Hazzan
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A hazzan or chazzan (Hebrew for "cantor"," עברית:"חזן) is a Jewish musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the synagogue in songful prayer.
There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources. The Jewish prayer services have their own entry; the prayers in these services are collected in a prayerbook known as the siddur.
The person leading the congregation in public prayers is called the shaliach tzibbur (Hebrew for "emissary of the congregation"). Traditional Jewish law restricts the role to Jewish males over the age of 13; the non-Orthodox Jewish movements allow women over the age of 12 to have this role as well. Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism, and Reconstructionist Judaism invest both men and women cantors as full clergy.
In theory, any lay person can be a shaliach tzibbur; most synagogue attending Jews serve in this role at least once in their life. In practice, those with the best voice and the most knowledge of the prayers serve much more often.
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[edit] Growing importance of the office
The office of the hazzan increased in importance with the centuries. As public worship was developed in the Geonic period, and as the knowledge of the Hebrew language declined, singing gradually superseded the didactic and hortatory element in the worship in the synagogue.
This is not necessarily true today, particularly in the world of Orthodox Jews where the role of the hazzan has diminished substantially. As congregants have become more fluent in their ability to read the text, understand the words and perform the most basic melodies, the chazzan increasingly has become seen as superfluous. Some feel that this has led to a "dumbing down" of the artistic presentation of the Orthodox worship service. Artistic synagogue music was once the hallmark of Jewish culture and artistry. It has been substituted with communal folk singing, much of which totally ignores the traditional prayer modes, which have been the backbone of authentic Jewish prayer for centuries.
[edit] Qualifications
Even in the oldest times the chief qualifications demanded of the hazzan, in addition to knowledge of Biblical and liturgical literature as well as the prayer motifs (known as "steiger"), were a pleasant voice and an artistic delivery; for the sake of these, many faults were willingly overlooked. The hazzan was required to possess a pleasing appearance, to be married, and to wear a flowing beard. Sometimes, according to Isaac of Vienna (13th century), a young hazzan having only a slight growth of beard was tolerated. Maimonides decided that the hazzan who recited the prayers on an ordinary Sabbath and on week-days need not possess an appearance pleasing to everybody; he might even have a reputation not wholly spotless, provided he was living a life morally free from reproach at the time of his appointment.
But all these moderations of the rule disappeared on holidays; then an especially worthy hazzan was demanded, one whose life was absolutely irreproachable, who was generally popular, and who was endowed with an expressive delivery. Even a person who had once appealed to a non-Jewish court, instead of to a Jewish court, in a disputed question could not act as hazzan on those days, unless he had previously done penance (Shulkhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim, 581). However many authorities were lenient in this regard and as long as a cantor was "merutzeh l'kehal" desired by the congregation, he was permitted to the ascend the pulpit and lead the prayers even on the holiest of days.
Today, a hazzan, particularly in a non-Chasidic synagogue, is likely to have academic credentials, most often a bachelor's and/or a master's degree in Music or in Sacred Music, sometimes a degree in Music Education or in Jewish Religious Education or a related discipline. The Doctor of Music degree is sometimes awarded to honor a hazzan.
Although traditionally cantors were always men, women equally serve this role in the more liberal branches of Judaism. Betty Robbins was possibly the first female cantor in 1955 [1] though Barbara Ostfeld Horowitz is usually given that distinction since her investiture at the Hebrew Union College in 1975.[2] As of 2006, HUC had invested 174 women cantors.[3]
[edit] Cantors as a profession
The role of hazzans as a respected full-time profession has become a reality in recent centuries. In the last two centuries Jews in a number of European communities, notably Germany and England, came to view professionally trained hazzans as clergy. After the enlightenment, when European nations gave full citizenship and civil rights to Jews, professionally trained hazzans were accepted by the secular government as clergy in the same way that accepted rabbis as clergy.
In an interesting turn of events, the United States government recognized cantors as the first Jewish clergy, even before rabbis were recognized.
In the USA there are three major organizations for professionally trained hazzanim (Hebrew plural of hazzan), one from each of the major Jewish denominations.
- American Conference of Cantors - Reform Judaism [4]
- Cantors Assembly - Conservative Judaism [5]
- Cantorial Council of America - Orthodox Judaism [6]
The Reform Seminary where cantors are trained in a five-year program along with rabbinic and education students is Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, School of Sacred Music (New York) Reform. (www.huc.edu)
The curriculum for students in these programs generally include, but are not limited to:
- Hebrew, modern and Bible and Siddur
- Learning a nusach (liturgical tradition.)
- Learning the laws and traditions pertaining to Jewish prayer service
- The history and content of the siddur
- Music theory, sight-reading sheet music
- Learning an instrument, usually a piano or guitar
- Singing technique
- Cantillation - tropes for the liturgical chanting of biblical books
- Choral Conducting
- Jewish history
- Tanakh (Bible)
- Jewish music history
- Pastoral care and counseling
- Theology
[edit] The golden age of hazzanut
The period between the two World Wars is often referred to as the "golden age" of hazzanut (cantorial performance). Some of the greats include Moshe Koussevitzky, Zavel Kwartin (1874-1953), Jan Peerce, Joseph "Yossele" Rosenblatt (1882-1933), Gershon Sirota (1874-1943), Yitzchak Eshel (1912-2006), Pierre Pinchik, David Werdyger, Moshe Ganchoff, Leib Glantz, Moshe Stern and Leibale Waldman.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] Recordings
- Virtual Cantor - Free MP3 recordings of nearly the entire Ashkenazic liturgy.
- Sephardic Pizmonim- www.pizmonim.org- Middle Eastern Pizmonim Recordings for Sephardic Cantors.
- Chazzanut Online - a wealth of detailed information and recordings.
- Jewish Music.com
- Cantorial Music Page of Cong. Emunath Israel, NYC - MP3's of Ashkenazic nusach (liturgy) - supplements the Virtual Cantor website
[edit] Cantorial organizations
- Academy for Jewish Religion of California (non-denominational seminary - Rabbinical, Cantorial, and Chaplaincy programs)
- Academy for Jewish Religion (non-denominational seminary - Rabbinical and Cantorial programs)
- Cantors World (Orthodox)
- The Cantors Assembly (Conserative/Masorti)
- American Conference of Cantors (Reform)
- Cantorial Council of America (Orthodox)
- The Jewish Ministers Cantors Association of America (Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform)
[edit] More info
- [7] (Hazzan)
