The American Conference of Cantors and YOU

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The American Conference of Cantors
and
YOU

• Finding a Cantor for Your Congregation

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The following is an excerpt from an article
written by Steven G. Vegh for The
Virginian-Pilot.

• The unfolding service was as much sung as
  spoken, with Cantor Jennifer Bern-Vogel singing,
  often a cappella, or in unison with the
  congregation. In speaking, her voice was young
  in singing, her soprano was graceful, rich,
  tender and confident. She also sermonized on
  Deuteronomy. We cried to Adonai, and Adonai saw
  our plight, and heard us, she said.

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Excerpt continued

• Ohef Sholom members said they can no longer
  imagine their synagogue without a cantor.
• When the music plays and the cantors voice
  begins, it melts away that secular world. It
  sets the stage, and youre ready to get in touch
  with the divine.

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Cantors Who We Are

• Mission Statement
• The American Conference of Cantors supports its
  members in their sacred calling as emissaries for
  Judaism and for Jewish music. The ACC responds to
  the needs of its membership, congregations and
  the Reform Movement.

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Who We Are (continued)

• We provide our communities with compelling
  experiences of text, music, learning, human
  relationships and connectedness to God. We do
  this sacred work in partnership with other arms
  of the Reform Movement all over the world.

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Cantors What We Do

• The ACC is the professional organization of
  over 450 invested and/or certified cantors.
  Responsible for maintaining the highest possible
  standards among synagogue musicians who serve the
  Reform Movement, the ACC offers continuing
  education programs in conjunction with HUC-JIR,
  School of Sacred Music and professional
  development opportunities for its members.

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What We Do (continued)

• Members of the ACC serve synagogues and
  communities in pastoral, worship, programming,
  and educational roles. The ACC also offers
  placement services to its members and to URJ
  congregations through the Joint Cantorial
  Placement Commission.

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An invested or certified cantor

• Has explored his/her religious and spiritual
  identity with special emphasis on its Reform core
• Has a comprehensive knowledge of Jewish Music,
  Hebrew, Liturgy, Bible, Jewish History, Pedagogy,
  Cantillation, Reform History and Practice
• Knows what it means to lead prayer, to engage the
  worshipper, to connect with the sacred, to
  interpret liturgical text and to add layers of
  voices to it

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An ACC cantor

• Has worked/trained in partnership with ordained
  rabbis and is prepared to be a full member of a
  clergy team
• (of recent vintage) Has spent a year of study at
  the Jerusalem campus of the HUC-JIR, and has thus
  experienced an extended encounter with Israel
• Adheres to the ACCs placement guidelines,
  general standards for membership and Code of
  Ethics

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An ACC cantor

• Is a Jewish professional, either invested or
  certified by the HUC-JIR, SSM
• Is committed to the values, traditions, and
  ethics of Reform Judaism and has chosen to be a
  leader and teacher within its Movement
• Has chosen the cantorate as a lifes work and has
  studied towards that goal for at least 4 years of
  post-graduate study, developing an ability to
  support or to build a congregational community
  founded on Torah, Avodah and G'milut Chasadim

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What will a cantor do for OUR congregation?

• Assist in the creation of a holy community
• Assist in identifying new and exciting modalities
  of worship which are accessible and genuine,
  rooted in Jewish musical tradition and aimed
  heavenward
• Enable various choral/instrumental groups to
  gather and make Jewish music
• Engage with adult learners

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What will a cantor do for our congregation?
(continued)

• Connect with Bnai Mitzvah so as to keep them
  committed to Torah study after they come of age
• Find ways to stimulate our youngest students
  through song and prayer
• Be a positive and spiritual presence and Jewish
  role model in the life of the congregation

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Placement Opportunities through the ACC

• Permanent Cantorial Positions
• Interim Cantorial Positions
• Assistant Associate Cantorial Positions
• Limited Service Positions
• High Holiday Cantorial Positions

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Placement Opportunities (cont.)

• Administrative, Academic Positions
• Cantor-Educator Positions
• Military Chaplaincies
• Spiritual Leader Positions
• Substitutes for Maternity Leave,
• Sabbatical Leave, etc.

