[HANASHIR:6436] Re: Certification of Synagogue Musicians

[Adrian Durlester <durleste...>]

If licensing or certification becomes a barrier to those who "can't afford
it" , might not a better solution be to provide suitable financial support
for those people rather than abandon the idea of certification? If, as you
suggest, some of those unable to afford are also those who are more capable,
then a system of scholarships and financial aid would surely find them and
support them!

I'd love to have references for your assertion that certification tests
historically evolve to cover more than necessary. Perhaps a fair evaluation
of the data might yield another result: declining standards?

I would suggest that the "one ordaining institution" barrier to the Reform
rabbinate and cantorate is far more discriminatory and exclusive than the
type of widely available certification training I have been suggesting.

Maybe artistic ability can't necessarily be tested (though I wouldn't accept
that as a blanket statement) but it certainly can be "evaluated."

Will some people fall through the cracks? Probably. But I would weigh the
potential benefit to both the congregations and the practitioners who
receive certification as tipping the balance in favor.

Adrian

> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org [mailto:owner-hanashir (at) 
> shamash(dot)org]On
> Behalf Of Freedabet (at) aol(dot)com
> Sent: Monday, July 03, 2000 8:28 AM
> To: durleste (at) home(dot)com; hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
> Cc: gtm (at) shamash(dot)org
> Subject: [HANASHIR:6433] Re: Certification of Synagogue Musicians
>
>
> Having studied such issues while earning a degree in Economics at
> a 'laissez
> faire'-leaning institution, I will disagree that licensing and
> certification
> in general is a desirable thing.  It acts primarily as a barrier
> to entry to
> the occupation to those who aren't certified, and benefits those who can
> afford the time and/or money to become certified at the expense
> of those who
> aren't certified but perhaps more capable.  Historically,
> certification tests
> evolve to cover much more material than is necessary for
> competence in the
> occupation.  And, in the arts, the effects are magnified because artistic
> ability can't be 'tested.'
>
> Michael


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