Re: Cantors.

[Cantor Neil & Katie Schwartz <schwartz...>]

>>I am finding the  discussion about cantors to be quite interesting and
>>informative.  I cannot understand why our esteemed <vebmiester> would
>>want to squelch any further discussion.  <Cantors> are involved  with
>><Jewish music>;  this is a  Jewish music list.  What is the problem?
>
>Other than a torturous misreading of my post as other than
>objecting to the religious quarrel that was raised, I'm not
>sure what the issue would be either.
>
>There will be no discussion of Orthodox vs. Reform or any other
>flavor of Judaism on this list, except to the extent of noting
>differences in music minhag or melody.
>

Ari,

Usually I leave you alone, because being a list monitor (or whatever
the term is) is a difficult and thankless job.  So, first off, thank
you for helping this list be relatively free of "Spam" and such.

Now, for the issue.  Unless I missed something, no one is discussing
differences among the religious movements in this thread.  We are
discussing whether one entire aspect of Jewish music will be alive
in 50 years, or whether we will only know of Hazzanut as a museum
item thru recordings.  This is a problem for every movement in Judaism
(with the possible exception of Chassidim).  Already the position of
Hazzan is dying out among many Orthodox shuls.  The rest of us may be
next as money gets tighter and our admittedly arcane knowledge of the
Nusach (prayer modes) and cantillations is less valued in the future.

This is a Jewish music issue, not a religion or halacha issue.  If
the people who care enough about Jewish music to read these posts do
not help us Cantors keep Hazazanut alive, we certainly cannot rely
on the rest of our congregants to do so.  My sincere thanks to those
readers who have engaged some of us cantors in wonderful dialogs.
You make it fun to participate here; I wish I could meet some of you.

As I said before, a Hazzan fulfills many roles, most of them doing
everything but singing.  Here I play the role of "specialist in a
type of Jewish music", which seldom comes up in the congregation
except during Adult Education.  A discussion like this thread is
fun, educational, and stimulating - please let it ride and we'll all
see where it leads.  The experience is unique to this type of media.

                                               Happy Chanukka,

                                               Cantor Neil Schwartz