Memory Lane: Chazzan Berele Chagy

One of the most legendary chazzonim of all time was Cantor Berele Chagy who hailed from Russia, where he was already an accomplished chazzan, and served for more than a decade as the chazzan in Boro Park’s Temple Beth El, which had by then merged with Young Israel of Boro Park. 

Raised for Chazzonus 

Berele Chagy, was born in Dagda, Latvia, on July 25, 1892.

It is believed that both his father and grandfather were Chazanim, and from a very early age Berele used to sing in Shul with his father. One tale relates that on one occasion he ran away to another village and was found performing in the shul there. At the young age of five, he already sang in Karsivka, in the Vitebsk region. 

In 1932 he was brought to Johannesburg, South Africa to the Beth Hamedrash Hagodel, where he established his reputation of one of the finest Chazanim that south Africa ever had.

He and his wife entered thoroughly into all the activities of Johannesburg Jewry and became well known and deeply respected for their communal work, as much as for Cantor Chagy’s magnificent rendition of the religious services.

The Tenor That Trilled in Boro Park 

He spent nine years in Johannesburg before returning to America, where he accepted a call, in 1941, from one of the largest Orthodox congregations in Brooklyn – Beth El—a position vacated by the legendary Cantor Mordechai Hershman upon his passing. 

Chagy possessed a superb high tenor voice and a scintillating falsetto, which he used to great effect. He was naturally gifted, and possessed coloratura (elaborate ornamentation of a vocal melody, especially in operatic singing by a soprano)—able to properly express the tefillos in an expressive and emotional style. He composed many pieces and made many recordings. Bloch Publishing Co. published his first album, entitled “Tefillos Chagy.” 

Chagy was blessed with an instantly recognizable style and voice. He was a wonderful Baal T’fillah, who had a deep understanding of the prayers and interpreted them with warmth and passion. His reputation as an international ‘star’ was indeed well deserved.

Chazzan CHagy’s tenure in Boro Park came during the glory days—a time when the pews of Congregation Beth El were filled both with the old-timers who inhabited Boro Park during the early years, as well as the post-Holocaust influx of European Yidden who rebuilt their shattered lives in Boro Park of yore. All of them found solace and inspiration sitting and listening to the gifted chazzan. 

One chazzonus expert commented that “Chagy is a chazzan to whom one must listen closely: if it seems that he is reciting simple nusach, listen more closely… you will be overcome from the sweetness.” 

The Voice is Dimmed 

Cantor Chagy retired from Congregation Beth El in the year 1952, due to illness and weakness, and was succeeded by another legend of chazzonus, Chazzan Moshe Koussevitzky, who is remembered by scores of Boro Park residents who would flock to hear him. 

He moved to Newark, New Jersey, and it was on the morning of Shevii Shel Pesach of the year 1954, when he was davening in Shul, that he suffered a heart attack and returned his soul to its Maker. On the following day, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote: 

“Beryl Chagy, Ex-Boro Cantor, Stricken in Newark Temple. The Rev. Beryl Chagy, 62, who retired two years ago as cantor of Temple Beth Ele, 15th Avenue and 48th Street, died of a heart attack yesterday while attending services at Congregation Young Israel here. His home was at 166 Chancellor Avenue. 

“Cantor Chagy, who had sung extensively throughout this country and abroad, was he interpreter of a number of Jewish folk songs and the author of a book of cantorial prayers. He was a former president of the Cantors and Ministers Association and had recorded for the Columbia Gramophone Company and the Victor Company. 

“Coming to the United States in 1914 from his native Dagda, Lithuania, Cantor CHagy served at Congregation Adas Yisroel in this city and also in synagogues in Boston and Detroit. While in Boston, he studied at the Boston Conservatory of Music. In 1931, he went to Johannesburg, South Africa, where he served as cantor for several years. Later, he went to the Brooklyn congregation in Boro Park. 

“Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Esther Feinstein Chagy; two sons, John and Gideon; a daughter, Mrs. Fraida Shapiro’ two brothers and four sisters. Funeral services are to be held at 3 p.m. today at Congregation Young Israel.” 

And with that, the tenor that thrilled and trilled was dimmed forever—following a lifetime of inspiring and warming the hearts of fellow Yidden around the world.