# My brother is now a Hazzan **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 3, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-is-now-a-hazzan/598438 "2011-10-03T15:34:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-is-now-a-hazzan/598438/1 "2011-10-03T15:34:27Z")
Update of [this thread from January 2006](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=355438). **ScubaBigBro** was invested as a Hazzan this past May. Next week he starts as pulpit Hazzan in St. Petersburg. [His bio is on the second half of the Cantor page.](http://www.cbistpete.org/cantor.htm) Kol tuv to my brother! ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-is-now-a-hazzan/598438/2 "2011-10-03T15:42:44Z")
That’s great! Mazal Tov! ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-is-now-a-hazzan/598438/3 "2011-10-03T16:00:21Z")
Heh, cool. I presume part of chazzan training is about how not to get a sore throat? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-is-now-a-hazzan/598438/4 "2011-10-03T16:30:23Z")
Huzzah! Hazzan! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-is-now-a-hazzan/598438/5 "2011-10-03T16:33:35Z")
Oh. Cool! I feel silly that I didn’t realize such a position existed. I’m honestly impressed that there’s a school for this sort of thing, rather than just picking up music majors, like usually happens in my faith. And I listened to a couple videos: he’s not bad! I’m very happy for him. > [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Heh, cool. I presume part of chazzan training is about how not to get a sore throat? I sure hope so. It wouldn’t be very good to train someone to sing without teaching them how to sing “correctly.” If your throat hurts and you sing, you can actually damage your voice. He sounds like he knows the technique. Maybe I’ll elaborate later. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-is-now-a-hazzan/598438/6 "2011-10-03T17:31:09Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > Heh, cool. I presume part of chazzan training is about how not to get a sore throat? I sure hope so. It’s an occupational hazard. > [@BigT](#): > > Oh. Cool! I feel silly that I didn’t realize such a position existed. I’m honestly impressed that there’s a school for this sort of thing, rather than just picking up music majors, like usually happens in my faith. It’s a very small school within Jewish Theological Seminary of America – his class was 8 people, and they were fighting for the same small list of open positions. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-is-now-a-hazzan/598438/7 "2011-10-03T18:28:53Z")
Is he also a moyel? Hazzan chop! 😉 That’s a Bugs Bunny reference, BTW… Congratulations to him from a Gentile that watches too many old cartoons. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-is-now-a-hazzan/598438/8 "2011-10-03T18:35:02Z")
Danged edit window. [Bugs Bunny cite.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ali_Baba_Bunny) ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-is-now-a-hazzan/598438/9 "2011-10-05T16:00:31Z")
I have had very little exposure to Judaism throughout my life. I don’t live in an area with a large Jewish population of any description, much less orthodox Jews. Hell, the only guy from Israel I know and work with is a thoroughly Americanized atheist. As such, I had no idea what a hazzan is. So, I looked for Youtube videos and found this: [Yakov Yosef Stark](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWWXZUbZ1Mg) Wow. Just, wow. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-brother-is-now-a-hazzan/598438/10 "2011-10-05T20:02:37Z")
According to the link and the other thread, he’s in Conservative Judaism, not Orthodox. They aren’t as strict as Orthodox, but have more devotional practices than “observant on Hanukkah” Reform. Congrats to him. Thanks for teaching me a new term. Best of luck to him.