Mordecai Goldstein, the cantor at Congregation Neve Shalom in Metuchen for 25 years, was remembered by colleagues and congregants alike for his devotion to Jewish education, his warmth, and the lasting legacy he left at the Conservative synagogue.

Goldstein, 76, died Sept. 26 in Jerusalem; he made aliya in 1999. Burial was in Jerusalem.

"Mordecai Goldstein was such an effective presence in our shul for 25 years because he saw himself as a collaborator — not a competitor — with the rabbi, the laity, and other hazanim," said Rabbi Gerald Zelizer, who came to Neve Shalom in 1970 and worked with Goldstein throughout his tenure at the synagogue.

Flora Buchbinder Cowen recalled that shortly after Goldstein's arrival in 1974 he formed a choir, which she joined.

"He was a wonderful choir director, full of patience and with a marvelous sense of humor," said Cowen. "Over the years, under Mordy's influence, the choir developed a musical repertoire that reflected traditional Jewish music as well as current Jewish music. His teachings vastly increased my personal knowledge of Jewish music, and I am very grateful to him for that."

Eliot Spack, a former Neve Shalom vice president, chaired the search committee that hired Goldstein. "It's hard to convey the love and warmth that exuded from him, how close I felt toward him," Spack said. "He was a guy who related to every age category at the synagogue. He taught music to all the young kids, trained bar and bat mitzva students, and worked with seniors.

"I've been the one notifying families of his passing," said Spack. "You can tell each person feels the loss and their response has been, ‘I have to tell my son or daughter.'"

Zelizer, who devoted his sermon on Shemini Atzeret to Goldstein, said he felt his former colleague should have been referred to as hazan rather than cantor. The hazan was the caretaker of the synagogue in the Middle Ages; the word derives from hozeh, or vision.

"One of the reasons we worked so well together is that we agreed on our goals. We collaborated," he said. "His goal was for the congregation to become a participatory congregation. That goal was greater than his ego…. He was a hazan, a caretaker of that space that he loved as sacred."

Goldstein established a Torah reading program that trained legions of members in accepting aliyot to chant from the weekly Torah portion.

"We now have about 150 lay Torah readers," said Zelizer. "We have people in this congregation who have 50, 100, 150 aliyot. He left a legacy that is still reaping dividends."

Cowen took advantage of Goldstein's program, and read Torah in June at the bat mitzva of her granddaughter, Talia, at State College, Pa. "I had Mordy in my thoughts that Shabbat morning," she said, "silently thanking him for enabling me to participate in such a meaningful way in my family's simha."

Spack and his wife, Barbra, hosted a shiva on Oct. 9 and 10, so members could pay a condolence call to two of Goldstein's children, who live in Manhattan. Spack's daughter Beth works with Goldstein's wife, Barbara, at the Hadassah office in Jerusalem.

Goldstein was a 1954 graduate of the University of Denver, where he majored in music and music composition. He completed his cantorial studies in 1965 at the Cantor's Institute at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Manhattan, where he also received a master's degree in sacred music.

Goldstein served as cantor for six years at Temple Beth Israel in Camden and for two years at Beth Shalom in Haddonfield.

In 1973, including during the Yom Kippur War, he and his family lived in Israel for one year before Goldstein came to Neve Shalom.

He was on the board of the JCC of Middlesex County in Edison and helped oversee the construction of its current facility. He served as cochair of the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County and chair of the NJ region of the Cantors' Assembly of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.

In 1998, he was honored as "Man of the Year" by the Neve Shalom Men's Club, and in 2006 he received an honorary doctor of music degree from the JTS.

From 2003-07 he served as rosh va'ad (president) of Moreshet Israel (the Agron Synagogue) in Jerusalem.

He is survived by his wife, the former Barbara Ruskin; two daughters, Shira Mushkin of Israel and Devra Bender of New York City; one son, Daniel of New York City; a brother, Ivan, of Israel; and five grandchildren.