Liturgical Role of the Ḥazzan

The ḥazzan of the synagogue says to them, “Blow a long blast, priests, blow a long blast,” and then he again says to them, “He who answered Abraham on Mount Moriah, He will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day.” They blow a long blast, a wavering blast, and a long blast. For the second, he recites, “Blessed be the Lord, God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Blessed be He who remembers the forgotten,” and they respond after him, “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom.” The ḥazzan of the synagogue says to them, “Blow a wavering blast, sons of Aaron, blow a wavering blast,” and then again he says to them, “He who answered Moses and our ancestors at the Sea of Reeds, He will answer you and hear the sound of your cry on this day.” They blow a long blast and a wavering blast—one long blast and one wavering blast, one long blast and one wavering blast, until he completes them all. This was the practice established by R. Ḥalafta in Sepphoris, and R. Ḥananiah ben Teradyon in Sikhni. But when the matter came before the sages, they said: They would follow this practice only at the eastern gates [of the Temple].