Yitzchak Meir Helfgot

Yitzchak Meir Helfgot was born in 1969 in Bnei Brak

Helfgot was born in Bnei Brak in 1969 to Chaya and Dov Helfgot, who were Ger Hasidim. He grew up and studied in Ger institutions. He married Gila Fleischman of Petah Tikva, and the couple lived in Ashdod.

In the early 1990s he studied voice and cantorial music at the Jerusalem Cantorial Institute of Eli Jaffe and Benjamin Munk, where he won first place in a competition. He later studied with musicians, opera singers and cantors, among them Naftali Herstik.

He served for 7 years as chief cantor of the Jewish community in Frankfurt, Germany. He then moved to Borough Park in New York and became chief cantor of the Park East Synagogue in Manhattan. He has sung at concerts around the world, including the Metropolitan Opera House in 2006 and the White House in 2010.

In 2012 he recorded an album of cantorial music with violinist Itzhak Perlman, and the two performed together on tour. He has also served as cantor at several Siyum HaShas events. After leaving Park East he settled in Jerusalem, and in 2026 he was named chief cantor of the Yeshurun Synagogue there.