 Gershon 's appointment was controversial ; after a background check , the board decided by a 10 – 9 vote on April 6 , 1856 , that he had never held the position of cantor in any other congregation , and was therefore not " sufficiently acquainted with the actual requirements to fill said office " , and was furthermore not " a competent reader enough to read the Sepher Torah " . As a result , services were led by laymen , except during the Jewish holidays , when a professional cantor would be brought in from Manhattan . 
