Translation:Shulchan Aruch/Orach Chaim/53
53: THE LAW OF WHO IS APPROPRIATE TO GO DOWN BEFORE THE ARK. Contains 26 seifim.
1 The leader says Yishtabach while standing.
2 One should not say Yishtabach unless he has also said Barukh She'Amar and some of P'sukei D'Zimra.
3 One should not say the bracha on the wrapping of the tzitzit between P'sukei D'Zimra and Yishtabach, rather, between Yishtabach and Yotzer [and see below Chapter 54, Seif 3]. Gloss: If the leader did not have a tallit at the beginning, he should wrap in tzitzit before he begins Yishtabach so that he will say the Kaddish immediately after Yishtabach and not interrupt [Kol Bo, Chapter 5], and similarly, if there is no minyan in the synagogue, the leader should wait with Yishtabach and be silent until the minyan comes and shall say Yishtabach and Kaddish. [Maharil].
4 The leader must be one who is fit. And who is "fit"? That he should be free of sins; and who has never had a poor reputation, even in his youth; and that he should be humble and acceptable to the nation; and is skilled at chanting; and whose voice is pleasant; and who is accustomed to reading Torah, Prophets, and Writings.
5 If no person that fits all these qualifications can be found, they should pick the one that has the most knowledge and good deeds in the community. Gloss: And if there was an ignoramus here who is an elder and his voice is pleasant and the people want him and a 13 year old who understands what he is saying and his voice is not pleasant, the younger one takes precedent [Mordekhai, end of Chapter 1 of Chullin]. One who has committed a sin unintentionally, for example, who killed a person accidentally, and returned in repentance, is permitted to be leader, but if he did it intentionally, he may not, for in any case, a bad name has gone out regarding him prior to the repentance. [Responsum Or Zarua in Tractate Berakhot]
6 We do not appoint anyone who does not have a full beard because of the honor of the congregation, but by happenstance, someone which has grown two hairs can go down before the Ark as long as he has not been appointed by the congregation or by the leader appointing him to relieve him to pray for him for defined occasions.
7 If there is no one there who knows how to be a leader except a boy of 13 years and one day, it is better that he will be the leader than to neglect to hear the K'dushah and Kaddish.
8
Someone who is not bearded: anyone for whom it is recognized that he has arrived at the general age where it is proper to have filled in his beard, we call him one who has filled his beard. Therefore, if he is 20 years old, even though he doesn't have a beard we appoint him.
Gloss: And so too, if he had a beard, even a small one, we call him one who has filled his beard if he is from 18 years and above. [Beit Yosef in the name of Tractate Soferim, chapter 14; and Nimukei Yosef, Chapter "HaKorei Omeid"].
9
A eunuch, there are those who say that it is permitted to appoint him if he is twenty years of age.
10 We can give the benefit of the doubt to places that practice such that the minors go down before the Ark to pray the evening service on Saturday evenings. Gloss: And in places that it is not practiced such, a minor should not pass before the Ark even for the evening service. Even if he arrived at an age which includes 13 years on the day of the Shabbat, he should not pray the evening service on Shabbat for behold he is still not 13 years old [Rabbi Yaakov Levi].
11 A leader who lengthens the prayer so that people will hear his pleasant voice: if it is because he rejoices in his heart that he gives thanks to God, may He be praised, in pleasantness, a blessing shall come upon him. And this is providing that he would pray with weighty intention and stand in dread and fear. But if he intends to make his voice heard and he rejoices in his voice, behold this is detestable. And in any case, anyone who lengthens his prayer does something that is not good because of burdening the congregation.
12 One should not appoint a person who reads "aleph"s like "ayin"s and "ayin"s like "aleph"s.
13 A "pocheiach" ("my servant Isaiah is naked" is translated "my servant Isaiah 'pachach'") – and that is someone whose clothing is torn and his arms are exposed – should not go down before the ark.
