Volume 16, Number 2 - Cantors Assembly

10
THE CANTOR IN MODERN JUDAISM
By IRA EISENSTEIN
In spite of the long and honorable
history of the cantorate in Jewish life,
the American cantorate stands at the
threshold of its career. Until now, it has
been treated in a haphazard fashion.
No training school existed for the education
of cantors; no formal organizations
of cantors, of any consequence,
has existed-or at least, has earned the
respect of large segments of the Jewish
community. Certainly it is easy enough
to account for this cultural lag; but the
time has come not only to account for
it, but to compensate for it.
The very problem of the place of
the cantorate in American Judaism
arises from the fact that heretofore no
standards prevailed as to who should
and who should not be considered a
cantor. The chaos which characterized
the American rabbinate fifty years ago
still obtains in the cantorate today. In
addition, the functions of the cantor
have never been fully defined, or even
clearly considered. While the age of
the virtuoso cantor will problably never
be over, the present situation calls for
men who will do more than lead the
congregation in worship. The average
synagogue needs personalities who will
be able to assume responsibility for the
broad musical experience of the institution.
The cantors’ functions must be
expanded to meet the expanding demands
of the synagogue which has
become not merely a place of worship,
but a second home for the members of
the congregation and their families. As
the major center of leisure activities,
the synagogue must offer a variety of
cultural and esthetic experiences;
among them music must play a prominent
role, and the cantor must help to
make that role an enriching and exciting
one.
As the cantor’s functions expand,
he will discover that they impinge
more and more upon the established
departments of the congregation; and
when this occurs, problems of human
relations will arise, which, unless approached
with wisdom and patience,
may serve only to vitiate the effectiveness
of the cantor. The ethics of the
cantorate, therefore, must be considered
in the light of the growing
awareness of the cantor as a musical
personality, properly trained, adequately
recognized as having a professional
status, endowed with the capacity,
and entrusted with the responsibility
of maintaining a broad program of
musical activity in the synagogue life of
America.
Personal Qualifications
If the cantor is to meet these new
responsibilities, he must become what
the hazzan of old was: first and foremost,
a literate Jew and musician. He
must know and understand the Hebrew