A Cantors Tale

A Cantor's Tale is a 2005 documentary by Erik Greenberg Anjou. The film profiles Jacob Mendelson, a practitioner of Jewish liturgical music who has dedicated his life to preserving the form's traditional vocal stylings.

Contents

• A cantor s tale
• References

Anjou follows Mendelson around Borough Park, his old neighborhood in Brooklyn. Mendelson, who carries a tuning fork with him at all times, is prone to burst into song. During their journey through Borough Park, Anjou finds that the neighborhood has a fair number of bakers with vocal talents as good as their knishes.

Mendelson also recalls when cantors were as popular as baseball players. "They had groupies," he tells Anjou, a strong incentive for a chubby teenager in high school.

Mendelson's mother, who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, was almost obsessed that her son become a cantor. The film reveals an interesting link to celebrity on the part of Mendelson's father: the older Mendelson once co-owned a truck with the father of Steven Spielberg.

The movie's original title was Chazz'n, after the profiled cantor's sobriquet "Chazzan Jack Mendelson." It has also been titled A Cantor's Story.