Ba'Al Tefillah

(lit. "master of the prayer"). The person who conducts public worship in the synagogue. Until the era of the ge'onim (sixth cent. CE onward), any Jew possessing the necessary qualifications might be invited to lead the congregation in prayer; thereafter, a musically trained "reader" or professional Cantor often took over the functions of the ba'al tefillah. The term ba'al tefillah has become virtually interchangeable with Sheli'Aḥ Tsibbur ("messenger of the community") and is used to denote anyone asked to recite the prayer service on an unpaid, ad hoc basis.

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