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.
January 19, 2023
Maurice Ravel’s Deux Mélodies Hébraïques: Kaddisch (1914)
Topic(s) / Music, Shabbat
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.
January 12, 2023
Live from Israel: Exodus and MLK Weekend
Topic(s) / Shabbat, Music
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.
January 05, 2023
Cantor Schwartz Sings Y'simcha
Topic(s) / Music, Shabbat
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.
December 23, 2022
Be the Light at Carnegie Hall!
Topic(s) / Shabbat, Hanukkah
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!
December 16, 2022
What’s it Like to be a Latke?
Topic(s) / Shabbat, Hanukkah
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.
December 09, 2022
Cantor Schwartz Sings Ya Ribon – A Prayer for the Shabbat Dinner Table
Topic(s) / Shabbat, Music
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!
December 02, 2022
Keep My Tongue from Evil (Elohai N’tzor)
Topic(s) / Shabbat, Music
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.
November 18, 2022
Kol Adonai – The Power of the Voice
Topic(s) / Music, Shabbat
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.
November 04, 2022
A Virtual Visit to Israel
Topic(s) / Shabbat, Music
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.