As I approach my upcoming role as a High Holiday service leader this year, I'm including some different kinds of study along with the self accounting that many Jews do during the month of Elul. This year isn't an ordinary year for me, as I will be ordained as a cantor by the Aleph Alliance for Jewish Renewal Ordination program in the beginning of January of next year. So I've been thinking about the question: What is a cantor, and what is our role in contemporary Jewish life?
I live in Northern California, and I can count the number of cantors I know who are engaged full time in this area on two hands with fingers to spare. Half of the large communities that serve the South Bay don't have a cantor. Many cantors see the writing on the wall for the profession, and have gone back to Seminary to take on Rabbinical studies in the hopes of remaining employable as congregations whittle down their professional leadership, prompted by declining membership and budget.
The figure of a cantor, which loomed so large in communal life from the Middle Ages to near the present era, is changing. So, what is a cantor? I had one teacher tell me it's a 'song leader with a difference'. Many places describe it as a master of prayer, or someone who leads the musical portion of services. I asked my master teacher, Hazzan Jack Kessler, who has been a Hazzan, another name for cantor, for more than 50 years, for his definition. He responded:
A cantor is not merely 'a song leader with a difference'. Those of us that choose this work have put ourselves deliberately in a long narrative chain that has traveled from the earliest recorded history of Jewish life, through everywhere that Jews have ever been in the world, up to today. It is my role, in this High Holiday season, to take these combined ideas and yearnings of the community into my own preparations.
As I step into this role of most ancient lineage, I ask: How can I help them know themselves better as a community? What
resonance can I bring to the ancient metaphors of God as parent, the
returning of our souls, and being inscribed in the book of life? The answer isn't mine to provide alone, it is co-created within the community. Every hour we spend together over the holiday season creates the trust which allows us to reveal ourselves. We invest in the rhythms of the liturgy, of the stories we learn from the Torah, and the prophets, as we weave them together with our own contemporary stories. What a cantor provides is a voice that hearkens back to the ancient Temple steps, helping guide the return and renewal of a sense of connectedness, and knowing that none of us are alone in this process.
I live in Northern California, and I can count the number of cantors I know who are engaged full time in this area on two hands with fingers to spare. Half of the large communities that serve the South Bay don't have a cantor. Many cantors see the writing on the wall for the profession, and have gone back to Seminary to take on Rabbinical studies in the hopes of remaining employable as congregations whittle down their professional leadership, prompted by declining membership and budget. The figure of a cantor, which loomed so large in communal life from the Middle Ages to near the present era, is changing. So, what is a cantor? I had one teacher tell me it's a 'song leader with a difference'. Many places describe it as a master of prayer, or someone who leads the musical portion of services. I asked my master teacher, Hazzan Jack Kessler, who has been a Hazzan, another name for cantor, for more than 50 years, for his definition. He responded:
The Hazzan is the keeper of the major cultural artifact that is the ancient synagogue heritage of sacred chant and song, and its transmitter to future generations.In my way of thinking, it's not just ancient synagogue life, the historical part. I see the cantorate as the keepers of all Jewish cultural heritage, the lived experience of the Jewish people from ancient times until today, particularly through music. As a people, we sing. It's held an honored place in our tradition because of the tremendous importance of embodied prayer practice and communal gathering that can only happen in song.
A cantor is not merely 'a song leader with a difference'. Those of us that choose this work have put ourselves deliberately in a long narrative chain that has traveled from the earliest recorded history of Jewish life, through everywhere that Jews have ever been in the world, up to today. It is my role, in this High Holiday season, to take these combined ideas and yearnings of the community into my own preparations.
As I step into this role of most ancient lineage, I ask: How can I help them know themselves better as a community? What
resonance can I bring to the ancient metaphors of God as parent, the
returning of our souls, and being inscribed in the book of life? The answer isn't mine to provide alone, it is co-created within the community. Every hour we spend together over the holiday season creates the trust which allows us to reveal ourselves. We invest in the rhythms of the liturgy, of the stories we learn from the Torah, and the prophets, as we weave them together with our own contemporary stories. What a cantor provides is a voice that hearkens back to the ancient Temple steps, helping guide the return and renewal of a sense of connectedness, and knowing that none of us are alone in this process.
Jessica Leash is the co-founder and cantor of Silicon Valley Jewish Meetup, a brand new community serving the San Francisco South Bay. She will be ordained by Aleph Alliance for Jewish Renewal
Ordination program in January of 2018. This year, she is serving as the High Holiday cantor at Congregation Shir Ami in Castro Valley, CA. To reach her, please email: cantor@ha-emek.org
If you would like to support her cantorial ordination fund, please visit her GoFundMe campaign at: https://www.gofundme.com/jessicas-cantorial-ordination
If you would like to support her cantorial ordination fund, please visit her GoFundMe campaign at: https://www.gofundme.com/jessicas-cantorial-ordination
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