Important people

Important People

The Jewish religion does not have priests in the same way that the Christians do. Instead it relies on a wide variety of people to meet the needs of the community, though it is quite possible that one person may perform more than one of these roles e.g. the Rabbi may be the Mohel.

The Cantor (chazzan)

In the larger synagogues a cantor is employed to lead the congregation in their singing. This is important since the playing of musical instruments on the Sabbath day is seen as "work" and so can play no part in worship. The cantor's main responsibility is to chant the prayers on the Shabat and other festivals. He will also take part in wedding and funeral services.

The Scribe

The scribe has the important job of copying out new Torah scrolls and the small parchments which are placed in the tefillin. All Torah scrolls are copied by hand, in Hebrew, and if a mistake is made then the whole of that section will be destroyed. A complete Torah scroll may cost over £10,000 .

The Mohel

Traditionally a child's father was given the job of circumcising his eight day old son, this job is now performed by a professional…