Welcome to the Virtual Cantor

The purpose of this site is to promote the proliferation of Nusach and to make a Nusach readily accessible to those who have a desire to learn and a desire to deepen their Judaism. This site is a volunteer work in progress.

The digital recordings have been encoded as 16 kbs MP3 files. Each is selectable independently.

The material on this site is being provided to the Jewish community for FREE. You are invited, however, to make a financial contribution to help defray the costs of hosting, production, and materials. Contributions will be used to offset these costs only. Any surplus funds will be donated to institutions providing Jewish education. Alas, there is no suplus at this time.

You are also invited to subscribe to the Virtual Cantor mailing list. Subscribers will be notified when new content has been posted on this site.

What's New?

There are many things that are new on the site. Many of those changes are enumerated below.

• Following the overwhelming number of requests for CD ROMs, a CD ROM order page has been added to the Virtual Cantor site.
• Shacharit for the First day of Rosh HaShanah and Second day of Rosh HaShanah have been added.
• Shacharit and Musaf for Yom Kippur have been added.
• Megillat Ruth and Akdamut have been added for Shavuot.
• Two versions of Megillat Esther are now available in the Purim section of the Virtual Cantor website. The first recording was made at a tempo that is comfortable for listening. This is the version that someone might use to polish up the laining or is the version that someone who cannot attend a service in person might listen to. The second version is a digital signal processed version where the tempo was slowed 25% and the pitch was maintained at the original level. This version will be useful to those individuals who are learning the megillah for the first time.
• Megillat Eicha is now available in the Tisha B'Av section of the web site. The third chapter was recorded twice to reflect a choice between two different traditions.
• The entire Haggadah has been vocalized. That's right. This new content includes every single word of the Haggadah - not only the songs. This experiment is the result of so many requests from individuals who are using the Virtual Cantor as their surrogate synagogue and want to daven along with the tracks. Thus, only preparing the parts led by the Hazzan is insufficient. Let me know if you have found it helpful.
• A Holidays section has been added with Rosh Chodesh Benching for Kislev (Hannukah), Adar (Purim), Nisan (Pesach), Iyar (Yom HaAtzmaut), Shevat (Tu B'Shevat), and Av (Tisha B'Av). Songs, blessings, Kinot, etc. have also been added, as appropriate for the Holiday.
• A library of amazing stories and letters, redacted of course, has been added. Please share your story - it is what keeps the Virtual Cantor going in the lonely, wee hours of the morning when the recordings are usually made.

Finances

Utilization of the Virtual Cantor has grown tremendously. The costs for equipment and hosting continue to mount. In the spirit of transparency, a cumulative sum is now shown below along with the visit counter of unique individuals who have visited the Virtual Cantor site. If you have found value in the site, please consider making a donation to help defray the ongoing costs. The balance will be updated weekly.

Blessings of peace, health and happiness to all.