H eadlines
Cantor, Scholar Joseph Levine Dies at 88
OB ITUARY
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
JOSEPH A. LEVINE, a promi-
nent Philadelphia cantor and
Jewish musical scholar, died on
Dec. 30.

He was 88.

The music enthusiast, who
died of kidney failure, left
behind a wife of 60 years, Doris
Levine, and three daughters:
Rona Black, Lisa Phillips and
Donna Harlev.

In his cantorial career,
Levine served two synagogues
in Philadelphia: Congregation
Emanuel in Oak Lane and the
Ramat El Congregation in West
Oak Lane. He also held canto-
rial positions in Baltimore,
Long Island, Connecticut and
St. Louis.

But after earning a doctor of
sacred music degree from the
Jewish Theological Seminary,
Levine spent the last half-cen-
tury of his life in Philadelphia.

The cantor taught classes at
the New York City-based JTS
and at the Academy for Jewish
Religion; he was editor of the
Journal of Synagogue Music for
16 years; and he published many
books and hundreds of articles.

“He really became a resource
not only for Philadelphia
cantors, but for cantors all over
the world,” said Levine’s friend
David Tilman, the cantor
emeritus at Beth Sholom
Congregation in Elkins Park.

“He had very strong opinions
about how services should and
should not be conducted.”
According to another
friend, Benjamin Maissner,
who met Levine while serving
as a student cantor at Beth
Sholom in the 1960s, the
scholar had one core belief
about synagogue music.

“Not compromising music
to the lowest common denom-
inator,” said Maissner, who
became the cantor at Holy
Blossom Temple in Canada
for 41 years but maintained a
6 JANUARY 20, 2022
Cantor Joseph A. Levine
Cantor Levine performs.

Courtesy of the Levine family
friendship with Levine.

The scholar was not against
the inviting culture of asking
congregants to sing along
during services. He liked that.

But he didn’t want synagogue
renditions to devolve into “a
singalong service,” as Maissner
described it. Levine preferred
service music to be true to the
Jewish tradition and to have
the grand, formal feel of a
performance. The cantor wanted tradi-
tional hymns, Hebrew typing in
prayer books and well-trained
choirs. With all those features,
cantors could then invite
congregants to sing along.

“He advocated for great
standards,” Tilman said. “And
if the music was done with
great sophistication and integ-
rity, the whole community
would rise to those standards
as well.”
As he got deeper into his
scholarly career, Levine wrote
and spoke about that argument
more and more. The cantor
believed that liberalizing
Jewish synagogues of the late
20th and early 21st centuries
were cheapening the standards
a little too much.

English translations in
prayer books, rock versions of
Jewish songs and the decreasing
size and use of choirs — Levine
disagreed with all of that.

He had very strong opinions about how services should and should
not be conducted.”
CANTOR DAVID TILMAN
The scholar felt modern
synagogues were pandering to
popular, American tastes.

“For people concerned about
declining synagogue atten-
dance, if you make the music
more relatable to American
tastes, you bring people back,”
said Tilman, explaining the
shift. Levine understood the
challenge of trying to keep
people coming to synagogue,
according to Tilman. But
that didn’t stop him from
making his argument against
the common, Americanized
answer to it.

He argued for classical
standards of musical sophis-
tication and Jewish integrity
with friends and students, in
his books and articles and on
an email list with members of
the Cantors Assembly, a world-
wide association of more than
600 Conservative cantors.

Levine’s candor must
have gotten through to them
JEWISH EXPONENT
because when he died, emails
started pouring in mourning
his loss, according to Tilman.

“The Jewish world had lost
one of its greatest thinkers
and scholars,” Tilman said,
summarizing the notes.

But in those messages, there
was another recurring theme.

“He was as generous as
could be. He wouldn’t say no,”
Tilman added. “If you needed
something, he would find it
for you.”
Both Tilman and Maissner
found Levine to be a great
conversation partner.

“He was strong-willed,” said
Tilman. “He had very intense
opinions about things, and he
could express those opinions
very sharply.”
“What’s the best way to keep
the congregation involved and
be spiritually moved?” added
Maissner, asking the question
that animated Levine’s career.

“He was very passionate about
it. We had fiery discussions.”
Perhaps ironically, Levine’s
wife describes the private
Levine as the opposite of
the public version. Doris
Levine said her husband was
“soft-spoken, sweet and funny.”
He loved to be home with
her and to travel with her to
places like Europe and South
America. He also loved to draw and
paint in his spare time, often
giving away his creations to
neighbors in Rittenhouse
Square. “In our earlier lives, we liked
to hike, take long walks and be
a part of the cities or mountain
areas we were in,” Doris Levine
recalled. “Then we took a lot of
cruises.” Of the days ahead, Doris
Levine said they would be
“lonely” and “long.” She also
said she would miss “just
having him here.” l
jsaffren@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0740
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM