My interview with Chazan Nissim Saal was a long time coming, due to his busy travel schedule. We planned to touch base on motzaei Shabbos to nail down a time for the sit down. Initially, we assumed that the interview would take place by phone but in the end, we settled on a Zoom conversation.
It was reassuring to see that the impresario hitting notes that in my forty plus years on this earth I hadn’t heard sung before was actually a person rather than an AI bot. However, while Nissim Saal is a living, breathing human being there is no question that he possesses a uniquely Divine gift.
I noticed something interesting in the name Nissim Saal that perhaps holds a clue to his otherworldly talent. Aside from the obvious fact that the name Nissim means miracles, there is a variant spelling of the name Saal which is spelled with one aleph rather than two, between the samech and the lamed. The numerical value of the letters samech-aleph-lamed is ninety-one, which is the same numerical value of the two Divine names Yud-Hei-Vav-Hei and A-D-N-Y. The letters samech-aleph-lamed themselves constitute a Divine name that is formed based on the “att bash” configuration of the words poseach es yadecha.
Lest you think that I am the only one searching for clues in explaining his extraordinary vocal abilities arguably beyond anything that this world has seen, Cantor Benny Rogosnitzky of the Park East Synagogue had this to say about Nissim: “Nissim Saal is by all accounts a once-in-a-generation voice. His cantorial abilities and the vocal acrobatics he performs are simply second to none. I can honestly say that he has taken the cantorial world by storm, leaving all those who hear him in shock and amazed by his unique talent. Some who have heard him humorously note that his name must have been chosen with great foresight, because it’s hard to explain to the untrained ear what sort of “vocal miracles” Nissim performs. Besides being an extraordinary talent, he is a delightful person who adds so much humor and joy to this most sacred cantorial art. Nissim is a testament to the fact that cantorial music and tradition lives on and will hopefully stay with us for many generations to come.”
Cantor Yaakov Motzen, in a voice note to me on Sunday afternoon, said that it is clear that Nissim is the recipient of a unique Divine gift. Beyond that, he said that Nissim’s unpretentiousness in his willingness to listen to constructive criticism and his love for learning are what he sees as the two keys fueling Nissim’s rise to stardom.
Cantor Chaim Eliezer Hershtik, when asked about his impressions of Nissim Saal, said that he is a generational talent. Cantor Israel Rand went further, saying, “Nissim Saal is not just a generational talent but more accurately a universal talent.”
Nissim Saal was born and raised in the Chasidic enclave of Monroe, NY. Nissim pointed to a musical proclivity from his forebears, which is partly responsible for his passion for and proclivity towards singing and music. As a young child he felt drawn towards the chazzanus of Chazzan Yossele Rosenblatt whom he said was always a large influence in his life. The renditions of the timeless classics that he sings of the greats like Rosenblatt and Dovid and Moshe Koussevitzky such as “Anenu,” “Hashem Moloch,” “Yishtabach Shimcha,” and “Rachem Na” with the deference and awe of a loyal student but with a certain dynamism and flavor that is uniquely his, are available to be heard on his chazanus collections and YouTube videos that are replete with comments from viewers who are astounded by what seems to be a reincarnation from the world’s greatest ever cantors in the modern era.
Nissim and his family reside in New York City. He was appointed in the last year or so as the chief chazan at the iconic Yeshurun Shul in the Rechaviah section of Jerusalem. In the time that Saal has graced the amud there, he has been attracting overflow crowds upwards of 1,400 people with an uncharacteristically high concentration of young attendees. In the time that Nissim is away from Yeshurun, he travels the U.S. and all over the world serving as chazan in residence at shuls and organizational functions. He will be featured March 1–3 as the chazan in residence at the Project Inspire Shabbaton in Stamford, CT.
Nissim will be featured in a concert produced by Yochi Briskman flanked by Cantors Zevi Muller and Motti Boyer accompanied by a 50-piece symphony orchestra conducted by the inimitable Ofir Sobol with a special Philharmonic Experience conducted by Yisrael Lamm at the Peter Norton Symphony Space located at 2537 Broadway in NYC. It is being billed as “Chazzanus and Classics; An evening benefiting the holy work of Misaskim and Yedid.”
