H eadlines
Longtime Cantor Isaac Wall Dies at 103
OB ITUARY
ANDY GOTLIEB | JE MANAGING EDITOR
SI LE
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EN OP
UPPE R DU BLI N
NO W
to New York when he was
9 — he often was dubbed a
wunderkind, daughter Ahavia
Scheindlin said.

In New York, Wall studied
the Talmud, liturgy and voice
and, by 13, was davening as a
cantor for the High Holidays
in Hartford, Connecticut,
including a performance for
the governor. Ever noted that
Wall’s bar mitzvah invitation
referred to him as Hazzan
Isaac Wall.

S EL
OD M
NG !
CANTOR ISAAC WALL,
whose 90-year career included
serving for 47 years as Har
Zion Temple’s cantor and
nearly 30 years in the same role
at Congregation Rodef Shalom
in Atlantic City, died Jan. 11.

He was 103.

“He was the king, he really
was, of his craft. What man
today can say, ‘For 75 years
I led congregations and was
the superstar?,’” Rodef Shalom
Rabbi Shalom Ever said. “He
was the crown jewel of our
synagogue.” Wall was born in Poland on
Dec. 23, 1917, and moved with
his family to Denver in 1919.

He received Jewish religious
training under the guidance
of his father and had already
displayed his hazzanut talent
by the time the family moved
Cantor Isaac Wall
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JEWISH EXPONENT
Wall served as a cantor for
several New York synagogues
over the next few years,
then took a job in Houston,
traveling around Texas to
conduct services for the armed
forces during World War II.

He arrived at Conservative
Har Zion in 1944 — after
synagogue congregants heard
him sing during a visit to the
Jersey shore — and further
made a name for himself.

“He was a lot of the reason
I came to the congregation,”
said Cantor Eliot Vogel, his
successor at Har Zion.

Wall had a deep respect
for his profession, which was
reflected in his modesty, Vogel
said. “It wasn’t about the bimah
as a stage. It was all about the
prayer,” he said. “Many people
would say he’s a hazzan’s
hazzan, a true pulpit artist.”
“He had a beautiful baritone
Photo by Rebbetzin Sera Ever
voice and never overdid it,” said
son Joshua Wall, adding that
many people have told him that
when they listen to a cantor
now, they always compare that
hazzan to his father. “He was
part of everyone’s family lives
and their important moments.”
Over the years, Wall
prepared thousands of boys for
their bar mitzvahs, Scheindlin
said. Those boys never forgot
the cantor.

“I met them wherever I went
in the world,” she said.

Wall retired and moved
to Ventnor, New Jersey, in
1991, becoming the full-time
volunteer cantor at Orthodox
Congregation Rodef Shalom
shortly thereafter.

Wall’s cantorial gifts mixed
with an overriding sense of
service, even in his later days,
Ever said, noting that he braved
snow and bad weather despite
being urged to stay home.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



H eadlines
Loneliness and
Social Isolation’s
Impact on Aging
Wunderkind Isaac
Wall, who was known in
Yiddish as Isacle Voll
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A Free Virtual Dementia Education Webinar
Courtesy of the Wall family
Featuring Guest Speaker
Karra Harrington, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Scholar, Center for Healthy Aging
The Pennsylvania State University
Clinical Psychologist
“For a quarter century, he
was there every day — at 98,
99, until 100,” Ever said. “We
should all learn from him.”
In September 2017, Rodef
Shalom honored Wall’s 100th
birthday with a tribute dinner.

A Jewish Community Voice
article about the event quoted
synagogue leaders as saying
Wall was the first one at Rodef
Sholom each morning for
davening. His appearances grew infre-
quent his last couple years,
although congregants still
brought children to his apart-
ment to receive blessings and
prepare for religious life events,
Ever said.

“He welcomed his home to
several of my grandchildren,”
said Frank Gelb, a former Rodef
Shalom president, who knew of
Wall from his time growing
up in Har Zion’s original
Wynnefield neighborhood.

Congregant Raye Felder of
Ventnor said Wall had a great
sense of humor and enjoyed
puns, recalling a time when she
brought him a shankbone for
Passover from her hometown of
Pittsburgh, and he responded,
“Shank you very much.”
Joshua Wall said that when
his father got together with his
siblings, they’d speak to each
other with a pronounced Irish
brogue. Scheindlin said her
father was a great mimic and
did a spot-on Charlie Chaplin.

Wall had a large community
following and was often seen
walking the Atlantic City
boardwalk between his home
and the shul.

“When people saw him on
the boardwalk, they’d always
stop him,” she said.

Aside from his religious
singing, Wall was a fan of
many kinds of secular music,
including opera, big band,
Broadway musicals and even
the Beatles, Scheindlin said.

Unfortunately, he became
increasingly deaf in his final
years and could no longer
listen to music, although it
didn’t impact his singing.

In addition to his canto-
rial service, he was a founder
and past president of the
Cantors Assembly and a
fellow and founder of the
Cantors Institute at the Jewish
Theological Seminary. He also
taught music, liturgy and the
reading of the Torah for 20
years at Solomon Schechter
Day School (now Perelman
Jewish Day School), which he
helped found.

Wall’s wife, Sheva, died
in 2004. He is survived by
daughter Ahavia Scheindlin
(Lon Levin); sons Shalom
Wall (Kathy Conti) and Joshua
Wall (Kathleen Dougherty); a
sister, Florence Wall Gallop;
13 grandchildren; and 19
great-grandchildren. l
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
During this webinar, Dr. Karra Harrington will discuss:
• Overview of loneliness and social isolation
• How do loneliness and social isolation affect older
adults? • What are the consequences of loneliness and social
isolation (particularly for brain health)?
• How to recognize loneliness and what can be done
to help someone who is lonely?
ENROLLING IS EASY! Register in advance for this
Zoom webinar by visiting the LINK below:
https://tinyurl.com/y52rbhjj Questions can be directed to
VirtualSeminars@arden-courts.org agotlieb@jewishexponent.com;
215-832-0797 13935_Warminster-Yardley_5.5x11.indd 1
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