What secular month is upon us? "Do you remember" how we surprised Rabbi Cosgrove for his 50th birthday? What happens when the PAS Tijuana Brass come out from behind the bimah after services? Answers to these questions are found in this fun video. Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom and a happy Labor Day...

Celebrating Rosh Chodesh Elul tonight, we know the High Holidays are a month away! Let us start at the finish line: there is a lively tradition of singing the final Kaddish in a happy mode (unlike the mourners’ Kaddish Yatom) in the belief that our repentance has been accepted and that a good yea...

Have you ever wondered why we end every Shabbat morning service with this prayer? The tradition dates back only to the 15th century, and the text itself only to the 11th. Unlike the psalms, this poem has a rhyme and regular meter. In fact, it shares a common meter with popular songs, which allows...

Will forgiving and graceful days yet come,
When you will walk in the field like an innocent traveler,
Your bare foot will touch the grass,
Or the spica's thorns will prick you, and the pricking will be sweet?

Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom and a meaningful Tisha b’Av.

A Poem by Leah Goldberg (...

In these words, from Psalm 126, the psalmist comforts us with the idea that the labor of weeping leads to the harvest of joy, and it is the work of mourning that helps us move forward.

Drawing this song from our June concert of Debbie Friedman’s music, the largest in-person gathering at the syn...

This Shabbat, we bless the new month of Av, which gives us the opportunity to reflect on an old, pious custom: the keeping of Yom Kippur Katan (a “Minor” Yom Kippur, the day before the new month). When the new month begins on Shabbat, Yom Kippur Katan happens on Thursday.

The idea, promulgated a...

Do you know this prayer? “Guardian of Israel, guard the people of Israel, let no harm come to the people of Israel, who proclaim Sh’ma Yisrael.” Can you think of a moment when you have said the Sh’ma and felt protection or warmth?

This Sunday, as we observe the 17th of Tammuz (Shivah Asar B’Tamm...

Rabbi Nahman of Breslov once said, “Never get old!” We all change as we age, but why can’t that be a blessing? Aging not only adds to our life experience and wisdom, but it gives us opportunities to find the child in ourselves and continue to light the sparks of curiosity and joy from our youth. ...

A prayer on the wings of angels: South Africa, Jerusalem, New York

In the Musaf service, towards the end of Saturday morning, the cantor, choir, and congregation sing melodies and texts in alternation, reenacting the sanctification of angels in the Kedusha. There is something special about these...

What a gift it has been to celebrate the legacy of Debbie Friedman this week, with the largest number of people present in the sanctuary since December 2019, and so many participating online. We hope you enjoy such memorable moments, including people dancing in the aisles and everyone singing tog...

In our world, it is not hard to find trouble, sorrow, want, and violence, yet we press toward repairing the world and bringing peace as much as we can. This song echoes Psalm 23, “When there is fear I cannot bear, I look to you, and you are there.” May this new video from our album Be the Light i...

Everyone loves a parade! The Celebrate Israel parade in New York City is one of the busiest and most colorful. As we look forward to marching in the parade, here is a prayer for the State of Israel, composed by our friend and neighbor Cantor Chaim Dovid Berson, sung by him with Cantor Schwartz. W...

With Lag BaOmer next week, Jewish wedding season is on! There is not a more beautiful place to stand under the huppah than the sanctuary at PAS. In addition to celebrating the love of the couple, the beautiful ketubah document is signed, the sheva brachot are recited, and finally we remember Jeru...

As we approach Mother’s Day, we ask: what makes the relationship of a Jewish mother so special that it is memorialized in art and music across eras? When Sophie Tucker began singing this song written by Yellen & Pollack, in 1925, the Jewish experience in America had included many mothers dealing ...

In the week of Israel’s birthday, Yom HaAtzma’ut, it seems right to celebrate Israel around the world. This cheery song gave people everywhere reason to celebrate in 1979 when it won the Eurovision Song Contest representing Israel, and since then, it has been covered in several languages, includi...

In the Jewish calendar, we observe two occasions of remembrance in the coming days: one on a global scale – recalling the Holocaust – and the other more personal – the Yizkor service. During these times, we pray that the memory of those who have departed is for a blessing. These blessings are bes...

We hope our new Haggadah for Young Families will spark new Passover traditions that the PAS community will create together. Speaking of childhood memories, can you remember any counting songs from your childhood? Did your family sing Ehad mi Yodea (“Who Knows One?”), or did you hear “The Twelve D...

The sights and sounds coming to us from Ukraine have been marked by fear and tragedy, by silence and by the voices of the injured and displaced — sounds that the Jewish people know well. In the prayer Sh’ma Koleinu, we ask that these voices of humanity not only be heard, but also be answered. We ...

In his recent remarks to congress, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of his countrymen and women – and of his land – in loving terms. The poetry of Hayim Nahman Bialik (1873–1934), set by David Nowakowsky (1848–1921) of the Brodsky Synagogue in Odessa, evokes images of beautiful rivers...

Even when we see suffering and conflict in the world, the celebration of life-cycle events and holy days in the Jewish tradition must continue. As Purim approaches, even Adon Olam is wearing a funny costume in this setting borrowed from the Top 40. The effect this tune had on our Bat Mitzvah and ...

We hope that this Adon Olam, composed by Cantor Pinchas Minkowsky (1859–1924) of the Brodsky Synagogue in Odessa, inspires your prayers and actions for peace in Ukraine. Praying for the safety of the Ukrainian people and wishing you a Shabbat Shalom.

Credits:
The Chamber Choir of the Jerusalem ...

Like this prayer, which we sing every Shabbat, peace is often assumed or taken for granted. Sometimes it is only when peace is threatened that its importance comes into high relief – our fondest hopes are for peace to spread over us as the sukkat sh’lomeha. This Presidents’ Day weekend, we hope t...

There is so much love to share in the world: love between people, love within and between communities. True to the words that Cantor Schwartz and Anaysha Figueroa sing in this track from Be the Light, love has “no limits, no color, no boundaries.” Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom filled with love for...

On International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27), we call to mind the human tragedy of the Shoah, the memories of the victims, and the survivors’ struggles. We have a responsibility to remember, no less now than in 1945, the horrendous places to which antisemitism and hatred can lead. As t...