Every 7th day. 52 weeks a year. Since Creation.
Our doors are open for lively communal worship in the sanctuary, alternative services and programs for all ages, music, and more.
SANCTUARY SERVICES
Kabbalat Shabbat / Fri / 6:15 pm
Recharge your spirit with a musical, lively, family-friendly service. Come for the community, stay for the oneg!
Shabbat Morning Service / Sat / 9:45 am
A musically uplifting morning service with Torah reading, meaningful prayer, and words of inspiration from our clergy. Schmooze and nosh afterward at our community kiddush.
We continue to provide our world-class broadcast on Livestream. And PAS CONNECT from our main sanctuary, so that wherever you are, you will be with us.
THE FULL SHABBAT EXPERIENCE
Below you will find the wide range of services and activities PAS offers during Shabbat. It is highly recommended that you check the calendar for specific dates and times and additional details for all services and programs, as our Shabbat schedule can change week by week.
PAS SHABBAT BLESSING BOOK
This book contains the rituals and blessings for a Friday night Shabbat celebration, and includes guided instructions, intentions for each blessing, and ways you can make the rituals your own.
Shabbat Opportunities
Youth and Family
RITUAL LAB
Sat / Check calendar for listings / 9:30 am / 87th Street
Ritual Lab will create an opportunity for students and their families to explore the rituals connected to Shabbat. This program is designed for families with children grades K–2 and their parents.
SHABBAT SHELANU
Sat / Check calendar for listings / 10:30 am / 87th Street
A musical morning service geared for families with children ages newborn–2nd grade. Experience a morning when your family will sing, pray, and learn together.
TEEN AND PARENT LEARNING WITH RABBI COSGROVE
Sat / Check calendar for listings / 3:30 pm / Register for location
Post-Bnei Mitzvah learners and their caregivers are invited to meet with Rabbi Cosgrove for Shabbat Torah study, schmoozing, and fun! This event is for all PAS Teens and their parents. Register to join.
YFE HAVDALAH
Sat / Check calendar for listings / 5:00 pm / 87th Street
Cantor Reisner
Say Shalom (goodbye) to Shabbat with your YFE friends. In addition to havdalah, we will do a special art project. Register to join.
GRADES 5 & 6 HAVDALAH PROGRAM
Sat / Check calendar for listings / 5:00–6:00 pm / 87th Street, Third Floor Chapel
Havdalah is a very special ceremony that marks the end of Shabbat. We will come together to smell the spices, light the many-wicked candle, and taste the wine/grape juice.
Something for All Ages
SHABBAT B'YACHAD
Sat / Check calendar for listings / 10:00 am / 87th Street
Find the joy of Shabbat music and liturgy but in a smaller, more intimate setting where you can participate and engage in Jewish learning and find community together – B'Yachad!
For Adults
HASHKAMAH MINYAN
Sat / Check calendar for listings / 7:30 am / 87th Street, First Floor Chapel
Please join us for our lay-led early Shabbat Service – now fully egalitarian! We will gather as a community of committed daveners to celebrate Shabbat, and feel the joy of in-person community!
PARASHAT HASHAVUA
Sat / Check calendar for listings / 9:00 am / 87th Street and Online
PAS Clergy
Study the week’s Torah portion and discover a new angle to our annual parashah cycle. Join via Zoom.
SHABBAT SHALOM, FROM RABBI ELLIOT COSGROVE
Of the many differences between Judaism and Catholicism, one that has always struck me as notable is that Jews don’t go to confession. A place to privately cleanse the soul and be freed from one’s sins by a priest with the power of absolution. While as a rabbi, I am not sure how I feel about days spent forgiving individuals of their misdeeds, as a private Jew I see the appeal. Efficient, private, and far more cost-effective than an Upper East Side therapist.
But that is not what Jews do. Our Torah reading describes the Yom Kippur ceremony led by the high priest Aaron, whereby the entire community would publicly gather; the sins of the community set upon a single goat which would then be sent off into the wilderness. A public purgation ritual later recast as the Avodah service in Jerusalem’s Temple, and then, in post-Temple Judaism, as the Yom Kippur service we know today.
Attractive as the Catholic ritual may be, our practice has much to commend. First, by removing an intermediary we are reminded of the role of human agency – every person must name, own, and seek forgiveness for their misdeeds. Second, communal confession reminds us of the shared human condition. While we may not be privy to the particular misdeeds of the individuals sitting next to us, we are affirmed in the knowledge that they, like we, have their imperfections. Perhaps most importantly, in public confession we are reminded that all of us are contributors to the spiritual health of our community. Our collective condition rises and falls on the individual choices we make.
Synagogues are not reserved only for saints, if they were, they wouldn’t be so full. The promise of community is that by coming together in our shared humanity, we emerge more forgiving and more whole.
Rabbi Elliot J. Cosgrove