Hazzan

A hazzan or chazzan (Hebrew for "cantor") is a Jewish musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the synagogue in songful prayer.

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There are many rules relating to how a cantor should lead services, but the idea of a cantor as a paid professional does not exist in classical rabbinic sources. The Jewish prayer services have their own entry; the prayers in these services are collected in a prayerbook known as the siddur.

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The person leading the congregation in public prayers is called the shaliach tzibbur (Hebrew for "emissary of the congregation"). Traditional Jewish law restricts the shaliach tzibbur to be males over the age of 13; the non-Orthodox Jewish movements allow women over the age of 12 to have this role as well.

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In theory, any lay person can be a shaliach tzibuur; most synagogue attending Jews serve in this role at least once in their life. In practice, those with the best voice and the most knowledge of the prayers serve much more often.

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Hebrew: The word Hebrew can variously mean:...

Jew: The word Jew (Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity; and often a combination of these attributes....

Siddur: The siddur is the prayerbook used by Jews the world over, containing a set order of daily prayers. There is a separate entry on the prayers that appear in the siddur, and when they are said. This entry discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur as we know it today has developed....