Musical artist
Shulem Lemmer (born November 6, 1989), known professionally simply as "Shulem," is an American Belz Hasidic singer from Borough Park, Brooklyn, in New York City.[1] He is the first born-and-raised Charedi Jew to sign a major record contract with a leading label, Universal Music Group, under its classical music Decca Gold imprint.[2]
Early life
Lemmer was born and raised in Borough Park, Brooklyn, in New York City.[3][4] He is a fifth-generation American, from a Hasidic family of the Belz movement.[5] Belz is a town in Galicia, in eastern Europe, where the Belz dynasty originated.[5][6] Lemmer is the youngest of eight children.[7]
Lemmer studied at the Belzer Cheder in Borough Park, and attended the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem, living in Israel for six and a half years.[8][9] He began performing at small family events when he was 10 years old; when he was 13 his sister Tzippy, who later died at 23 years of age in a car accident a few weeks after she was married, encouraged him to perform on stage at a brother's wedding.[10][11][12] His older brother, Yanky, is the cantor in Manhattan's Lincoln Square Synagogue.[13] The Lemmers are second cousins once removed of Harvard Law Prof. Alan Dershowitz.
Before becoming a full-time singer, Lemmer was the director of marketing at a technology firm start-up based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[14][7][6] He also still works as a cantor during the High Holidays at Congregation Ahavath Torah, a Modern Orthodox synagogue in Englewood, New Jersey.[11]
Musical career
Lemmer is a tenor.[6] He has not had any formal training; he researched vocal training on YouTube and Google, and learned how to perform "on the job".[6] He released an album in 2017 entitled Shulem.[11]
He is the first born-and-raised Hasidic Jew to sign with a major record label, having signed with Universal Music Group under its classical music Decca Gold imprint.[7][6] Lemmer consults with a team of rabbinic advisors; his contract stipulates that he can refuse a performance for any reason.[13]
In April 2019, Lemmer sang “God Bless America” at Citi Field.[15] He has toured in American and Israeli cities, and sung in London, Krakow, Frankfurt, and Zurich.[12]
The music on his November 2019 major label debut album, The Perfect Dream,[1] is produced by Jon Cohen and accompanied by London's Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.[16][17][18] It consists of English, Hebrew, and Yiddish songs, including the Israeli song “Jerusalem of Gold,” and “Bring Him Home” from the Broadway musical “Les Misérables.”[7] The title track of the album, "The Perfect Dream," is an original song written for Lemmer by lyricist Don Black.[6]
During the coronavirus pandemic, Lemmer was recruited by the Department of Health and Human Services to raise awareness about the virus to Orthodox Jewish communities.[19]
On Holocaust Memorial Day, Shulem Lemmer sang at the United Nations.[20]
In March 2023 Lemmer released his third studio album, Kiddush Hashem, which he produced himself, as well as serving as the co-composer for some of the songs.
Personal life
Lemmer lives in the North Dover section of Toms River, New Jersey, having moved there with his family in 2017.[6][14] He is married, and has three children.[21]
In 2019, he was awarded a Jew in the City All-Star Award.[22][23]
His brother Yaakov Lemmer is a hazzan (cantor) and performing artist who currently serves as Head Cantor of Lincoln Square Synagogue, a Modern Orthodox congregation in New York City.[24] Lemmer and his brother have performed and recorded music together (as "Shulem and Yanky Lemmer"), including a live performance of "Lo Sachmod" with Shira Choir in 2016[25] and the 2021 studio release "The Man From Vilna'".[26]
