The Bible and Music

On Thursday, Dr. McGrath invited Giora Sharon to speak in front of the class. Sharon is a cantor which means that he leads prayer and sings liturgical music in a synagogue. First, he introduced himself, and spoke of his experience as a cantor. He said that he was destined to become a cantor, because his father and grandfather were as well. His first lessons in music began when he was only four years old. He said that, because he came from a long line of cantors, he learned to sing before he learned to speak his first language. After his introduction, he spoke of the history of the cantor position, and especially drew attention to the fact that up until the 1960’s, a woman never been cantor in a synagogue. He then played a few examples of the liturgical music played and the prayers led in a synagogue, one even performed by a woman cantor. Not being of the Jewish religion, I found it interesting to learn about the practices in a synagogue and the position of a cantor. His presentation was very interesting, educational and eyeopening.