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...

There can be miracles! It was very special that Daniel and Emmy Schwartz joined Cantors Schwartz and Davis on the bimah during our Shabbat Shira services.

At the gate of the new year, we’re excited about all that 2022 can bring. The message of this song resonates clearly – that we will get through good times and bad together. Cantor Schwartz is honored to collaborate with five-time Grammy-winning Christian artist Israel Houghton on this cover of Si...

This is a special time of year, as many winter holidays provide a chance for families to gather and for communities of faith to join together. Still, it is part of the human condition to feel alone, as Cantor Schwartz and Ian Johnson sing, “even in a crowd of people.”

It can be a great comfort ...

As a community, we mourn the loss of American lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim. Some of his most famous lyrics were those of West Side Story, with music by Leonard Bernstein. As a tribute to Sondheim’s legacy, we invite you to listen to Cantor Schwartz’s rendition of “Somewhere,” live from ...

When Rabbi Cosgrove asks Cantor Schwartz to sing something more up-tempo, he really means it. When you hear how this familiar melody has been Taylor-ed to the text, you will Swiftly realize what we mean. 

The Festival of Lights calls us to light a candle, banish the darkness, say a blessing, and enjoy the miracle of light. While this song was written for the Eurovision Song Contest, not for Hanukkah, we couldn’t resist its imagery of fighting hopelessness by creating light together. When the figur...

This ultimate cantorial Hanukkah classic by Zavel Zilberts (1881–1949) expresses all the wonder of the Festival of Lights, reminding us that the candles are not to be used, only gazed upon in consideration of miracles. Innovating within the tradition, we have commissioned a duet version of the or...

As we begin the month of Kislev and herald the season of light, the themes of religious freedom and light are at the forefront of our minds. This setting of Kumi Ori Ki Va Orekh (“Arise, shine, for your light has come”) bridges the Christian and Jewish communities as part of our Be the Light albu...

The psalmist's words ring out from ancient times, telling us to sing a new song. This is one of the reasons we create new settings of familiar texts: It enables us to hear the prayer in a new way, to consider different aspects of it. The psalm goes on to command not just the people of Israel, but...

This prayer from the Shabbat Amidah expresses our souls’ desire for both kinds of peace described by Rabbi Nahman of Bratzlav: the kind within oneself, which arises from a sense of awe and humility, and the universal kind that comes from prayer. Traditional cantorial singing at its core is a soul...