Nissim’s rise to stardom followed a rather unordinary path for someone as gifted as he is. I asked him about the fact that his cantorial career was something that he had decided to pursue much later in life. Most people with a fraction of the talent Nissim displays are featured in boys’ choirs and as guest singers on albums before charting a solo career for themselves. And although as a child Nissim Saal had made appearances at family simchas, his involvement in singing publicly was not where it should have been for someone aspiring to be a professional Chazzan one day.
However ironic as it may seem to me this is a serious indication of the gift that Nissim possesses. Nissim, exudes a kind disposition and is uncharacteristically disarming for an artist of his caliber, which isn’t something only noticeable to me but rather keeps coming up in the testimonials that I have received from the people who know him and have worked alongside him.
But there is something else unique about Nissim Saal that endears him to men and women and listeners of all ages and backgrounds and that is his adeptness as a crossover performer. In addition to excelling as a cantorial or operatic singer, Nissim possesses a versatility about him that is rare to come by among vocalists in his genre. I asked Nissim aside from chazanim and particularly the songs of Yossele Rosenblatt who else made a strong impact upon him in his younger, more impressionable years. He replied that without a doubt he was drawn in by the vocal talent displayed by Avraham Fried. Although today the presence of chazanim within the ranks of singers is more common, in the 80s, 90s, and the turn of the 21st century, it was Avraham Fried who would feature cantorial elements within a number of his songs. I reached out to Avremel seeking his personal impression of Nissim Saal and he said, “As someone who enjoys chazanus, boy was I thrilled when I heard Nissim Saal. Of course, I was blown away by his range, but in addition I was elated that he possessed the other critical elements that a great chazan needs—feeling, coloratura, diction, and interpretation. So it is no wonder that he is packing in shuls, and l’havdil concert halls all over the world. He is a sensation. A G-dsend to uplift and inspire us with his incredible talent. I wish him all the hatzlachah in the world.”
A quick Google search will yield results of Nissim covering Josh Groban’s “You Raise Me Up” as well as “Bring Him Home” of Broadway’s hit Les Misérables, scores which are sure to continue to widen the appeal of Nissim Saal who in just a few short years has risen to the top of the boards. As somebody who had childhood musical aspirations of my own and had spent some time training vocally during my yeshiva days in Connecticut, I would often play some of the leading Jewish vocalists for my secular teacher in order to see how our talent sized up in the broader world among professional vocalists. Therefore, in piecing together this article it occurred to me to reach out to Nissim’s voice trainer, a soprano voice teacher based out of NYC who graciously offered the following praise: “Nissim is simply a phenomenon. He has a voice of unique beauty and power with a vocal range that spans over four octaves not including falsetto. I started working with Nissim in the beginning of 2021 and he developed extremely quickly. In just a few short years I witnessed his raw talent evolve into that of a true superstar. He is very musically inclined and intelligent but also hard working and consistent. His work ethic is simply incredible and a testament to his skill. Aside from all of the above, he’s been a true pleasure to work with and I’m excited to see what the future holds for him.”
I too am personally excited to see what the future holds for Nissim Saal. In addition to editorializing, I have written a number of songs that have been featured on albums. One song I wrote a while back was bought by producer Yochi Briskman without knowing at the time who would be the one to sing it. One of the difficulties was that the song featured a broad range, which would prove challenging for a lot of performers. The song, “Va’asayeim B’tefilla” was written to lyrics that were written as part of an approbation by Mr. Ari Bergmann of Lawrence, NY to a sefer by NCSY director of education, professor, and host of the 18Forty podcast Dovid Bashevkin. A combination of original and liturgical lyrics, the song is a prayer arousing G-d’s mercy upon us in times of Divine wrath and invokes some of our greatest historical sacrifices as a merit to deliver us from times of darkness, concluding with a hopeful prayer for the final redemption. The release of this song in video format as well as in audio on all streaming platforms coincides with the publication of this interview. So like, subscribe, and sit back and become accustomed to the voice of our generation in the phenomenon that is Nissim Saal.
Yochanan Gordon can be reached at ygordon5t@gmail.com. Read more of Yochanan’s articles at 5TJT.com.
