By Jim Golding
Most recently, the community of Temple Beth-El in North Bellmore was blessed for a comparable period with the musical leadership of another David -- Hazzan (Cantor) David B. Hiesiger, who led his congregation in the singing of many of King David's psalms and other works of Jewish religious music.
He will retire from his teaching duties at the congregation's Hebrew school at the end of December. His active service as cantor ended in June, and he is now cantor emeritus.
The Rev. Hiesiger arrived in the community in 1961 as a newly
married recent graduate of the Cantor's Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. At the time, Temple Beth-El, a conservative synagogue,
was only a few years old.
He served under two rabbis, Rabbi Nathan Rosenbaum and Rabbi Harvey Goldscheider. Over the years, Mr. Hiesiger's accomplishments have been many. He has led thousands of Sabbath and holiday worship services, taught music to two generations of Hebrew-school children, instructed numerous Bar and Bat Mitzvah students and trained his synagogue's adult and children's choirs.
"It's very rewarding to see the fruits of my labor fulfilled," Mr. Hiesiger said, reflecting on his four decades in the community. "I'm very proud of my students who have gone on to different occupations and disciplines." Among them is TV weatherman (Elliott) Storm Field.
Among the most treasured of his memories include singing at a worldwide Cantors Assembly of America concert at Carnegie Hall, soloing with a visiting cantors choir from Moscow during the 1980s, and taking part in benefits for Israeli and Soviet Jewry and other Jewish causes.
Mr. Hiesiger's musical interests and talents also extend to opera. He has sung with Israel's National Opera and the Amato Opera in New York. Works by Puccini and Verdi are among his favorites.
His love of music, especially Jewish music, took root while growing up in the Brooklyn and Washington Heights, where as a child he sang in choirs, at Bar Mitzvahs and as a soloist in one of the largest Jewish choirs in New York.
Congregation B'nai Jacob in Brooklyn's Flatbush section was his first assignment, serving there briefly before moving to North
Bellmore. In a recent statement to the members of Temple Beth-El, Mr.
Hiesiger said, "I can never separate myself from this congregation and
community. It is here where I am surrounded by the warmth and love of
congregants and dear friends, where I brought up my children and where I
experienced a special 'midos' [blessing of fellowship] of a 'chavrusa'
[gathering of people] dedicated to acts of loving kindness."
While Mr. Hiesiger is undecided about how he will spend his retirement, one thing he does plan to do is devote more time to his four children and six grandchildren. Two of his children and their families live in Israel. He has two younger children at home in North Bellmore, a son, age 14, and daughter, 10.
