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THE ROLE OF THE CANTOR
Cantor Julius Solomon made this statement at an Interfaith Dialogue forum in December 2008 in the Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Library at Congregation Rodfei Zedek. The participants also heard an Orthodox Christian priest and an expert in Hindu dance.
In the Jewish Tradition prayers are said in Hebrew by everyone in the congregation.
The prayers are written down so that one need not memorize them. (There is usually an English translation on the facing page.) Our practice is that one person in the congregation is asked to lead the prayers. Anyone is eligible to do so. That person is called the Shliach Tzibur or messenger of the congregation.
One standard procedure is for the leader to utter the first words of the prayer out loud, signaling everyone else to begin saying that prayer word for word. At its completion the leader would say the last few sentences out loud once more signaling the end.
Here is an example from the Friday Night Service A Beginning, Mizmor Shir l’yom Hashahbat, and an end, Edotecha.
While intoning the prayers music becomes a large part of the praying. To make the prayers familiar we use distinct musical modes, which we call the Nusach for each distinct service. The examples I gave come from the music for Sabbath Eve or Friday Night. [Cantor Solomon chanted other lines from Rosh Hashanah eve and daytime and from Neilah on Yom Kippur.] There are also large sections of text reserved for the Shliach Tzibur. Here the nusach is emphasized while making sure that the pronunciation is correct and the meaning of the text made clear.
The prayers themselves come in many forms. These also include psalms, excerpts from the Torah, and Talmud and poems composed by scholars and Rabbis over a period of 1000 years. Much of these lend themselves to hymns which are sung by the congregation. If a choir is available, pieces written specifically for them are sung. If the hymns are pleasant and memorable, they become accepted and sung in many congregations. A good example is the composition for Sim Shalom, a prayer for peace, by Max Janowski, the Music Director at the KAM Temple for over fifty years, which is well-known throughout the world.
What I do as cantor has three aspects:
- I act as the Shliach Tzibur and present the music which accompanies the prayers. I make sure that my pronunciation and my parsing of the grammar is correct. I also try to fit the type of melody to the meaning of the words. For example, there are mournful texts, pleading texts, majestic statements, and expressions of gratitude.
- Secondly I set the pace at which the prayers are said. I try to give everyone enough time to understand the meaning of the text by themselves and to say it.
- Third, I try to get the congregation to make the connection between the music and the text. I try to choose a key people can sing in. I hope that congregants grab a hold of the Nusach and use it in their own declamations. When the music and the words become attached in their minds everyone can most easily participate and join in the prayers.
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