Cantor Ivor Yitzchak Lichterman was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa, and nurtured for the Cantorate by his father, the late Cantor Jakub Lichterman, the last Cantor of Warsaw, Poland’s only remaining pre-World War II Synagogue, the Nozyk Synagogue.

From an early age, Cantor Lichterman officiated as a Youth Cantor in South African synagogues, and at the age of 18 was appointed Assistant Cantor to South Africa’s largest synagogue, the Sea Point Congregation in Cape Town. In 1976, he immigrated to the United States where he pursued graduate Judaic studies at Yeshiva University and music studies in New York City while serving as a cantor on Long Island. He then served as the cantor at Agudath Shalom in Stamford, Connecticut. He comes to Toledo after serving as the cantor at Congregation Anshei Israel in Tucson, Arizona. In 1998, he was inducted as an Honorary Fellow of the H. L. Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary.

Cantor Lichterman graduated B.A. Honours cum laude in Judaic Studies from the University of Cape Town. He has diplomas in Music, Commercial Art, Calligraphy, Hebrew Teaching and Brit Milah. An avid amateur photographer, he has photographed hundreds of synagogues in 12 countries throughout the world, which he is documenting for a book. He has held exhibitions of these photographs in several communities. His Ketubbah, calligraphy services and expert shofar blowing are in great demand. Cantor Lichterman is also a certified mohel and has performed more than 750 britot milah.

In June, 1997, he and his brother led a mission to Eastern Europe where they co-officiated for Shabbat Services in their father’s Nozyk Synagogue in Warsaw, Poland. This theme continued in July, 2009 when they were again invited to lead services at the Nozyk Synagogue in the opening ceremony of the Cantor’s Assembly’s historic mission to Poland. This historic event culminated in the recent release of the movie “100 Voices” featuring the Lichterman brothers, which has received wide critical acclaim and was a contender for an Academy Award.

Cantor Lichterman is married to Jan and for the past 13 years she has been working as a real estate agent. They have two sons, Mayron, a doctor just starting his second year as a surgery resident near Detroit, and Ari, a lawyer in New York City. Ari just became engaged to Hayley Koteen, and they are planning a summer 2012 wedding in New York. Their daughter, Jaclyn, is entering her senior year at the University of Arizona in Tucson and is studying Fashion Merchandising. She is spending this summer as an intern in New York City working for a
buyer at Jones New York.

Cantor Ivor Lichterman

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