In Appreciation and Support of the Reform Cantorate


Resolution

Adopted by the CCAR

IN

APPRECIATION AND SUPPORT OF THE REFORM CANTORATE


Adopted by the Board of Trustees
Central

Conference of American Rabbi
June 10, 2003

We recognize

with pride the work done by the School of Sacred Music of the Hebrew

Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, which for over 50 years

has trained men and women to serve our movement with knowledge,

devotion, and a commitment to our past, present and future.

While the rabbi holds the

leadership responsibility for the professional staff team, we the

members of the Board of Trustees of the Central Conference of American

Rabbis value the critical role that cantors can play in transmitting

our Jewish heritage and in enriching our worship, creating

opportunities to discover the divine within each of us. We look to

them as colleagues who join with us in offering pastoral care to our

congregants and in raising the level of Jewish knowledge and

observance.

Many

congregations affiliated with the Union of American Hebrew

Congregations have bestowed the title of “Cantor” on lay soloists

who have not been invested as cantors, or jointly certified as cantors

by the American Conference of Cantors and the School of Sacred Music.

The School of Sacred Music confers the title of Cantor only on those

individuals who have completed a rigorous and approved course of study

so that they have thereby prepared themselves for investiture. We

expect UAHC congregations to accept the standard set by the SSM in the

same way that they recognize the rabbis ordained by the College-

Institute and therefore not to bestow the title of Cantor on

individuals who have not earned it.

THEREFORE, the Board of the Central

Conference of American Rabbis resolves to:

  • Urge our colleagues and the leaders of

    our Reform congregations to support the efforts of the College-

    Institute and the American Conference of Cantors by turning to the ACC

    to provide invested cantors who will serve our congregations with

    kavanah, knowledge and authenticity.

  • Encourage our colleagues and the leaders

    of our congregations to refrain from bestowing the title of cantor on

    lay persons, however well versed in music and Judaica they might be;

  • Call upon our

    colleagues and synagogue leaders to identify bright and talented women

    and men and encourage them to apply for admission to the School of

    Sacred Music, so that our movement will be enriched by properly

    trained invested cantors who will preserve our musical heritage and

    enhance the spiritual life of the congregations in our movement.

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