{"id":8463,"date":"2016-02-20T16:00:46","date_gmt":"2016-02-20T14:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/?p=8463"},"modified":"2018-05-24T13:05:28","modified_gmt":"2018-05-24T10:05:28","slug":"03-20-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-20-16\/","title":{"rendered":"16. The \u0124azan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <em>\u0125azan<\/em> leads the prayer service. At times, the whole congregation says the prayers together with him while he sets the pace, and at other times (such as <em>\u0124azarat Ha-shatz <\/em>and <em>Kaddish<\/em>), he alone recites the prayers, with the congregation responding \u201camen.\u201d The <em>\u0125azan<\/em> must be honest, well-regarded, modest, and amiable, have a nice voice, and regularly read from the Torah, Prophets, and Holy Scripture (<em>Ta\u2019anit<\/em> 16a; SA 53:4). We are especially strict about this on the Days of Awe and on fast days, when we pray to God and beg Him to forgive us for our sins, save us from our troubles, and bring our redemption closer. If there is flaw in the <em>\u0125azan<\/em>, the congregation\u2019s prayer will not ascend properly (Rema 581:1).<\/p>\n<p>During the time of the Sages, it was forbidden to write <em>siddurim<\/em> because only the written Torah, meaning Tanakh, was permitted to be written. Anything that was transmitted orally, including the prayers and blessings instituted by the Sages, was forbidden to be put into writing (<em>Temura<\/em> 14b). At that time, the <em>\u0125azan<\/em>\u2019s task was very important, because he had to know all the prayers by heart and recite them aloud, for the audience fulfilled their obligations through him. Therefore, the congregation chose a permanent <em>\u0125azan<\/em> for this honorable task, and all the particular laws that apply to appointing the <em>\u0125azan<\/em> on fast days also pertained to the regular <em>\u0125azan<\/em>. Originally, each and every member of the congregation would have to agree to the appointment of the <em>\u0125azan<\/em>, since the <em>\u0125azan<\/em> was the one who fulfilled the obligation on everyone\u2019s behalf. However, after the destruction of the Second Temple, the Sages recognized the necessity of permitting the writing of the Oral Torah so that it would not be forgotten by the Jewish people. Included in that was the permission to write down the prayers. With time, <em>siddurim <\/em>became increasingly common, and today there is no need for the <em>\u0125azan<\/em> to fulfill the obligation on the congregation\u2019s behalf because all congregants pray with <em>siddurim<\/em>. Hence, there is less of a need to be meticulous in choosing a <em>\u0125azan<\/em>, and it is not customary to select a permanent <em>\u0125azan<\/em> for the whole year. Instead, each day a different person leads the prayer service (SA 53:19; MB 53:53).<\/p>\n<p>Even so, the <em>gabba\u2019im<\/em>, must try to choose as <em>\u0125azanim <\/em>decent people who abide by the Torah and observe the <em>mitzvot. <\/em>They should be people who the congregation agrees to appoint as its emissaries, for the <em>\u0125azanim<\/em> are the ones who repeat the <em>Amida<\/em> and recite\u00a0 <em>Kaddish<\/em> on its behalf (see <em>Kaf Ha-\u0125ayim<\/em> 53:86). Additionally, on Shabbat and festivals, when it is customary for <em>\u0125azanim<\/em> to sing and chant part of the service, the appointed <em>\u0125azanim<\/em> should be musically gifted with pleasant voices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The \u0125azan leads the prayer service. At times, the whole congregation says the prayers together with him while he sets the pace, and at other times (such as \u0124azarat Ha-shatz and Kaddish), he alone recites the prayers, with the congregation responding \u201camen.\u201d The \u0125azan must be honest, well-regarded, modest, and amiable, have a nice voice, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[124],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-03-20"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>16. 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At times, the whole congregation says the prayers together with him while he sets the pace, and at other times (such as \u0124azarat Ha-shatz and Kaddish), he alone recites the prayers, with the congregation responding \u201camen.\u201d The \u0125azan must be honest, well-regarded, modest, and amiable, have a nice voice, [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ph.yhb.org.il\/en\/03-20-16\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Peninei Halakha\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-20T14:00:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-24T10:05:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"orah765768\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"orah765768\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/03-20-16\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/03-20-16\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"orah765768\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/ph.yhb.org.il\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0996d17962bfd8ffd1c8ef7117a4204b\"},\"headline\":\"16. 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