Hazzan

Halakha (Jewish law) restricts the role of ''sh'liah tzibbur to adult Jews; in Orthodox Judaism, only males can lead public prayer before mixed-sex groups. In theory, any layperson can be a sh'liah tzibbur; many synagogue-going Jews will serve in this role from time to time, especially on weekdays or on a yahrzeit. Proficiency in Hebrew pronunciation is preferred. In practice, in synagogues without an official hazzan'' (or in the temporary absence of one), those with the best voice and the greatest knowledge of the prayers typically assume the role. Even in the earliest times, the chief qualifications demanded of the hazzan—in addition to knowledge of biblical and liturgical literature and prayer motifs ()—were a pleasant voice and 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 have a flowing beard. Sometimes, according to Isaac ben Moses of Vienna (13th century), a young hazzan having only a slight growth of beard was tolerated. Maimonides ruled that the hazzan who recited the prayers on an ordinary Shabbat and on weekdays 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. All the above-noted moderations of the rules disappeared on holidays, when an especially worthy hazzan was demanded: one whose life was absolutely irreproachable, who was generally popular, and endowed with an expressive delivery. Even a person who had ever litigated in a non-Jewish court—instead of a Jewish court—could not act as hazzan on those days, unless he had previously done penance. However, many authorities were lenient in this regard. As long as a hazzan was accepted by the congregation (), he was permitted to lead the prayers even on the holiest of days. Today, a hazzan, particularly in more formal (usually not Orthodox) synagogues, is likely to have academic credentials—most often a degree in music or sacred music, sometimes a degree in music education, Jewish religious education, or a related discipline. The doctor of music degree is sometimes awarded to honour a hazzan. ==History==

Early sources in the Mishnah refer to a position called chazzan hakenesset, which involved leadership roles in public prayer, although not necessarily involving music or singing. Later, as public worship was developed in the Geonic period and as the knowledge of the Hebrew language declined, singing gradually superseded the role of sermons in synagogue worship, and the role of chazzan began to focus on chanting or singing of the prayers. Thus, while the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources, the office of the hazzan increased in importance with the centuries, evolving a specialized set of skills and becoming a career in itself.{{cite web ==Professional status==

in 1902, wearing a traditional Ashkenazi Hazzan hat , widely regarded as the greatest cantor of his time, in 1923 The role of the hazzan 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 Britain, came to view professionally trained hazzanim as clergy • Cantors Assembly—Conservative Judaism • Cantorial Council of America—Orthodox Judaism Training Many members of the Cantors Assembly are trained at the H. L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Many members of the American Conference of Cantors are trained at the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College—Jewish Institute of Religion in New York. Both of these programs offer a five-year training program. Members of the Cantorial Council, the Orthodox cantorial association, can train at the Philip and Sarah Belz School of Jewish Music at Yeshiva University in New York. ALEPH, the Alliance for Jewish Renewal, includes a cantorial training program as part of its ordination program. Full cantorial training is also offered by the Cantorial School of the Academy for Jewish Religion (California) in Los Angeles, the Cantorial Program at the similarly named Academy for Jewish Religion in New York, and the School of Jewish Music at Hebrew College. These institutions are unaffiliated with any particular Jewish denomination. The curricula for students in these programs generally include, but are not limited to: • Hebrew: modern, Biblical (Torah), and liturgical (siddur) • Nusach (liturgical tradition) • Laws and traditions pertaining to Jewish prayer service • History and content of the siddur • Music theory, sight-reading • Playing an instrument, usually a piano or guitar • Singing technique • Cantillation—tropes for the liturgical chanting of biblical books • Choral conducting • Jewish history • Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) • Jewish music history • Pastoral care and counseling • Theology Non-Orthodox titles Until 2012, neither the Reform nor Conservative streams used the term ordained for trained cantors; use of the term invested precluded confusion with those they titled rabbi.{{cite web ==Female cantors in non-Orthodox Judaism==

In the 21st century, most streams of non-Orthodox Judaism no longer maintain gender distinctions, and therefore women often serve as cantors in these communities. However, she was not ordained. Another early and un-ordained woman ḥazzan was Madame Goldye Steiner, who sang in cantorial concerts as well as in Broadway shows throughout the 1920s. She was one of the first African-American female cantors. In 1955, Betty Robbins (born Berta Abramson in 1924, in Greece) was appointed as cantor of Temple Avodah, a Reform congregation in Oceanside, New York. Like Rosewald, she was not formally ordained, but "the spokesman for the School of Sacred Music, founded in 1947 as the first training school for cantors in [the United States], said today there was no religious law, merely a tradition, against women becoming cantors", indicating the school's institutional approval. In 1975 Barbara Ostfeld-Horowitz became the first ordained female cantor in Jewish history. The Women Cantors' Network was founded in 1982 to support and advocate for women cantors by Deborah Katchko, the second woman ever to serve as a cantor in a Conservative synagogue. Initially a group of only twelve women, its membership grew to 90 by 1996. In 1987 Erica Lippitz and Marla Rosenfeld Barugel became the first two female cantors ordained in Conservative Judaism; they were ordained at the same time by the Cantors Institute of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City. The Cantors Assembly, a professional organization of cantors associated with Conservative Judaism, did not allow women to join until 1990. Avitall Gerstetter, who lived in Germany, became the first female cantor in Jewish Renewal (and the first female cantor in Germany) in 2002. Susan Wehle became the first American female cantor in Jewish Renewal in 2006, serving until her death in 2009. The first American women to be ordained as cantors in Jewish Renewal after Susan Wehle's ordination were Michal Rubin and Abbe Lyons, both ordained on January 10, 2010.{{cite web|url=http://www.tikkunvor.org/Events/index.cfm?id=1392|title=Tikkun v'Or, Ithaca, NY - Celebration in honor of Cantor Abbe Lyons In 2001 Deborah Davis became the first cantor (female or otherwise) in Humanistic Judaism; however, Humanistic Judaism has since stopped graduating cantors.{{cite web In 2009, Iran-born Tannoz Bahremand Foruzanfar was ordained as a cantor by the non-denominational{{cite news ==Golden age==

The period between the two world wars is often referred to as the "golden age" of (cantorial performance). The great figures of this era include Zavel Kwartin (1874–1953), Moritz Henle (1850–1925), Joseph "Yossele" Rosenblatt (1882–1933), Gershon Sirota (1874–1943), and Leib Glantz. In the post–World War II period, prominent cantors were Moshe Koussevitzky, David Werdyger, Frank Birnbaum, Richard Tucker and Abraham Lopes Cardozo (1914–2006). Operatic tenor Jan Peerce, whose cantorial recordings were highly regarded, was never a cantor by profession but often served as one during the high holidays. Popular contemporary cantors include Shmuel Barzilai, Naftali Hershtik, Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, Chazzan Avraham Aharon Weingarten, Ari Klein, Yaakov Lemmer, Joseph Malovany, Benzion Miller, Jacob (Jack) Mendelson, Aaron Bensoussan, Aaron Aderet, Alberto Mizrahi, Yaakov Yoseph Stark, Jochen (Yaacov) Fahlenkamp, Meir Finkelstein, Alex Stein, Daniel Gross, Azi Schwartz, Netanel Hershtik and Eli Weinberg. ====

The title ( means 'second') can refer to • a hazzan who plays that role when the main hazzan does not officiate • a hazzan who fills a different spot, such as when the main hazzan leads Musaf, and the leads Shacharit. ==See also==