Israel Schorr

{{short description|American singer}}

{{distinguish|text=Israel Schorr, the rabbi of Congregation Beth El-Young Israel in Brooklyn.}}

Israel Schorr (1886 - April 9, 1935) was a prominent cantor during the Golden Age of Hazzanut. Born in Khyriv, the Polish region of Galicia then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Hasidic family, Schorr began his career as a boy, singing soprano in the courts of various Hasidic masters, notably the Rebbe (Grand Rabbi) of Rymanow.{{cite web |url=https://www.milkenarchive.org/artists/view/israel-schorr/|title=Israel Schorr (1886 – 1935) |first=Neil W. |last=Levin |website=www.milkenarchive.org |publisher=Milken Archive of Jewish Music |access-date=2024-08-08 }} In 1904, Schorr replaced his distant relative Hazzan Boruch Schorr as the official cantor for the rebbe of Rymanów.

During World War I, Schorr served in the Imperial army of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the war, he took various cantorial posts in central and eastern Europe, including Brno in Czechoslovakia, Kraków in Poland and a brief stint in Zürich, Switzerland. With help from Congressman Sol Bloom{{cite web|url=http://www.congregationagudathsholom.org/kolsholom/ASJune05.pdf|title=Cantorially Speaking|publisher=Congregation Agudath Shalom|accessdate=2013-03-19}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} of Chicago, Schorr emigrated to the United States in 1924 on an artist's visa to accept a position in Chicago. He later served in cantorial positions in New York City. Some of his family still live in New York, and the city of Boston. Massachusetts. He also performed frequently, including with the cantor Yossele Rosenblatt.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/556331971/ |title=3,000 Pay Homage to Rovner, Dean of Hebrew Composers |publisher=The Brooklyn Daily Times |date=March 19, 1925 |page=9 }} Schorr had a baritone voice and in the mid-1920s declined an offer to perform in vaudeville.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/86676354/?match=1&terms=Cantor%20%22Israel%20Schorr%22 |title=Rev Israel Schorr Will Give Concert in Synagogue Here |publisher=The Pittsburgh Post |date=February 13, 1927 |page=4 }} His father Morris Schorr was also a famous cantor in New York.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/220809738/?match=1&terms=Cantor%20%22Israel%20Schorr%22 |title=Atonement Day Services Fixed |publisher=The Courier-News |date=September 30, 1930 |page=6 }}

Apart from performing the traditional pieces of the Jewish liturgy, Schorr also wrote liturgical pieces. He introduced improvisational lines to the pieces, many of which were later adopted by other prominent cantors. His best-known piece in this style is Sheyibone Beis HaMikdosh,{{cite news |title=Rejoice with Itzhak Perlman and Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, Airs on THIRTEEN's Great Performances, Thursday, August 28 at 9 p.m. on PBS |publisher=PR Newswire |location=New York |date=August 6, 2014 |id={{ProQuest|1551480587}} }} which was modified by Cantor Moshe Koussevitzky.

He was married to Mina Pinczowski Schorr and had two sons and four daughters.{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/07/21/118918845.html?pageNumber=23 |title=Mrs. Israel Schorr |website=The New York Times |date=1961 |page=23 |id={{ProQuest|115468208}} }} Schorr died prematurely of a heart condition in 1935.

His son, Morris Schorr, went on to become a cantor in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He was one of the founding members of the Cantor's Assembly.{{cite web |url=http://www.cantors.org/ca_history1947-1972.php |title=The First Twenty-Five Years - From 1947-1972 |publisher=The Cantors Assembly |accessdate=2011-02-07 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718045020/http://www.cantors.org/ca_history1947-1972.php |archivedate=2011-07-18 }}