A warning to the public against unauthorized solicitors for contributions to a fund to establish a memorial for the late Cantor Josef Rosenblatt was issued yesterday by Dr. Samuel Rosenblatt, of Baltimore, son of the famous Jewish singer, in a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“So far as we know,” Dr. Rosenblatt declared, “nothing has been contributed as yet to any fund for Cantor Josef Rosenblatt. It has reached us that there are at the present time certain unauthorized individuals soliciting funds in behalf of the family. This has not been authorized by any member of the family and is being done without their consent.
“A national committee, not under the auspices of any specific cantors’ association, but to consist of various responsible operating groups is in the process of being formed and those that wish to contribute toward the Josef Rosenblatt memorial will be requested to apply to that committee, and until its members are known, to the family.”
Memorial services for Cantor Rosenblatt were held Tuesday evening in Carnegie Hall. The services were under the auspices of the Jewish Ministers, Cantors Association of which Cantor Rosenblatt was a member. About 2,500 people attended.
On the stage, which was flanked by portraits of Cantor Rosenblatt, were 200 cantors who sang sacred music including many of Cantor Rosenblatt’s own compositions. For the first time since he composed “Shomer Isroel”, his fellow cantors sang the lament without his leading them. Joseph Rumshinsky, lifelong friend of the cantor, conducted the choir of cantors.
Solos were rendered by seven cantors assisted by the choir. Many of the soloists were so shaken by emotion as to make it difficult for them to continue. Later, when from a phonograph there issued the voice of the dead cantor, there was hardly a dry eye in the whole assemblage.
Rabbis Israel Goldstein, W. Margolis and N. Ebin, delivered eulogies on the life and achievements of Cantor Rosenblatt. They praised him for faithfulness to the Jewish religion, his services to his fellow Jews and for his charity.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
