MEMORIAL FOR RABBI/CANTOR SAMUEL LINKOVSKY 1957-2006
Biographical information from the Staten Island Advance1
When Rabbi Samuel Linkovsky was preparing to officiate at Rosh Hashana services for Russian immigrants at a synagogue in Chicago in 1998, he set up 150 chairs. So many showed up, he had to scramble to find more seats. After that first service, many families stayed and a new congregation was born.
When he became cantor of Temple Emanu-El in Port Richmond in 2003, several members approached him about restarting the choir. Sixteen people attended the first rehearsal and a choir was born.
It was his spirituality, his ability to teach and his voice that drew congregants toward him.
Rabbi Linkovsky, who was born in Ukraine and lived in Georgia and Israel before settling in the United States, died Nov. 28 in New York University Medical Center in Manhattan. He was 49.
The fourth-generation cantor spent part of his childhood in Ukraine, but authorities would not allow the open practice of Judaism, so his father moved the family to Georgia.
The family relocated to Israel in 1972 and, a few years later, to Columbus, Ohio. After his high school graduation, Rabbi Linkovsky returned to Israel to serve in the Jewish state's army.
"I didn't want to feel like I ran away from it," he told the Advance upon his appointment as spiritual leader of Congregation B'nai Israel, Bay Terrace, in 2000.
At first, he studied to be a cantor, following in the steps of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather, studying at The Jewish Theological Seminary. Soon, however, he realized he wanted more.
A SPIRITUAL LEADER
"I didn't want to just sing," he told the Advance. "I wanted to teach. I had a message I wanted to bring people." He enrolled in the New Seminary in Manhattan and received his rabbinical ordination in 1997.
It was while serving as the spiritual leader for Congregation Beth Jacob in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada, that he received a phone call from the Russian Consulate in Chicago asking for his help in leading outreach efforts to former Soviets.
He stayed in Chicago for two years, leading a congregation of mostly émigrés, like himself, from the former Soviet Union.
The rabbi then moved to New York, residing in Long Beach and Oyster Bay, L.I. Rabbi Linkovsky taught and did some cantorial work before responding to a newspaper ad placed by B'nai Israel. Upon accepting the position, he moved with his family to Bay Terrace.
"People always wanted to learn with him," said his wife of 28 years, the former Alla Barcan.
When he left B'nai Israel in 2003, he became the cantor at Temple Emanu-El.
"He was passionate about his studies of cantorial art," his wife said. "His services were so moving, and that's what people responded to, even people with no background in Judaism or no exposure to cantorial art."
When he took over at Temple Emanu-El, the congregants were eager to start performing again.
"I said, 'I think I can put a choir together if you just show up,'" he told the Advance in 2003. The choir had its Islandwide debut a few weeks later and is still performing today.
"He was a marvelous cantor and a true example of cantorial art, how it should be and how it seldom is," said Rabbi Gerald Sussman, spiritual leader of Temple Emanu-El.
REMEMBERED ROOTS
"Cantorial music is about capturing in song the emotions of the prayer and to motivate people to pray," Rabbi Sussman continued. "He was really able to do that. When he was singing a piece, even if you didn't understand a word, the feeling of emotion had a very powerful impact."
No matter where he served and no matter the population of the congregation, Rabbi Linkovsky always remembered his roots and tried to reach out to Russian immigrants.
In 2001, he led a seder with fellow rabbis for 70 Russian Jews, along with more than 100 nursing home residents.
"It's important to give them some sort of Jewish identity, especially since so many lived under an atheist regime," Rabbi Linkovsky told the Advance.
He was a frequent contributor to the Advance's Religiously Speaking column, and enjoyed teaching Judaism to children, and discussing Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition, at lectures around the Island.
Rabbi Linkovsky's passion extended to everything he did, his wife said.
He listened to cantorial artists but had a deep appreciation for other genres, including jazz and classical music. Meditation was also an important part of his daily routine.
"He had a very powerful and intense presence," Mrs. Linkovsky said. "People were always attracted to him, like a magnet in a crowd.
In addition to his wife, Alla, surviving are his son, Yona Josef, and his daughter, Rachel Sara.
The funeral arrangements were handled by the Menorah Chapels, New Springville. Burial was in Montefiore Cemetery, Queens.
1Obituary published, December 6, 2006