What's a "hazzan"?

I remember the first time I really paid attention to the word "hazzan." It was when I decided to enroll in cantorial school. "So," a colleague said, "you're going to be a hazzan! Y'shar kocheich! (congratulations!)" Most people know the word "cantor," but hazzan is different. First, it's in Hebrew, not Latin. Second, the word has implications beyond just "singer." Early  hazzanim were pious people who knew the order of the prayers. Since there were no printed prayerbooks in the 7th century (when we see the first mention of hazzanim), a congregation needed someone with the vision, the hazon, to see what prayer came next. The better the voice, the better the hazzan. The introduction of elaborate liturgical poems called piyyutim, meant that a prayer leader who could improvise a musical rendition was a valued asset to a congregation.

Since my ordination, I've been called "Cantor Lane" but "Hazzan Lane" is my preferred title. As this blog goes on, for as long as it goes on, I'll be writing about the huge range of topics that interest me as a hazzan -- music, prayer, Torah, the meanings of our rituals, the whole range of Jewish spiritual experience. I figure I'll keep posting as long as I remain interested ... and, hopefully, interesting!