Cantor Jacob Ben-Zion Mendelson – or just “Jackie” – has been in the
vanguard and at the epicentre of that evolving tradition of Jewish sacred music since graduating from Hebrew Union College in 1970. As a cantor, a teacher at HUC, the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Academy of Jewish Religion, and a performing
artist, his Brooklyn-born chops, dynamism and humor have inculcated and
inspired legions of hazzanim – cantors – across the U.S. and world.
Jackie’s no longer the cantor at his long-time home of Temple Israel Center in
White Plains, NY. The Why is in the movie. Jackie’s absence on the bimah –
Hebrew for stage – reveals multitudes about both the state and future of Jewish
sacred music.
Erik Anjou Greenberg's Jewish documentaries – "A Cantor’s Tale", "The Klezmatics – On Holy Ground", "Deli Man" and now "A Cantor’s Head" – have probed the evolving nature of American Jewish tradition. According to the Pew Research Center, 42% of American Jewry believes that the essential ingredient of its continuity is having a good sense of humor, the stakes about what elements of spiritual practice stick or get kicked to the curb couldn’t be higher.
A Cantor’s Head also includes Jewish musical luminaries Netanel Hershtik,
Daniel Mutlu, Alberto Mizrahi, Angela Buchdahl-Warnick, Mati Lazar, Jeff
Warschauer, and star international tenor, Neil Shicoff.
Directed by Erik Anjou Greenberg (Deli man)
USA, 2020, 87 min, English