[HANASHIR:15103] Re: the whole cantor thing (ashamnu, bagadnu, katavti harbei!)

[Tami Crystal <hananya...>]

In reply to Ms. Lerner-

    As a rabbi I would love to see a congregation where the rabbi dictated
what he/she wanted to a rubber stamp board, especially about services. I
don't know any and I served at a mega shul which had that reputation.
   The reality is that a rabbi and a cantor are always limited by what the
liturgical practice of the community has been. No matter how much they are
wanted, how strong they are when they come in, how much they are able to use
the inevitable politics to work to change preconditions and preconceptions,
they are always hampered and often sabotaged by the very strong feelings of
the community of what a "real" service should be. (This definition of what a
"real" service is is, of course, different in each community.)
    The fact that those feelings about what is a legitimate service in their
eyes may be illegitimate in terms of Jewish liturgical tradition or Jewish
musical tradition is irrelevant to congregants who admit that they don';t
know much but know what they like "and that was not they way we do it rabbi
(cantor)."
    It is part of our jobs (as well as our vocations) to educate the
communities we serve. Most Jews, if they do come to services, come with an
almost total illiteracy in Hebrew, in the structure of the service and the
history of each prayer. Their reactions are emotional, not intellectual and
rarely factual, but none the less vocal and repetitively voiced.
    Therefore we who are religious leaders must be educated to not only
frame and impart that missing knowledge through both didactic teaching and
visceral experience but also be educated to work to help them break down
their resistance to opening them to new experiences - by definition any
experince that is not theirs, whether it is mainstream Judaism or anything
not minhag haMakom. We have to know -which means we have to learn - indepth,
one on one and in groups in a formal program. Just as Talmud cannot be
studied on your own the indepth learning to be a rabbi and cantor takes
place in the space between the bars which only comes about in formalized,
consistent, relentless study.
    Adrian is completely right- the unions are guilds and exclusionary. But
they do not make you a Cantor. They only guarantee you the right to work
within their union shops (and even that is often waived.) It is your
learning that makes you a Cantor. And a congregation deserves no less than a
fully educated Cantor who knows the tradition so thoroughly they can work
with the community and move them beyond their self-imposed ignorance.
    Anyone can learn to sing a service. Nusach is not brain surgery. However
only an educated Cantor can draw on the depth and breadth of knowledge to
educate those they have chosen to serve. For now that means a formal program
which at this moment is concentrated, albeit imperfectly, in the seminaries.
    All my Rabbi and Cantor friends are late-career changers. We did it at
great personal and financial cost. I cannot tell you if it was worth it; I
can only tell you we, to a person, felt we could not argue ourselves away
rom doing it. If anyone wishes to discuss this with those who made the
choice I will be happy to put them in contact with those who did.

Rabbi Tami Crystal


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "elerner1" <elerner1 (at) rochester(dot)rr(dot)com>
To: <hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org>
Sent: Thursday, August 14, 2003 3:08 PM
Subject: [HANASHIR:15099] Re: the whole cantor thing (ashamnu, bagadnu,
katavti harbei!)


> Dear Erik, that was really a great posting. I just have to comment on
> what you wrote here:
>
> erik contzius wrote:
>
> >I believe it
> >was someone else on the listserv who suggested that
> >since a shaliakh tzibbur is literally a “messenger
> >from the congregation,” it is ultimately the
> >congregation itself which empowers an individual (or
> >individuals) to serve in that capacity, and although
> >one may be “legitimate” in the eyes of an institution,
> >it is the congregation which makes the individual
> >“legitimate” in their capacity within their
> >institution.
> >
> >
> I think you are right and that is the way it is "supposed" to run, but
> in fact what I find is the congregation is run by the rabbi (whether or
> not he/she admits what decisions are made openly.) And the board is
> often staffed by those who makes decisions more of what the rabbi wants
> (and sometimes I'm not sure the board is well enough informed to make a
> decision) and not necessary what the congregation wants, not to mention,
> of course, that the congregation is often divided on what it wants so
> there is no middle ground. I think some Rabbi's prefer those who are not
> invested because the Rabbi has more influence if the rabbi is a
> control-freak.So Politics is the Reality. So there is NO easy answer to
> any of this. I also agree with you or maybe it was another writer posted
> about the monetary aspect---( I didn't feel the medical analogy was
> applicable in this case, but.....) a hospital wants a doctor; it has to
> hire a doctor and the doctor has to continually educated himself. A
> synagogue wants someone to lead services or teach or whatever, it does
> NOT have to hire an invested cantor which costs the institution a lot
> more. The temple can go outside the "unions" to hire someone who is not
> invested. A hospital cannot. It can hire outside the perscirbed system,
> but that hiree HAS to have an MD degree for that position and the
> hospital has to pay enough if it wants that physician.
>
> It is wonderful the level of education one has to to do to be come a
> cantor (which makes me wonder why not go one and be a rabbi also?) and
> obviously that knowledge is necessary in many places. I still wonder,
> however, with many temples prefering to sing the same melodies every
> week, and wanting more folksy services, as far as the musical part of
> the job goes, would not a cantor get pretty bored for that matter after
> all those years of training? Ellen
>
>

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