Renowned Cantor Benzion Miller Passes Away at 77

Borough Park, Brooklyn — The Jewish world is mourning the loss of Cantor Benzion Miller, a legendary figure in chazzanut, who passed away peacefully at his home in Brooklyn. He was 77.

Born on December 8, 1947, in a displaced persons camp in Fernwald, Germany, Miller was the son of Holocaust survivors. His father, Cantor Aaron Daniel Miller, was a revered cantor, schochet, and mohel, continuing a family tradition that had served the Bobover Hasidic court for generations.

Miller’s prodigious musical talent emerged early—he began singing at the age of five. He studied music theory and solfège under Cantor Samuel B. Taube in Montreal and honed his vocal technique at the Champagne School for Music. He later trained under Dr. Puggell, Cantor Avshalom Zfira, and Allan Bowers.

Over the course of his distinguished career, Miller became one of the most celebrated cantors of his time. He was equally renowned for his powerful operatic repertoire as well as his heartfelt interpretations of Jewish and Chassidic folk music. His voice resonated in some of the most prestigious concert halls, performing with world-class orchestras including the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, the Jerusalem Symphony, the Rishon L’Tzion Symphony, the Haifa Symphony, and members of the London Symphony Orchestra.

Miller was among the first group of cantors to bring Jewish liturgical music back to Eastern Europe after the Holocaust, performing in Romania, Russia, Poland, and Hungary, where he sang with the Budapest State Opera Orchestra. His recordings, which span liturgical, Chassidic, and Yiddish music, remain cherished by cantorial enthusiasts worldwide.

His career also took him to Canada, where he served as cantor at Sheves Achim Synagogue in Montreal and Shaarei Tefillah Synagogue in Toronto. In 1981, he became the cantor of Temple Beth El of Borough Park in Brooklyn, a pulpit previously held by legendary chazzanim Mordechai Hershman, Berele Chagy, and Moshe Koussevitzky. Following the synagogue’s merger with Young Israel of Boro Park, he continued leading services at the newly formed Young Israel Beth El.

Miller was featured in A Cantor’s Tale, a documentary about Jackie Mendelson, in which the two legendary chazzanim greeted each other and briefly conversed on screen.

A devoted family man, Miller is survived by his five children—three daughters and two sons—including his son, Cantor Shimmy Miller, who often performed alongside him as his choral director.

The funeral will be held at 12:30 PM at Shomrei Hadas in Borough Park.