Hazzan

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• published: 15 Feb 2011
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A hazzan or chazzan (Hebrew: חַזָּן‎ ħazzān, Modern Hebrew hazan, Yiddish khazn) is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.[1] 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 cantor, or sometimes called the sheliach tzibbur (Hebrew for "emissary of the congregation"). Pre-modern Jewish law restricts the role to Jewish males over the age of 13; but today all types of Judaism except for Orthodox Judaism allow women over the age of 12 to have this role as well [1]. See also: Cantor in Reform Judaism. In theory, any lay person can be a sheliach tzibbur; most synagogue-attending Jews will serve in this role every now and again. In practice, those with the best voice and the most knowledge of the prayers serve much more often