Video Library

As spring arrives in New York with just a few weeks before Pesach, let’s celebrate with this icon of the Seder that also shows up at Hallel, B’tzet Yisrael. There is perhaps no better celebration of the Passover journey to freedom than this joyful song sung by cantors Schwartz and Davis.

You may already know that the word “seder” means order, and when we celebrate the Passover Seder, there is an order we follow ourselves and teach to others, especially the youngest among us. In this song, the cantors invite you to sing along with them!

With Purim behind us, we transition to Passover in the coming weeks. This melody of V’hi Sh'amda, newly commissioned for our Haggadah for Young Families, is written by Cantor Jacqueline Rafii in Persian style, honoring her own heritage.

Park Avenue Synagogue celebrates an expansive tapestry of Jewish music, and one thread running through it is the sophisticated Ashkenazi cantorial style.

When we created this special version of a hit song, we didn’t realize it would be performed at the Grammy Awards the next day, let alone from Album of the Year!

It is often noted in popular culture that many faiths have a version of “v’ahavta l’rei-acha kamocha” at their foundation – “You shall love your fellow as yourself.” These lyrics ask a follow-up question: How would the world look if we loved like that?

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.