[HANASHIR:1845] RE: "cantor"

[Serle, Brian <BSerle...>]

Liz, as far as I know, "chazzan" is NOT an official designation for
either the Reform or Conservative official organizations and schools I
mentioned.  If you look in the Artscroll Siddur (prayerbook), all the
instructions mention the "chazzan", so in my opinion, this term would
apply to ANY person who was leading services, not necessarily with an
official professional description.

By the way, my Wisconsin license plate clearly identifies me as a
CHAZZAN, and insofar as the Wisconsin Division of Motor Vehicles is an
official agency, I guess I am officially a CHAZZAN.  (Well, at least
according to the prison inmate who made my license plate!)

Have a good week.

Brian

        -----Original Message-----
        From:   Elizabeth Zoller [SMTP:LizzieZ (at) IDT(dot)NET]
        Sent:   Monday, November 23, 1998 4:56 PM
        To:     hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
        Subject:        [HANASHIR:1844] RE: "cantor"

        Does the same go for the word "chazzan?"  Is this just a literal
        translation of (ordained) cantor, or does it refer to whoever is
leading
        the singing for a service?  I have had many people refer to me
as a chazzan
        (or chazzanit), though I, too, have not actually been ordained
as a cantor.
        When people ask specifically if I am a cantor, I never hesitate
to explain
        the schooling and that one must be ordained to have that title,
that
        technically I am a cantorial soloist, but I'm curious about the
chazzan
        distinction.  Can anyone clarify?  Thanks!

        Liz