From an early age, Chanoch Dov was known as an "ilui" (Talmudic prodigy), studying at the yeshiva of Tzelem, Hungary and in the Belzer Shtiebel in Cracow, Poland.
Since 1991, he has been the baal tefillah (cantor) for the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur prayer services at a Gerrer shtiebel in Boro Park, Brooklyn.
The Markham Street Shul is one of the few remaining synagogues and the last remaining shtiebel of what were once dozens of small congregations in the area around Kensington Market, Spadina Avenue and Bathurst Street - which was a vibrant Jewish area prior to World War II.