T

he members of the 
Michigan Board of 
Cantors want you to 
know that they are more than 
a collection of pretty voices. 
Someone who simply leads 
and interprets prayers is not 
necessarily a cantor. The 
equivalent would be calling 
anyone who presents an inter-
pretation on a Jewish text a 
rabbi, he said.
“Singing is just a little bit 
of what we do,
” he said. Even 
the English translation of the 
Hebrew word hazzan to “can-
tor,
” a Latin word taken from 
the Christian church, doesn’
t 
do justice to the role. The 
Hebrew word “hazzan” implies 
“visionary” and includes not 
only leading Jewish prayer 
but also Jewish education and 
pastoral care, said Gross of 

Adat Shalom Synagogue in 
Farmington Hills. He prefers 
the title “hazzan” to “cantor.
”
Neil Michaels of Temple 
Israel in West Bloomfield 
and current president of the 
Michigan Board 
of Cantors, says 
cantors have tra-
ditionally been 
responsible for 
leading prayer, 
chanting Torah, 
working with 
choirs, train-
ing b’
nai mitzvah students 
and teaching Hebrew in reli-
gious schools. Now, he said, 
“their role has expanded to 
include giving eulogies and 
sermons, counseling and even 
preparing an individual for 
conversion.
” 
The hazzan is known as the 

shaliach tzibor, the emissary 
of the congregation; the word 
has visionary overtones. In 
ages past, the hazzan led the 
community in 
public prayer while 
the rabbi’
s job was 
mainly to teach, 
counsel and answer 
questions of law, 
said Hazzan Steve 
Klaper, a found-
er of Song & Spirit Institute 
for Peace in Royal Oak. New 
Jewish communities would 
often hire a hazzan before hir-
ing a rabbi, and cantors were 
recognized by the civil author-
ities as clergy with authority to 
solemnize marriages.
“Hazzanim are more than 
singers or performers,
” he said. 
“The shul is not a theatrical 
stage and davening is not a 
concert. We teach and lead 
worship through an alternate 
carrier wave, creating an effect 
at once emotional, intellectual 
and spiritual. We change the 
vibration of the room and the 
state of mind of the congre-
gants in ways that most rabbis 
cannot. We are the spiritual 
caretakers of the congregation.
”
The training for hazzanim is 
similar to that of rabbis, Gross 
said. In the major American 
cantorial schools at the 
Jewish Theological Seminary 
(Conservative) and Hebrew 
Union College/Jewish Institute 
of Religion (Reform), cantorial 
study takes five years, including 
one in Israel. At the end of the 
program, the hazzanim are 
ordained or invested and are 
considered to be clergy. 
“Cantors in this community 
are truly respected” on a level 
similar to rabbis. That’
s not 
true in every community, he 
added. 

MARTY ABRIN

Cantor Neil 
Michaels 

22 | JANUARY 16 • 2020 

Jews in the D

More Than 
Pretty Voices

Local cantors explain the breadth and 
responsibility of their roles. 

BARBARA LEWIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Hazzan 
Steve Klaper

LEFT: Hazzan Daniel Gross at the 
ark at Adat Shalom Synagogue in 
Farmington Hills

Rabbi Shneur Silberberg of Bais 
Chabad of West Bloomfield is 
leading a class at 11 a.m. Sunday, 
Jan. 19, at the synagogue called 
“The Great Impeachment.”
 Did you know that one of the 
greatest leaders of the Talmudic 
era was impeached? Join 
Silberberg as he relives the story 
of the great Rabban Gamliel, his 
removal from leadership and the 
aftermath — and lessons — of 
that remarkable episode. 
“You’
 
ll gain an understand-
ing of one of the most tenuous 
periods in Jewish history as well 
as some very important lessons 
in Jewish leadership,” Silberberg 
said. “This class is entirely non-
political as far as current U.S. 
politics — even if the title is 
somewhat provocative.” 
A complimentary break-
fast will be served. There is no 
charge to attend, but RSVP to 
RabbiShneur@baischabad.com. 

‘
The Great Impeachment’

The Jewish Women’
s 
Foundation of Metropolitan 
Detroit is now accepting 
requests for funding in 2020.
Letters of Intent are due 
no later than noon on Friday, 
Jan. 31. For a grant applica-
tion timeline, guidelines and 
instructions, visit jwfdetroit.org 
and click on grants; or contact 
director Susan Cassels Kamin at 
kamin@jfmd.org or (248) 203-
1524.
The Jewish Women’
s 
Foundation of Metropolitan 
Detroit is a grantmaking orga-
nization that advances social 
change by expanding opportu-
nities for Jewish women, their 
families and community. 

Jewish Women’
s 
Foundation Grant 
Cycle Open