Welcome to a year of holiday celebrations at Park Avenue Synagogue. For a schedule of services, click in the list on the right. For Holiday Resource Guides, look to the left.  

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

We hold services for adults in the Sanctuary and on the Lower Level. Seats are available for members and their guests, by ticket only.

There are also High Holiday services for families and children of all ages. We ask that you register your family/children in advance to attend these services. To register, click on the service in the list on the right.

Sukkot

Celebrate with us in the spacious Ritter Sukkah on the synagogue roof! In addition to kiddush after festival services, there are congregational dinners, cocktail parties, brunches and activities for young children.

Shemini Atzeret

We gather for the final days of the fall festival season and recite the Yizkor service. Hear Cantor Schwartz chant Geshem, the prayer for rain, at the beginning of the musaf service.

Simhat Torah

In the evening we celebrate the Torah with lively music. Everyone gets a candy apple on the way out!

The next morning, we end the annual cycle of Torah reading and begin it again, honoring two congregants as Hatan Torah and Kallat B’reishit.

Hanukkah

During Hanukkah there are parties, art projects, concerts, and activities for congregants of all ages, from toddlers to seniors.

Tu BiShvat

Tu BiShvat finds us eating fruit, learning about the produce of the Land of Israel, and focusing on sustainability and responsibility to the environment. The Shabbat closest to Tu BiShvat is always Shabbat Shirah, “the Sabbath of Song.” Our cantors prepare special musical services for that Shabbat morning. 
 

Purim

On Purim evening we have a short megillah reading for our young children and a full megillah reading and Purim spiel for the older children, teens and adults. There are costumes, noisemakers, hamantashen and silliness for all. The fun continues on Purim day with a lunchtime Purim feast and on Sunday with a Purim carnival.

Pesah

Before Pesah, we have our annual Haggadah Fair, so that everyone can be prepared for the holiday with haggadot, cookbooks and children’s books. On the first two nights of Pesah there are congregational seder celebrations at the synagogue. The Shabbat during Pesah, is always “Food Pantry Shabbat,” when we honor the teens who run our Food Pantry.

Yom HaShoah

We commemorate Yom HaShoah with a special service in the Sanctuary.

Yom HaAtzma’ut

Our high school students organize an Israel fair for everyone, where we enjoy Israeli food and music.

Shavuot

In the early evening on Erev Shavuot we hold a Tekes Siyyum, a concluding ceremony, for all our students from the Early Childhood Center through our Department of Adult Learning. Later in the evening, there is a special learning event for adults, and in the morning, festival services.

Tisha B’Av

Between ma’ariv and the chanting of Eikhah, the Book of Lamentations, we have a study session on the themes or the liturgy of the day.