Mequon resident Tibor Moses died of congestive heart failure on June 25. He was 80.
Born in Oradea, Romania, Moses was raised in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now the capital of Slovakia), where he celebrated becoming a bar mitzvah and finished the sixth grade.
A survivor of the Holocaust, Moses spent many of his teenage years as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps in Europe. He was in Theresienstadt concentration camp when it was liberated by the Soviet Red Army in May 1945.
Moses immigrated to the United States in 1946 and, despite not knowing English prior to beginning high school, graduated in two years as the valedictorian of his class at Fifth Avenue High School in Pittsburgh.
From 1948-51, Moses worked odd jobs and studied music. He served in the U.S. Army Special Services Division from 1951-53, traveling around Europe with a group of actors and musicians entertaining the troops and lifting their morale.
Moses was fluent in nine languages of them, had a strong knowledge of math and science, and was considered for a four-year engineering scholarship to Carnegie Mellon University before deciding to become a cantor.
In 1956, Moses graduated from the Sacred School of Music at Hebrew Union College — Jewish Institute of Religion in New York, having completed the five-year curriculum in three years.
“He was bright, but a very hard worker — very achievement oriented,” said his wife of 51 years, Barbara Moses (nee Greenberg) of Mequon.
Moses worked as a certified educator and full time hazzan for 38 years at Conservative congregations in Pasadena, Calif.; Vancouver, British Columbia; Long Island, N.Y.; North Miami Beach, Fla.; Knoxville, Tenn.; and Los Angeles.
He spent the last approximately 16 years of his career as the hazzan and education director of Temple Beth Ami (currently Shomrei Torah Synagogue) in L.A. Moses retired as cantor emeritus in 1994, but continued to perform High Holiday services and weddings in L.A. for the next seven years.
Moses often performed in various community and university shows and concerts, including operas at the University of Southern California and the University of California, Los Angeles.
He was a very good comedic actor and had a voice that “blew your socks off,” said Barbara Moses,
“He walked so tall and strong.… Age was a concept that was not important to him,” she said, noting that he was very athletic and an avid runner until he developed knee problems at 65.
In March 2002, Moses suffered a stroke that left him paralyzed from the neck down. He worked hard in physical therapy, however, and was able to walk with the assistance of a cane or walker about one year later.
In 2003, the couple moved to Mequon to be closer to their family.
Moses was a member of numerous organizations such as Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America, the World Jewish Congress, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Holocaust Education and Resource Center, the Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors Los Angeles, the Cantors Assembly, the Alumni Association of HUC-JIR and Congregation Beth Israel.
Prior to learning of his death, the Jewish Theological Seminary decided to award Moses an honorary Doctorate of Music degree. The degree will be posthumously awarded at a ceremony in December in New York, said Barbara Moses.
“One of the things he was very proud of was being a U.S. citizen,” she said, noting that this was the only country he had ever been a citizen of because being born in Romania did not confer citizenship.
Moses is further survived by daughter Miriam Moses-Winston (Jay Winston, M.D.) of Bayside; and two grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements were handled by Blane Goodman Funeral Service, LLC. Services were officiated by Rabbi Jacob Herber on June 27 at Congregation Beth Israel. Burial was in Mound Zion Cemetery.
The family appreciates memorial contributions to Congregation Beth Israel or the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, 5000 W. National Ave., Milwaukee, 53295.
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