The Chazzan of Boca: Meet Cantor Aryeh Leib Hurwitz

by Ellen Braunstein – chabad.org

The field of full-time chazzanim (cantors) has grown smaller and smaller in recent years. While there were hundreds, if not thousands, of trained chazzanim in the U.S. a century ago, there are perhaps several dozen today. But Chabad-Lubavitch of Central Boca Raton in southeast Florida is proud to have Aryeh Leib Hurwitz—a world-renowned singer—directing liturgical prayer and leading their services year-round.

Hurwitz, 35, is a trained tenor who has performed in prestigious concert halls around the world, including the Berliner Philharmoniker in Germany, Heichal HaTarbut—Israel’s largest concert hall—in Tel Aviv as well as on the White House lawn. He said it takes special preparation to be ready for the rigors of the High Holidays physically, emotionally and spiritually. “You need a lot of stamina and energy to get through the long services on your feet, especially on Yom Kippur, when you are fasting. You also need to get in the mind frame to make sure you’re in the right place mentally and spiritually.”

Leading up to the High Holidays, he reviews both the text of the prayers, to make sure he knows the exact meaning of the words he sings, as well as the nusach [the traditional liturgical melodies of the prayer service]. He also says that he finds musical opportunities that enable him “to grow with the community and keep it fresh, keep it exciting and add a new element.”

As many as 1,500 people attend High Holiday services at the synagogue.

Hurwitz’s repertoire is vast, consisting of many melodic genres and songs in a variety of languages, drawing from classic, at times ancient, Jewish melodies, as well as modern Jewish music.

Songs to Heal a Nation

Hurwitz is always mindful of the ongoing war in Israel and the plight of her people, and throughout this past year included tributes to victims and survivors in his repertoire. “Our prayers here always keep in mind our hostages, our soldiers, and our brothers and sisters in Israel.”

After the Oct. 7 massacre, Hurwitz collaborated with his cousin, Yossi Saacks, on a song called “The Sounds of Sirens.” The song addresses the constant rockets flying and the warning sounds of sirens, praying the sirens should be replaced by the sound of the great shofar.

“As soon as he sent me the lyrics, I felt the song’s emotions. We went straight to the studio in Boca and recorded it.” Hurwitz has performed the song throughout his home state and around the country accompanied by some of the members of the rabbanut division of the Israeli Army Band.

Rivkah Denburg, who co-directs Chabad of Central Boca Raton with her husband, Rabbi Moishe Denburg, said that Hurwitz sings melodies “that remind us of Israel and keep it in our thoughts and prayers.”

Each week, after the Torah reading in synagogue, he sings the “Mi Shebeirach” in the merit of the soldiers defending the Land of Israel. “It is an emotional moment every week,” Denburg said. “It’s very heartfelt, very sincere and just so beautiful. People feel that.”

‘A Connection to the Words’

Blessed with a beautiful voice, Hurwitz’s interest in cantorial music goes back to his childhood in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. “I enjoyed listening to cantors lead the services.” With the encouragement of his father, he began leading services as a teenager.

At 21, he began to pursue a career as a chazzan. He studied and taught in a school in South Africa for a year. “It’s very much in the culture there. Every synagogue has a proper cantor and a choir.”

Hurwitz and his friends would visit the different synagogues and listen to their choirs. At some point, he hired a voice teacher and started leading services at synagogues. He ended the year with a big concert where he performed for the first time.

When he returned to the United States, he enrolled in the music school at Yeshiva University for two years and started studying privately with a number of voice teachers. He received his rabbinical ordination at the Rabbinical College of America in Morristown, N.J.

In 2014, working at the time as a support manager at Chabad.org, he produced his first series of videos, in which he introduced viewers to the most well-known parts of the High Holiday services.

Hurwitz came to Chabad Central Boca Raton three years ago as a full-time chazzan. Before that he was a guest chazzan. For 10 years prior to that, he served as cantor at Chabad’s Chai Center at Dix Hills on Long Island, N.Y.

“Being a full-time chazzan is much more impactful than being a guest,” he explained. “You’re a part of the community, you learn and grow with the congregation. It’s more rewarding.”

Hurwitz has performed before 20,000 people at NBA arenas—singing the National Anthem at home games of the Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets, Utah Jazz and Orlando Magic—but said synagogues could in many ways be more difficult. “There’s sometimes even more pressure in the synagogue because you know the people in the audience so well. and you want to do a good job,” he said. “There’s different types of expectations for yourself in both venues.”

Hurwitz and his wife Bracha, have four young children. Like their father, they all like to sing. His brother is a wedding singer, and he has another brother who leads High Holiday services in different synagogues. Another sister sings. Their grandmother and her family were musicians.

Cantorial music brings Hurwitz and his listeners closer to G‑d. “There’s two elements to prayer. There is asking G‑d to fulfill whatever your needs are. Then there is another level that you’re serving G‑d through the prayer. And to me, I feel doing that on the highest level is to do that with the proper attention, the proper tunes and the proper understanding.

“People say that when they hear a cantor, they connect and they’re serving G‑d, but I think it’s more. They feel a connection to the words, which come to life. They become engulfed with the prayer as opposed to just saying the words and getting it over with and finishing and going home. It’s a natural experience that’s very satisfying, and that’s something I’m very happy and proud of. If you can get even one person to feel that way, it’s worth all of the work.”

He sees his purpose as a cantor in relation to his faith and G‑d. “Everybody is born with a mission and a purpose and a talent—something that they’re good at. I feel that this is my G‑d-given gift, and that it’s only right if I were to use it to inspire people. And my hope is that I am doing what He is expecting me to do with this.”