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lauren_adler
Reviews
A Cantor's Tale (2005)
Wonderful history of Boro Park and Chazz'n
I had the privilege of seeing this documentary at the Seattle Jewish Film Festival in 2006. It's a wonderful story of one man's journey to becoming a chazz'n, as well as the history of the chazz'n in America. Jack Mendelsohn, the narrator, hails from Boro Park, where he grew up loving chazz'n and the Brooklyn Dodgers. Alan Dershowitz, a fellow Boro Park alumni, and Jackie Mason, also make appearances, including a very funny Jackie Robinson story from Dershowitz that involves a chazz'n. The movie covers famous chazz'ns from Poland who arrived after World War II and their role in Jewish society as artists and spiritual leaders. Mendelsohn spends much of the movie returning to Boro Park and visiting old haunts while also meeting up with other chazz'ns and teaching new students at Hebrew Union College. It provides a wonderful primer on the history of the chazz'n in America, as well as a peek into the life of Boro Park in the '40s and '50s.