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Placement Categories Cantors

• Full Member/Regular Member
• Associate Member (Cantorial Intern)may enter
  placement 60 days after graduating SSM students
• Graduating Student (eligible for placement after
  February 1st)

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Placement Categories Congregations

• Tier OneOpen to all Full ACC MembersUp to 599
  Member Units
• Tier TwoOpen to those who have been Full ACC
  Members for 3 or more yearsUp to 999 Member
  Units
• Tier ThreeOpen to those who have been Full ACC
  Members for 7 or more yearsOver 1000 Member Units

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The Joint Cantorial Placement Commission JCPC

• A national body whose members represent
• The American Conference of Cantors
• Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of
  Religion, School of Sacred Music
• The Union for Reform Judaism

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The JCPC (continued)

• The JCPC establishes policies and procedures
  while overseeing the placement process for
  congregations
• Placement of cantors in pulpit and non-pulpit
  positions
• Review and revision of placement procedures
• Analysis of/intervention in individual placement
  situations
• Ongoing review and assessment of each placement
  season

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Honoring Commitments The Cantor

• A cantor under contract, whether oral or
  written, is ineligible to apply for any position
  that commences prior to the termination of
  his/her contractual commitment, without the
  express written consent of the president of the
  cantors present congregation. Therefore, such
  consent is required on behalf of any cantor
  entering placement before the beginning of the
  last year of his/her contract. A copy of this
  consent must be sent to the JCPC.

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Honoring Commitments The Congregation

• A congregation applying for a cantor through
  the JCPC pledges that it will conduct its search
  in consonance with Cantorial Placement Procedures
  and that it will not seek to engage a cantor,
  soloist, or any other person to fill the position
  listed by registering with any other agency or by
  any other means at the same time that it is
  registered for placement with the JCPC.

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Pertinent Links with Other ACC Documents

• Cantorial-Congregational Relationships
• The contractual agreement between a congregation
  and its cantor should also be a covenant through
  which the parties undertake the obligation of
  working together in service to God and the Jewish
  people. The covenant will be strengthened by
  regular and candid communication
• All relationships and agreements between
  congregation and cantor should conform to the
  provisions contained in these guidelines

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NCPCR National Commission on
Professional-Congregational Relations

• The NCPCR is a joint commission of the Union for
  Reform Judaism and the ACC (or NATE or NATA).
  Each institution appoints an equal number of
  members to the Commission. The function of the
  NCPCR is to attempt to resolve disputes between
  synagogue professionals and their congregations
  and to recommend preventive measures that will
  help congregations and these professionals
  function harmoniously together.

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How do we start to find a cantor?

• The congregation appoints a cantorial search
  chairperson
• The search chairperson contacts the ACCs
  Director of Placement
• The search chairperson visits the ACC Website
  (http//www.accantors.org) where the placement
  application, the Cantorial-Congregational
  Relationships Document and a list of placement
  tips can be found

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Confidentiality

• Confidentiality Agreement
• As a member of the Cantorial Search Committee, I
  assume the sacred task of recommending a cantor
  to the Board of Directors of the Congregation. I
  understand that in taking on this duty, I am
  obligated to keep all information concerning
  candidates, their histories, backgrounds and any
  personal or private information in the strictest
  of confidence.
• Signed,
• _________________________ __________________

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Steps in the Cantorial Search

• Select the search committee
• Develop the job description and send it to the
  ACC along with the completed application for
  placement
• Review submitted resumes
• Evaluate CDs
• Conduct phone interviews
• Hold first meeting - audition, interview, tour of
  facility, private meeting with rabbi

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Steps in the Cantorial Search (continued)

• Hold second interview - more in-depth follow-up
  questions, introduce the entire staff, tour local
  housing/community
• Visit cantor in her/his current pulpit
• Extend offer if accepted, notify ACC
• Conduct financial negotiations notify ACC when
  all is signed

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Transition Teams Tasks

• 1. Integrate the cantor into and orient him/her
  to the congregation as a whole
• history, minhag, culture, myths, beliefs, norms
• 2. Introduce the cantor to the individual
  congregants and vice versa
• subgroups, leaders, supporters, naysayers
• 3. Welcome the cantor into and acquaint her/him
  with the community at large
• resources, players, pitfalls, history, culture

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To summarize, todays ACC members

• are cantors whose voices are inviting, inspiring
  and evocative
• are skillfully and gracefully enabling
  worshippers to make music

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These are cantors who

• are caring teachers whose lives are examples of
  meaningful Jewish living
• are a reassuring and comforting presence on and
  off the bima

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Sacred Song

• Originally a lecture given in 1957, the essay
  The Vocation of the Cantor documents how Abraham
  Joshua Heschel understands music in the
  synagogue. (Michael Heymel, A Witness to the
  Existence of God Music in the Work of Abraham J.
  Heschel)
• To sing means to sense and to affirm that the
  spirit is real and that its glory is present. In
  singing we perceive what is otherwise beyond
  perceiving. Song, and particularly liturgical
  song, is not only an act of expression but also a
  way of bringing down the spirit from heaven to
  earth.

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ACC

• Let us serve
• your congregations
• with
• our hearts,
• minds
• and voices.