A story floating around the Internet. A woman was considering converting and then she went to shul and heard Simcha Leiner davening. The tfilla was so moving she cried. At that point she decided that she DEFINITELY wants to be Jewish.
The lesson: Besides the Yomim Noraim [maybe...], how many shuls have real Chazanim who have the voice, talent and regesh to help the congregation soar?? Recently the legend Cantor Sherwood Goffin was niftar. He was a true chazan who took his job very seriously. He didn't view himself as a performer but someone who himself wanted to get close to Hashem and take everyone in shul with him. When people would "shkoyach" him after davening, he would respond "I hope Hashem accepted our tfillos". It wasn't about him but about our relationship wth Hashem.
When I was a child, my family would often come to Israel [thank G-d I have been there a few times since:-)] and we davened in the local shul. One of the Baalei Tefila was a young man who had one of the most incredible voices I ever heard. To this day I can't forget how amazing the davening was. Today he is a real estate tycoon with tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars. I hope he is still davening before the amud. That is worth more than all of his money [although I am sure he does great things with his wealth].
Unfortunately, it is often hard to feel inspired when davening and having Baalei Tefilla who are also not inspired doesn't help things. So a call for more serious, talented, knowledgeable Baalei Tefilla and Chazanim.
