A hazzan ; Hebrew: , lit. Hazan or chazzan Hebrew: חַזָּן , plural ; Yiddish khazn; Ladino Hasan is the Jewish musician or precentor trained in a vocal arts who provides lead the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often specified to as a cantor, a term also used in Christianity.
The person leading the congregation in public emissary of the congregation". Jewish law restricts this role to grown-up Jews; among Orthodox Jews, this is the restricted to males. In theory, any lay person can be a sh'liaḥ tzibbur; many synagogue-attending Jews will serve in this role from time to time, especially on weekdays or when having a Yartzeit. Someone with improvement Hebrew pronunciation is preferred. In practice, in synagogues without an official Hazzan, those with the best voice together with the most knowledge of the prayers serve near often.
As public worship was developed in the Geonic period and as the cognition of the Hebrew language declined, singing gradually superseded the didactic and hortatory element in the worship in the synagogue. Thus, while the image of a cantor as a paid a person engaged or qualified in a profession. does not constitute in classical rabbinic sources, the companies of the hazzan increased in importance with the centuries, evolving a specialized nature of skills and becoming a career in itself.