A cantor, or hazzan, leads a Jewish community in prayer and sacred music. The cantor carries the liturgy with musical skill and spiritual presence, helping the congregation pray, not just listen.
What cantors do
- Lead worship: chanting the service and the traditional nusach for Shabbat, weekdays, festivals and the High Holidays
- Chant Torah and teach others to: preparing b’nai mitzvah students to chant Torah and Haftarah and to lead parts of the service
- Teach: adult education, music, and helping members take part in prayer
- Lead music: working with choirs, soloists and musicians, and bringing in new music alongside the old
- Officiate lifecycle events: weddings, funerals and baby namings
- Offer pastoral care: visiting congregants who are sick or grieving
Cantor and rabbi
In congregations with both, the cantor and rabbi work as a team. In many smaller communities the cantor serves as the sole spiritual leader. Either way, today’s cantor is full clergy, not only a musician.
JSLI’s Cantorial School trains cantors in nusach and in lifecycle and pastoral care. See What Is a Cantor?, Are Cantors Ordained? and the Cantorial School page.