Max Helfman was born on May 25, 1901 in Radzin, Poland and was brought to the United States by his parents, Nathan and Eva, when he was eight years old. The eldest of four children, Max never attended a university, yet furthered his musical talents by attending the Mannes College of Music in New York and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. He studied piano with Ralph Leopold, composition with Rosario Scalero and conducting with Fritz Reiner.

In 1938, Helfman became head of the Jewish Music Alliance, and in 1942, the Long Island Zionist Region sponsored the world premiere of Helfman's Shabat Kodesh (The Holy Sabbath) at Carnegie Hall. Helfman was invited to join the faculty of the School of Sacred Music of the Hebrew Union College in New York in 1944, where he remained until he moved to Los Angeles. Before, during and after his time at Brandeis Camp Institute (now The Brandeis-Bardin Institute), Max was an accomplished hazzan, choir director and organist including positions with Temple Israel in Washington Heights, NY; Temple Emanuel in Patterson, New Jersey; the Workmen's Circle Chorus (which began under his direction); the Freiheit Gazang Farein; the People's Philharmonic Choral Society (a group of choirs singing together as a chorus); branch choirs which he created in Paterson, Newark, Passaic; the Handel Choir of Westfield, NY; Anshe Chessed synagogue in New York; B'nai Abraham in Newark, New Jersey; Park Avenue synagogue; and Sinai Temple in Los Angeles, among others. Helfman was also responsible for establishing the School of Fine Arts at the University of Judaism as Dean. In 1945, Helfman became the Artistic Director of the Jewish Arts Committee, a new organization founded with the mission to "mobilize, stimulate and direct Jewish creative forces dormant in this country, to effect a living contact with the artistic production of Eretz Yisrael, and in particular to attract and bind the youth to the people of Israel through the medium of artistic expression." Through this involvement, Helfman met Dr. Shlomo Bardin, and the most striking chapter of his life began.

Bardin hired Helfman as the Music Master of the newly created Brandeis Camp Institute at the Winterdale, Pennsylvania campus. When the Simi Valley campus was established, Max spent the summer in California. In preparation for a full-time Brandeis program, Helfman presented a small group of college students, the "Brandeis Singers" at Parlor Meetings and addressed the audiences along with Bardin. Music was integral to Brandeis from the beginning, with one hour of music daily, and for many BCIers was the highlight of their Brandeis experience. Helfman's impact was immediate and substantial. The B'nai Brith Messenger reported this tribute: "Max Helfman, one of the great choral directors of the day and an authority on Hebrew liturgical music, flew to the West Coast several weeks ago to take charge of the Institute's music program. After watching Max rehearse the choral group for more than an hour, a well known Jewish communal leader turned to a friend and said, 'If Brandeis Institute had done nothing more than present Helfman to the West Coast, it would have been dayenu!' The enthusiastic cooperation he receives from his students is a glowing tribute to his priceless sense of humor and a fanatical zeal which interprets the Jewish Renaissance though music. Helfman explains it all this way: 'Many of our Jewish young men and women are atrophied emotionally. They have lost their will for positive living as Jews. Some think there is a wall between Jew and Gentile; but the real wall is between the Jew and himself: the young American Jew who has been running away from his heritage and in doing so has turned his back on a rich creative past. Tell them about the problems of the Jew and your solution, and they will argue with you-but you cannot argue with a song or with a dance, they are non-arguable things.' At the Brandeis Institute, Helfman is helping to develop a re-integrated Jewish youth and, upon leaving, the Brandeis camper carries with him a sense of personal responsibility for his Jewish community and for the future of the Jewish people."

Composer, conductor, music critic, hazzan and beloved teacher were all titles worn with pride by Helfman. Although usually shy and retiring, he came alive before an audience, never focusing on himself but interested in everything around him. Michael Blankfort, with whom Helfman produced a number of songs, and the short plays with musical accompaniment, The Spaniard (Maimonides) and There Lived A Man (Brandeis), said of Helfman, "His personality was all-inclusive He took the whole world inside himself and gave it back; a very memorable human being."

Max was married for 37 years to Florence Snowe Helfman, a member of the Schneerson family who was introduced to Max by her father, a dentist who had hired Max to teach Florence and her brother music and harmony. They had two children, Naomi and David. Naomi is married to the concert pianist Gary Grafman. David passed away several years ago. Throughout their marriage, Florence supported Max's endeavors; afterMax's death, Florence, a talented artist, became the keeper of Max's archives of musical works, acting as his advocate and agent, editing a record ("The Magic of Max Helfman," 1964) and reconstructing a complete Friday evening service ("Shabbat Menucha," 1969, with Emanuel Rosenberg). Dr. Bardin said of Max, "Many people know how to teach, very few know how to touch. Max knew how to touch a human being. He radiated enthusiasm. His influence is felt even today...his influence is in this institution, in these rooms. When we pray here today, somehow Max Helfman is present."