Zvi Aroni
1926 – 1990
In 1949 he moved to N.E. Philadelphia where he served as Cantor in Temple Shalom, and in 1954 he moved to Forest Hills, New York where he served as cantor at the Forest Hills Jewish Center until 1963. He then returned to Israel for a year of inspiration, where he served at Temple Yeshurun in Tel Aviv.
In 1964 he became Cantor of the Beth Emeth Bais Yehuda Synagogue in Toronto, Canada. It was here that he was able to create the Tefilah Boys Choir who sang at most Shabbat morning services. He was very keen to revive the practice of a synagogue choir with boy sopranos and altos participating in the service on the Bimah together with the Chazan, where they would become an integral part of the service. This, he believed, would be good for them in that they would be able to learn all aspects of the rituals of the Synagogue. In later years baritones and tenors from the congregation were added to enhance the repertoire and expand the colour of the choir.
This choir received many invitations to perform, including a memorable performance at New York’s Carnegie Recital Hall where they were given a standing ovation.
From 1968-1979 Cantor Aroni served at Shaare Tzedek in Manhattan. In 1979 he and his wife, Hedvah, moved to North Miami Beach where he served at Beth Torah until his death in 1990.
His recordings can be heard free of charge on the Judaica Sound Archives www.fau.edu/jsa.
geoffreyshisler.com 
Zvee was a great man and a fabulous cantor. He was my Bar Mitzvah teacher back in the 50’s at Temple Shalom. I loved him as a teacher, cantor and human being.
Michael, you were indeed fortunate to have had Zvi as a Bar Mitzvah tutor. I, too, loved Zvi as a cantor and a human being. I was in his children’s choir at age 7, which would have been 1951. Unfortunately, he left Temple Sholom about two years before my own Bar Mitzvah. Please call me so we can trade stories. I have been deeply influenced by Cantor Aroni. He was my first musical influence, besides my father. I went on to study voice in NYC, and eventually became a Yiddish concert singer beginning in the 1990’s. Richard Lenatsky (610-203-6490 )