14 One who is blind goes down before the ark, as long as he does not read from the Torah, because things that are written, you do not have permission to say them by heart.
15 A permanent leader goes before the ark himself and shouldn't wait until they will tell him.
16 One who is not a permanent leader must decline a bit before he goes down before the ark, and not too much; rather, the first time, he declines, and when they tell him a second time, he readies himself as if he wants to stand up, and on the third time, he should stand up. And if the one who told him that he should go down is an important person, he does not decline to him at all.
17 If a leader erred and they need to replace him, the one whom they ask to replace him should not decline.
18 If a person says "I will not lead because my clothing is colorful" or "because a sandal is on my foot," he should not lead at all for that prayer because it is the way of the heretics to be particular about this, and we are afraid that heresy has fallen upon him. Gloss: [And even if he gives an excuse for his words, it doesn't help] [Beit Yosef in the name of Rabbi Y'honatan].
19 There are those who prevent a convert from being a prayer leader, and their words have been disregarded. Even a single individual can prevent and say 'I don't want so-and-so to be chazzan' if he has not already agreed upon him from the beginning. Gloss: And specifically when that individual has a fair reason with regard to the good of the city, but when not so, an individual cannot prevent a prayer leader [Mahariv, Siman 60]. And if he hates him, he can prevent him before they agreed upon him [Maharam P'duah Siman 104 and Maharik Shoresh 44]. And someone one hates a prayer leader should not be called up to the Torah when reading the Rebuke. [Or Zarua].
20 If one wants to say a Prayer for his father and one wants to say for someone else, whoever the congregation wants to say the Prayer, he should say.
21 We don't appoint a prayer leader on the basis of the ruler, even if most of the congregation wants him.
22 A paid prayer-leader is better than a free one. Gloss: And a person may not pray without the will of the congregation, and anyone who prays strongly and in a way of violence, we don't say "amen" after his blessings [Binyamin Z'eiv, Siman 163; and Aguddah, Chapter "How Does One Recite Blessings"].
23 The wages of the prayer-leader should be taken from the public funds of the congregation. Even though the prayer-leader is fulfilling the obligations for the poor as much as for the rich, in any case, the hand of poor doesn't have the same means as the rich. Gloss: And there are those who say that we collect half according to wealth and half according to the people and so is the custom of the congregations [Maharam Padua, Siman 44].
24 A congregation that needs to hire a Rabbi and prayer-leader and doesn't have money for both, if he is a brilliant rabbi, great in Torah, and an expert in teaching, he is given precedence, and if not, the prayer-leader is given precedence.
25 We do not take a chazzan away from his craft, unless something disqualifying is found in him. Gloss: And we do not take him away because of mere slander – for example that word went out about him that he was caught with a non-Jewish woman or that he informed on a person. But if witnesses came against him regarding this or something similar we remove him. And a prayer-leader that is a ritual-slaughterer and inspector should not pray in the filthy and smelly clothes, and if he does not want to change his clothes at the time of prayer in order to pray, we remove him. And a prayer-leader who fouls his mouth or sings non-Jewish songs, we warn him not to do this, and if he does not listen, we remove him [Kol Bo, daf 125, amud 4] And a prayer leader that who has aged and wants to appoint his son to assist him sometimes, even though his son's voice isn't pleasant like his voice – if he fulfills the rest of the things, his son take precedence over anyone else and the congregation cannot prohibit him. [Responsum of Rashba #9].
26
A community that is accustomed to appoint people for the needs of the community for a limited time, and when the time comes those leave and others replace them, whether as the chazan, or for the charitable trust, or for other positions required by the community; those which are paid a salary or those which are unpaid; even if the time/term is not fixed, implicitly or explicitly alike — this is acceptable because they are accustomed to do so.
Gloss: There are some who wrote that the prayer-leader should pray from the special book for the congregation that was definitely written for it specifically [Maharil in the name of Rokeiach].