Renowned for his lyric tenor compositional recordings and cantorial recitatives, Roitman became known as "the poet of the pulpit".

[3][6] During a 1918 pogrom, Roitman fled from Elisavetgrad to Odessa and there organized the Hebrew Music School, which the government would soon dissolve.

[4] Roitman's earlier compositions reflected the sad fate of his people, while his later work emphasized a more dramatic and prophetic idiom.

An unattributed recording by Yossele Rosenblatt made the composition popular in the United States even before Roitman immigrated there.

[4] Roitman's compositions "Ashamnu Mikol Am" and "Cantorial Anthology 2" also achieved widespread popularity during his lifetime.