Thus, the cantor takes on the task of interpreting Jewish liturgy through music and song. While some of the Torah cantillations go back thousands of years, a song sung in an Israeli kibbutz or a children’s camp may sometimes find its way into a joyous Sabbath or holiday celebration, and the cantor is often the person who introduces it. New melodies and choir pieces continue to be written by Jewish composers and introduced into the religious repertoire.
Much of what a cantor does is interpret Hebrew, a language that many congregants do not understand; the cantor makes Hebrew meaningful through music.
Both the Reform and the Conservative movements maintain five-year graduate programs in which prospective cantors pursue studies in religion and liturgical music and on graduation are invested as cantors. The role of the modern cantor (hazzan in Hebrew) often includes training children (or adults) for bar or bat mitzvah; performing administrative tasks; presiding at special synagogue events; directing choir, shows, and celebrations; and officiating or assisting at weddings, funerals, and other lifecycle, social and family events. Very often the cantor performs pastoral counseling as well.
Some cantors are operatically trained at music conservatories. The cantor of a congregation I once belonged to performed with our local symphony orchestra, and several opera stars have been cantors, including the late Richard Tucker of the Metropolitan Opera (by coincidence, he was the cantor at the synagogue in which my parents were married). While the cantor does not necessarily need to have a “great” voice, the Talmud does say that a cantor should have a “sweet” (aesthetically pleasing) voice. Part of the cantor’s job is to inspire the congregation and help the congregants truly feel the prayer experience, not just listen to it.
Many cantors are employed full-time by their congregations, and others may work part-time. Sometimes, a qualified layperson (a cantoral soloist or song-leader) fills the role of prayer leader during a religious service, but the title “cantor” is usually reserved for someone who has earned a degree and has been specifically trained for the profession.
One cantor I know feels very strongly that much like the job of any other religious leader, the job of cantor is not just a job, but a “religious calling,” and in many ways, the cantor often inspires the spiritual and religious environment in a synagogue.
As a musician, during religious services I always try to sit on the side of the synagogue nearest the cantor. That’s where the action is.
Jewish Education
In most societies today, a person’s status in the community is determined by economics. The amount of money made or had; the home lived in; the vacations taken; the cars, clothing, jewelry, and miscellaneous “toys” possessed—all of these, along with fame and notoriety, are the indicators by which we judge a person’s success. Not so in the traditional and historical Jewish community.
In the musical Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye sings that he wishes to be a rich man. Why? True, he would like to dress his wife and family in fine clothes and have a big home with staircases going up and down and nowhere. However, for himself he longs for the time and freedom to sit and study all day in the synagogue and to command the respect of the men around him, something that only scholarship brings.
Through the ages, education and wisdom were the means of gaining status in the Jewish community. If a couple had a daughter to marry off, a young scholar who was knowledgeable in the ways of the Torah and the Talmud was often considered a more preferable suitor than a wealthy man.
In modern American Jewish communities, the standards are a little different. Jewish education for boys and girls often ends either after or within a few years after a bar or bat mitzvah. Secular, general education takes precedence over religious training. The traditional desire and respect for a religious education seem to have been redirected toward a good college education, often followed by graduate and/or professional studies.
In spite of this great emphasis on secular education, there are many institutions of Jewish learning in the United States. They range from Jewish elementary and day schools to Jewish high schools, colleges, and universities. Many Jewish institutions of higher learning are run by Orthodox or Hasidic groups or congregations, but this is not always the case. Regardless of their affiliation, these schools often attract students from more liberal Jewish backgrounds.
Sometimes parents choose a Jewish religious education for elementary or high school students because they consider the educational standards higher at a Jewish institution than at the local public schools. In this way, Jewish parents are not much different from non-Jewish parents who send their children to parochial or private elementary and high schools.
Along with Jewish seminaries for prospective rabbis and cantors, there are also independent religious colleges that offer joint degree programs with other colleges and universities (a Jewish religious college is called a yeshiva). In addition, there are universities that are either sponsored by or were founded by Jewish groups. Many public and private colleges and universities offer courses, programs, and, in some cases, degrees in Jewish studies or Hebrew.
On college campuses, student centers represent various religious groups. For Jewish students, there is the Hillel Center, which offers religious services, social programs, counseling, community service opportunities, and other activities.
For adults who yearn either to continue a previously interrupted Jewish education or to know more about Judaism and their Jewish heritage, there are many continuing or adult education classes offered through synagogues, Jewish community centers, and other organizations. These offerings encompass a wide range of Judaic subjects including language, literature, poetry, music, theater, film, history, religion, law, and politics. Although it is always possible for people to explore and study on their own, the Jewish tradition encourages study with a teacher as well as classroom study. I have enjoyed many hours of Torah study with the rabbi and a large group of adult students on Saturday mornings before worship services. The discussions are always lively, thought provoking, and remarkably fun.
Confirmation
Along with a bar or bat mitzvah, which generally takes place around the age of thirteen (see “An Invitation to a Bar Mitzvah and a Bat Mitzvah”), many Jewish teenagers also take part in a confirmation exercise when they are fifteen or sixteen. The confirmation celebrates their graduation from religious school and traditionally occurs around the holiday of Shavuot, the spring festival commemorating the deliverance of the Ten Commandments.
While Jewish confirmation services were originally introduced by the Reform movement as a substitute for the bar and bat mitzvah, it has now become an addition to these celebrations of adulthood and an opportunity for Jewish teenagers to mark another step in the continuation of their religious education.
Congregation Membership and Paying the Bills
Traditionally, Shabbat has not been a time for working, transacting business, or handling money (see “Shabbat—The Sabbath”). Therefore, unlike most Christian services, a collection plate or basket is not passed during Sabbath services. Since money is not collected at services, congregations are supported by congregation membership and the collecting of synagogue membership dues, donations for special purposes, and fund-raising events. Congregation membership is usually flexible, which allows people with limited or fixed incomes to join.
As you can imagine, synagogue buildings must be established, maintained, and repaired, and the rabbi, cantor, and other support personnel must be paid. The mortgage must be taken care of. If there is a religious school or day camp associated with the synagogue, it must be funded, and educators and administrators need to be employed (which is the same