Video Library

This Yiddish lullaby, Rozhinkes mit Mandlen (“Raisins and Almonds”), was written in 1880 for the Yiddish-language theater in Eastern Europe, and revisited by Cantor Schwartz on the anniversary of Kristallnacht.

As International Holocaust Remembrance Day approaches, imagine the world in 1914, a generation before the Shoah; during this precarious time, composer Maurice Ravel was commissioned to write two settings of Jewish melodies, including this one. We hope this music aids in remembrance of loss.

This week, we begin the Book of Exodus the same weekend we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. This is a unique opportunity to remember our responsibility to protect all people against bigotry. Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom and meaningful MLK Weekend.

In this week’s parashah, we read of some of the most famous parental blessings ever given. Here, Cantor Schwartz blesses two of his own children, and sings a newly-commissioned setting of Y’simcha.

When people of faith build bridges across communities, the most wonderful things can happen, like when Cantor Schwartz and Reverend Ian Johnson take the stage together. Wishing everyone a Shabbat Shalom, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays to all!

Through the whimsical imagination of childhood, think what it must be like to be a latke, one of the foods made with oil that attend the Festival of Lights.

Ya Ribon is a prayer that connects the universal to the particular, from the scale of God to the sacredness of Jerusalem. It is sung at the Shabbat table. This year, Park Avenue Synagogue is highlighting exciting ways to celebrate Shabbat during Shabbat Across PAS!

Speech, the choice of which words we speak, and perhaps even those which we do not, is a tremendous power and responsibility, one we do not always recognize and appreciate.

Can you think of a time when a voice affected you deeply and powerfully? It may not have been singing – imagine the voice of an authority figure speaking your name, the voice of a loved one calling out.

As the eyes of the world are on Israel because of its national election, join us on a virtual aliyah to Jerusalem with Cantor Schwartz, as he prepared to collaborate with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra this past year. Wishing you warm thoughts and memories of Israel, and a Shabbat Shalom.