 27) of his CSS career, the cantor was joined on the bimah (stage) of the Karff Sanctuary by Rabbi Moshe Grussgott, the son of Rabbi Ira Grussgott, the temple’s religious leader in the 1980s.
On the following day, July 28, more than 150 past and present congregants honored the cantor at a retirement brunch at the Traditional/Conservative synagogue, just a few days prior to a planned move to its new home within Congregation Keneseth Israel along Old York Road in Elkins Park.
Another religious edifice — The Block Church — will now occupy the Verree Road site.
Among those honoring the 89-year-old cantor was Tobi Levin, one of many past congregational presidents who attended the local event.
“I first met Cantor Samuels more than 40 years ago when I moved to the neighborhood as a single parent and enrolled my 5-year-old son in Sunday School.
“I have witnessed a lifelong affection and respect between the cantor, his students and past and present congregants. He had a wonderful relationship with the Nursery School students as well as the children attending Shabbat (Saturday) morning services in the chapel,” Levin said about the “kind and approachable” cantor.
“When 10 a.m. rolled around, chants of ‘Cantor, Cantor’ and clapping could be heard as he entered the chapel. He would greet each child with a high-five as he made his way to the bimah (stage) and led them in blessings and song.
“We referred to him as the Energizer Bunny because he was so resilient and was always showing up for his congregants despite problems with his knees and recovering from heart surgery,” Levin said about the octogenarian who co-officiated at her wedding ceremony in 1988 as well as her older son’s Bar Mitzvah and her parents’ wedding vow renewal marking their 50th wedding anniversary.
“As my parents aged, his frequent visits to their apartment or at the hospital were never pre-arranged but always happened. It will be difficult going forward without the cantor’s presence. I hope this is not goodbye, but until we meet again,” Levin added.
Current Congregation President Fran Gabriel described the cantor as “always helpful and knowledgeable.”
“During COVID and our extended time of isolation, he figured out a way for us to be together, by conducting Zoom services and spreading joy to others who craved being together,” said Gabriel, who assumed the synagogue’s top lay leadership position in 2016.
Also among those honoring the cantor was Gary Krimstock, a past congregational president and longtime board member and legal counsel for the synagogue.
“Cantor Samuels always had a kind word about everyone. He had a great sense of humor and he enjoyed both hearing and telling jokes. His Canadian roots allowed for great conversations with and about my two sons who played ice hockey as kids, as did the cantor.
“We will miss his wonderful voice, his special melodies, his theatrical references and his pleasant and good nature,” Krimstock said.
Past congregation president and current vice president Linda Korsin noted that the cantor has brought “great enthusiasm to his role. His acting and singing abilities were inexhaustible and his love for what he was doing was always evident,” she said.
According to the cantor, having been a stage actor and singer long before assuming his cantorial duties served him well in connecting with an audience.
“Whether you’re performing in a theater or from the bimah, you’re communicating with your audience in a unique and special way,” said the Canadian-born lyrical baritone.
Besides using his voice as an instrument, does the cantor play any instruments?
“I play piano. I use it for breathing exercises for myself and my students. I’m not really fluent on the keyboard,” said the cantor, who describes music, singing and religious practice as the core of his life besides his family.
What influenced his decision to go from the secular world as an entertainer to the religious role as cantor?
“I think our two children drove us to a greater level of observance,” said Cantor Samuels, who studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary in NYC before being employed as a Torah reader and teacher training Bar/Bat Mitzvah students at Shaare Shamayim in August 1980.
“It’s been a wonderful 44-year ride,” remarked the cantor, a grandfather of 13 and a great-grandfather of one, who will move from his Verree Road home adjacent to Shaare Shamayim to be closer to his daughter in Muncie, New York.
Looking forward to his next adventure, the cantor noted that there will be no shortage of synagogues in the New York neighborhood where he and his wife will be moving.
“Unfortunately, that’s not the case in Northeast Philadelphia where the number of Reform and Conservative temples has dwindled in recent decades. It’s somewhat perturbing as so many synagogues have closed their doors. Fortunately, many Orthodox temples are flourishing and even a kosher supermarket (House of Kosher) is prospering in the area.
“I’m sure I’ll find a place to daven (pray) and to sing near our new home,” noted the cantor, whose mellifluous tones will, no doubt, reverberate in the sanctuary for many years to come. ••
