Important People

The Jewish religion does not have priests in the same way that the Christians do. Instead it relies on a wide variety of people to meet the needs of the community, though it is quite possible that one person may perform more than one of these roles e.g. the Rabbi may be the Mohel.

The Cantor	The Scribe	The Mohel	The Shochet	The Rabbi

The Cantor (chazzan)

In the larger synagogues a cantor is employed to lead the congregation in their singing. This is important since the playing of musical instruments on the Sabbath day is seen as "work" and so can play no part in worship. The cantor's main responsibility is to chant the prayers on the Shabat and other festivals. He will also take part in wedding and funeral services.

The Scribe

The scribe has the important job of copying out new Torah scrolls and the small parchments which are placed in the tefillin. All Torah scrolls are copied by hand, in Hebrew, and if a mistake is made then the whole of that section will be destroyed. A complete Torah scroll may cost over £10,000 .

The Mohel

Traditionally a child's father was given the job of circumcising his eight day old son, this job is now performed by a professional mohel (circumciser)

The Shochet

The sochet is a butcher trained to kill animals according to the law. Only animals that are slaughtered by a shochet are considered Kosher. The laws by which animals are to be killed are called the Shechita.

The Rabbi

In the Jewish tradition the Rabbi is not seen as a intermediary between God and the people as in other religions. Each person is responsible for themselves in the sight of God. The Rabbi is a teacher of the faith and the law. They will be highly trained and educated and have several roles.

• To take part in the Sabbath worship. To lead the prayers, read from the Torah (In Hebrew) and to deliver a sermon on part of the Torah (In English !)
• To conduct weddings and funerals, and to comfort the bereaved
• To educate members of the community in the traditions and the beliefs of Jews
• To visit the members of the community who are sick or unable to attend the synagogue - a rabbi may also act as the Jewish "chaplain" to the local hospital, college or prison
• To form with two other rabbis a bet din, a religious court to decide on matters of Jewish religious law.
• To act as an ambassador for the Jewish community in the region

Important words

• Bet Din - A house of judgment, a Jewish court which decides on disputes between Jews.
• Cantor The song leader who leads much of the public worship in the synagogue.
• Kosher - Hebrew word means "allowed". Decries food that Jews can eat.
• Mohel - A professional who carries out the circumcisions.
• Rabbi - Hebrew word meaning teacher.
• scribe - someone who copies out and repairs the scrolls of the laws
• Shechita - traditional laws which govern the way that animals are killed
• shochet - a person in the Jewish community responsible for killing animal