Benzion Miller (Hebrew:בֶּן צִיּוֹן מילר,Yiddish:בֶּן־צִיּוֹן מי(ל)לעֶר; 8 December 1947 – 3 February 2025) was a German-born Americancantor,schochet (kosher slaughterer) andmohel (circumciser).
Miller was born in adisplaced persons camp inFernwald, Germany.[1]
Miller's singing career began at the age of five. Miller studied music theory andsolfège under Cantor Samuel B. Taube ofMontreal. He studied voice production at the Champagne School for Music in Montreal and with Dr. Puggell, cantor Avshalom Zfira, and Allan Bowers. As an interpreter of liturgical music, Benzion Miller sang an operatic repertoire as well as Jewish and Chassidic folk music. He appeared with theIsraeli Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Rishon L'Tzion Symphony, the Haifa Symphony and members of the London Symphony. He also recorded for the Milken Archive, in Barcelona, Spain with the Barcelona National Symphony Orchestra.
Miller was among the first group of cantors to visit and sing in Eastern European countries afterWorld War II. He appeared before capacity audiences in Romania, Russia, Poland and Hungary, where he sang with the Budapest State Opera Orchestra. Miller made many recordings of liturgical, Chassidic and Yiddish music.
Miller held positions in Montreal at Sheves Achim Synagogue onCôte-des-Neiges, then inToronto at Shaarei Tefillah Synagogue onBathurst Street, in Canada. In 1981 he became cantor ofTemple Beth El of Borough Park inBrooklyn, a pulpit served byMordechai Hershman,Berele Chagy andMoshe Koussevitzky, and continued as cantor of the synagogue, now Congregation Young Israel Beth El, after its merger with Young Israel of Boro Park.
Miller made an appearance inA Cantor's Tale, a documentary about Jackie Mendelson. Miller and Mendelson are shown greeting each other and briefly engaging in conversation.
Benzion's father, cantor, schochet and mohel Aaron Daniel Miller, was born in the Jewish community ofOświęcim (Yiddish: Oshpitsin, German: Auschwitz) in Poland. Aaron, his father and grandfather were cantors at theBobover courts. Aaron's wife and children were murdered inNazi concentration camps. Aaron met Benzion's mother, who was from theBelz hasidic dynasty, after the war in adisplaced persons camp inMunich, Germany.[1]
Benzion's son, cantor Shimmy Miller, was his choral director and they often performed duets with each other.[2][3]
Miller had five children; three daughters and two sons. He died on 3 February 2025, at the age of 77.[4]
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