The Voice of Israel
Cast & Crew
Cantor Mordechai Hershman
Cantor Joseph Shapiro
Cantor Shaile Engelhardt
Cantor David Roitman
Cantor Louis Waldman
Cantor Joseph Rosenblatt
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Aspects of the history of the Jewish people, emphasizing their persecution and martyrdom, are presented in ten scenes, each culminating with the singing by a famous cantor of an appropriate prayer. The scenes are entitled "The Tree of Israel," "The Tower of Babel," "Sodom and Gomorrah," "Israel in Bondage," "The Burning Bush," "The Redemption of Israel," "The Wilderness," "The Wailing Wall," "Modern Pogroms" and "The Sabbath." The first seven scenes present Biblical occurrences, while the last three present contemporary settings. The film ends with the statement that the Jewish people remain committed to the principles of faith, hope and charity, the three virtues that earlier were shown to branch out from the Tree of Israel. In addition, they visualize a united world that recognizes the sacred rights of all peoples to live in peace.
Cast
Cantor Mordechai Hershman
Cantor Joseph Shapiro
Cantor Shaile Engelhardt
Cantor David Roitman
Cantor Louis Waldman
Cantor Joseph Rosenblatt
Cantor Joseph Shlisky
Cantor Adolph Katchko
Cantor Seidel Rovner
Cantor Meyer Machtenberg Choir
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The Yiddish title of this film is Di Shtime fun Yisroel. The running time was calculated from footage given in NYSA records. No reviews for this film have been located. According to an interview in 1948 with Joseph Seiden, one of the owners of Judea Films, The Voice of Israel, which featured the best known cantors of the day, was budgeted at $20,000. In a poster, the film is advertised as presenting "Four Generations of the World's Greatest Cantors," and a photograph of Shaile Engelhardt is captioned the "World's Youngest Cantor," while one of Seidel Rovner is captioned the "World's Oldest Cantor." According to modern sources, the film consisted, in addition to scenes of the cantors singing, excerpts from a number of silent films, some of which were made before World War I.
