Baruch Blum, cantor emeritus of Port Washington's Temple Beth Israel and actor, dies at 88

From treading the boards to chanting the scrolls, Baruch Blum was both a child of theater and a man of God. Cantor emeritus of Port Washington’s Temple Beth Israel, where he sang for more than four decades, he was equally at home at the bimah and Off-Broadway.

"He had a very pleasant voice. People enjoyed hearing him sing," said the temple’s Rabbi Michael Mishkin of the one-time star of Yiddish theater and of national touring companies. "He led the prayers and it was meaningful because he was approaching it with an authenticity." And "his pronunciation of the Hebrew in both the prayers and reading from the Torah scroll were impeccable. It was inspiring."

And while "very fun-loving" as a father, "he could be a little solitary" outside the spotlight, said his son Hyam Blum. "You could tell when he was, like, ‘All right, I'm done being "on." ’ He liked to enjoy his own quiet time."

It was part of his larger nature, added daughter Benyamina DeNinno. "There's a Jewish value on the concept of peace in the household, shalom bayit, which was always very important to him. He was a very big believer in keeping the peace and loving each other and not fighting."

Indeed, agreed Hyam Blum, "Self-control was a very big thing. When somebody’s angry, take a deep breath and let it go. Maybe the person who's angry just lost somebody. You don't know why they're angry. Let it go."

Baruch Blum died Feb. 2 at his home in Port Washington of bile duct cancer. He was 88.

He was born Boris Baruch Blum on Nov. 9, 1937, in the agricultural settlement Kfar Ono, Mandatory Palestine, now part of the town of Kiryat Ono, Israel. He was the eldest of three children of Israel Blum and Esther Applebaum Blum. Mischievous and a practical joker as a child, he graduated from a vocational high school and did four years of military service with the Israeli Defense Force, his family said.

Immigrating to Vancouver, British Columbia, in the early 1960s, "He drove a cab and went to ballet school," Hyam Blum said. In 1965 he served as onstage assistant for famed Israeli mime Samy Molcho’s Vancouver Festival appearance, and later that year became a founding member of Ballet British Columbia.

Arriving in New York City in 1967, he was working as a waiter when he was cast in the ensemble of the David Merrick musical "Mata Hari," which closed during out-of-town tryouts before reaching Broadway. Blum nevertheless went on to appear in the Broadway touring companies of the musicals "George M!," "Promises, Promises" and "Fiddler on the Roof" in the 1960s and ’70s, as well as such regional productions as "Hello, Dolly!" at New Jersey’s famed Paper Mill Playhouse in 1971.

It was during auditions for that show that he met his future wife, Geraldine Andrea Frank, who performed as Gerri-Ann Frank. "He walked into the room looking like a reject from the ’50s with the leather jacket and the sideburns," said Hyam Blum. "And he walked up to her and he said with a deep Israeli accent, ‘Hello, my name is Baruch. What's your name?’ " Both were cast in the show. They married in 1972.

The couple went on to star together in numerous Yiddish theater productions. Their shows included 1973’s "Try It, You’ll Like It"; "My Mama the General," opening in New York in 1973 and on national tour the following year; "The Girl From Tel‐Aviv" (1978); and "One of a Kind" (1980). Frank died in 2022.

Blum graduated from the now-defunct Manhattan School for Cantors in 1975 after a singing engagement had introduced him to chazzanut — Jewish liturgical music. He almost immediately became cantor at Staten Island’s Congregation B'nai Israel, and two years later he and Frank moved to Port Washington for his appointment as cantor at Temple Beth Israel.

For 41 years until his retirement in June 2018, Blum additionally prepared what the temple said were more than 600 students for bat and bar mitzvahs. He also led High Holiday services, officiated ceremonies and provided music for the synagogue’s religious school and preschool. In 2020, he returned to celebrate his bar mitzvah sheni — second bar mitzvah — at the traditional age of 83.

In addition to daughter DeNinno, of Port Washington, and son Hyam Blum, of Poultney, Vermont, he is survived by son Avi Blum, of upstate Wappingers Falls; daughter Yiselle Blum, of Brooklyn; sister Lauren Gracen, of Vancouver; and three grandchildren.

A funeral was held at Temple Beth Israel on ThursdayHe was buried the same day at Mount Hebron Cemetery in Flushing, Queens — "in the section of cemetery owned by the Yiddish Theatrical Alliance," DeNinno said. "They're resting among the stars," including Lillian Lux and her husband, Pesach Burstein, both of whom starred with Blum and Frank in "My Mama the General."

Donations may be made to Temple Beth Israel.