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New website provides a cantor for High Holidays
Selecting a conductor for worldwide Jewish congregations has never been easier: Dozens of cantors from all ethnic groups gather on website giving chance to hear their voice, version and style
Until now, leaders of the different communities would have to go over candidates with a fine tooth comb, in order to find the cantor who was "just right." But now, with the help of the internet, the search has become easier and more convenient.
The International Jewish Connections organization has set up a special website, which features cantors singing their own special melodies, and is aimed at helping congregations find the right cantor for them.
The cantors themselves are carefully selected by the site's managers, and are then recorded and posted on the world's biggest website for religion and cantors at www.ijcconnections.com. With its help, all community leaders have to do is simply click, listen and choose.
"Until now, if a congregation was looking for a cantor they would have to carry extensive searches. Today it's much simpler," says Meir Pinchas, one of the creators of the website.
"You just go into a giant database which contains cantors from all over the world. A congregation would just enter the site, and pick one that they liked based on voice, pitch and style. They can even choose the volume of the cantor, depending on the size of the synagogue in question."
According to Pinchas, choosing a cantor is a big deal for the communities, as each synagogue has a preference for a specific style. For example, a community from the city of Aleppo in Syria has a very specific style and will not settle for anything but correct style, as they are used to their own specific style.
Pinchas explains that with the website, "every community can choose a cantor based on recommendations, or they could just log onto this website, and actually hear the cantor in question, thus removing the concern regarding the style of his singing."
The person behind this undertaking is Zion Yehezkel, one of the prominent cantors in the Jewish world and considered the "personal cantor" of Shas' spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
As the high holidays were approaching, Yosef gathered several of the cantors who appear on the website and wished them luck in their endeavors. In his speech, the rabbi spoke about the importance of the cantor's work with Jewish congregations, especially those who are abroad, with many people viewing the cantor as a religious scholar and rabbi as well.
"And so everyone must talk to the congregation members about Judaism and bring them closer to their Heavenly Father," Yosef told the cantors
It should be noted that the cantor's organization "exports" cantors to the United States, Europe, and even the Far East, in all versions and for all ethnic groups: Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Moroccan, Halabi, Turk, and many others.
