A Cantor Says A Final Goodbye to the Grandfather Who Inspired Him

By Cantor Hanan Leberman

JERUSALEM — I flew to London last Wednesday, to say goodbye to my 97-year-old Grandpa.

Although I usually see my grandparents half a dozen times a year, the pandemic has made it so that I haven’t been able to see them for two and half years. I entered their new assisted living apartment and went straight to my grandfather’s bed. Without hesitation I began to sing our favorite Yiddish song “Oy vey fein”. Immediately he chimed in and sang with me for about fifteen seconds.

It was the last conscious interaction we ever shared. He died Mozei Shabbat, 10 Kislev.

The translation of the song “Oy vey fein” is “Oy, it will be great, when the Mashiach comes, we will dance, we will be cheerful, Dad, Mom, Grandpa and Grandma will be there, the truth will be revealed, and every Jew will be the masters of the house”.

My grandfather Hermi Rothman, grew up in Berlin. He had a younger brother and two loving parents. He had a large extended family. He loved his life in Berlin. He was everything a good German should be. He was blond, He had blue eyes, he was a super athlete. He played the violin on the highest level. He sang as a boy Soprano in the Great Synagogue. He was everything a good German should be except he was Jewish.

The same Jewishness that cast him out of the country that he loved dearly, was what kept him alive and going as a refugee in Britain. He joined a group of other young Jewish refugee children at Gwrych Castle in Wales. When the children’s first Shabbat approached, they didn’t know who would and who could lead them in the Shabbat prayers. My grandfather stepped up to the plate, and so began his 80-year commitment to being a leader in Jewish community.

He ended up joining the British Army. He became an officer in the MI5, and spent most of his service translating and interrogating Nazis. At the end of the war, he discovered Hitler’s will and he translated it to English. I recommend you read about this in his book Hitler’s Will.

After his service, he met my grandmother at a Jewish dance and they were happily married for seventy years until his death.

My grandfather served his local community as the Gabbai and Chazzan for seventy years. To this day there are many adults who remember him best from the youth service that he led every Shabbat. He brought music into prayer in a way that almost nobody could. When he wasn’t Chazzan, he would chime in by offering harmonies that were angelic. His harmonies were so appreciated that when he would visit us in Philadelphia, people would gather around our section to hear him. My grandfather was awarded “The Greatest Tfilla in Britain ” by Lord Jonathan Sacks.

My grandpa was the greatest influence on my life. He taught by leading by example. He never missed an opportunity to guide me and influence me to strive for greatness. I will never forget when I was ten years old, he said “Hanan, the other children play the flute with technique but none of them have your quality of tone. A soloist tone for a boy who has only been playing for half a year.” He encouraged me in every way to be a musician. I often think that if the war hadn’t changed the entire world my grandfather would have been a professional musician.

I live my life in my grandpa’s footsteps. As I walk down the streets of Jerusalem, the soundtrack of my life is the songs, music, tefillot and stories my grandfather has passed on. I will continue to sing “Oy vey fein” like a prayer knowing that my grandpa is forever with me.

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Cantor Hanan Leberman, who made aliyah from Philadelphia, serves as a cantor at Tifereth Israel Synagogue in San Diego on High Holy Days and other special occasions.