Cantor working on Shabbat – Ask the Rabbi
Q. How can a cantor accept pay for working on the Sabbath?
A. Conducting services is not “work” in the technical sense.
Talmudic congregations did not have paid chazanim, but there is a discussion about the translator who renders the weekly portion into Aramaic or amplifies the rabbi’s discourse. If he accepts payment for carrying out this function on Shabbat, he will not see blessing from it because it appears like wages for Shabbat (Pes. 50b).
But is payment forbidden or simply not recommended?
The Shulchan Aruch says, “It is forbidden to engage chazanim to officiate on Shabbat, but some permit it”. Moses Isserles adds, “But if they are engaged by the year or the month, all agree that it is permitted” (Orach Chayyim 306:5). The Mishnah B’rurah and others add that it is customary to follow the lenient view even if the chazan is engaged for Shabbat.
