Beral Salzman, legendary underground Chabad cantor, dies at 91

Rabbi Berel Salzman, a famed Chabad chazan and one of the most recognizable figures of Jewish life under Soviet rule, died on Tuesday night at age 91. His funeral was scheduled for today in New York, leaving communities in Nahalat Har Chabad and among former Soviet Jews in mourning.

Salzman was widely remembered as a symbol of Jewish resilience behind the Iron Curtain. While building a public career as a classical singer on Soviet state radio, he secretly sustained Jewish life, hosted an underground yeshiva in his home under KGB surveillance, and served for 14 years as a clandestine cantor at risk of imprisonment and exile to Siberia. He also helped strengthen young Jews who had been cut off from their roots.

Born in the Soviet Union in 1934 into a distinguished Chassidic family, Salzman later gained a reputation for his powerful voice. After years of pressure from Soviet authorities, he received exit permission in 1971 and moved to Israel with his wife and six children. That same year, when he first traveled to Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson in Crown Heights, the Lubavitcher Rebbe asked him to lead Musaf on Rosh Hashanah at 770, a performance that made him famous throughout the Chassidic world.

He later toured the United States and Canada, but followed the Rebbe’s instruction to remain in the Holy Land before later relocating in 1980 to Los Angeles to work with immigrants from the Soviet Union. In his final years he lived in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, helped found the Beit Avraham community, and continued teaching and inspiring others until his death. His funeral began today at 2:15 p.m. New York time from 770 and was to proceed to Montefiore Cemetery in Queens.