Baruch Dayan HaAmet: The renowned cantor researcher Akiva Zimmerman, passed away on Saturday night in his sleep. The funeral will take place tomorrow (Sunday), at 12 noon, in the Holon cemetery.
Zimmerman was born on November 17, 1936, in Kislev, and was a journalist, writer, and historian who researched mainly the field of cantorial and Jewish liturgical music.
He was born in 1936 in Tel Aviv, studied at the Shalva Gymnasium, enlisted in the Intelligence Corps and also served in the military rabbinate. After his military service he began working as a bank clerk. Has written for the HaTzofeh newspaper for more than fifty years, on a variety of topics – from cantata and Jewish music to current affairs in politics and society. He also published articles in HaModi’a and other newspapers.
Zimmerman grew up in Tel Aviv at a time when cantorship was flourishing in the city. From a young age he was caught up in cantorship, but never sang cantorship himself.
Over the years, Zimmerman has developed close ties with the great cantors in Tel Aviv and around the world, and has become a sought-after expert and lecturer on the subject of cantorship. He has also published dozens of articles on cantorship on a variety of stages, in the press and in various collections, and has even published books he has written on the subject.
Won the Shalom Aleichem Prize for Jewish Culture, and the Haifa Municipality Prize for Torah Literature. In 2004, Akiva Zimmerman won the Atmul Prize, published by the Ben Zvi Institute.
ת.נ.צ.ב.ה