Park Avenue Podcasts

On October 13, 1973, in the midst of what would become known as the Yom Kippur War, Rabbi Judah Nadich denounces the attack on Israel and the Jewish people and also the repeated silence of their allies and other religious institutions after previous attacks against Jewish institutions. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  rabbi_judah_nadich_-_a_time_to_speak_up_-_the_yom_kippur_war_october_13_1973.mp3

Rabbi Witkovsky asks us to search within for our unique superpowers and then cast off our secret identities so we can use our powers to better the world around us. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  rh_sermon_ew_.mp3

At the beginning of the High Holidays, Rabbi Cosgrove goes back to basics and reminds us all of the necessity, importance, and impact of kindness and decency. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  rh_day_i_sermon_ec.mp3

On the eve of Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Cosgrove reflects on what it means to send your children off into the world, how milestones of letting go change one’s identity as well as one’s perspective, and how God, who has sent us into the world, welcomes us home during the High Holidays. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  erev_rh_sermon_-_ec.mp3

Jerry Goodman spoke to the Park Avenue Synagogue community about the movement to aid the refusenik Jews of the USSR during the decades before the fall of the Soviet Union. His talk focused on the various aid organizations which smuggled items and information in and out of the USSR, and also the protest movements, including the Freedom Sunday march in Washington, which brought international attention to the cause. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  lecture_6.26.18_1.mp3

In the mid-1960s, Jews in the Soviet Union were physically free but were derided, persecuted for their religious beliefs, and frequently arrested. Russian anti-Semitism – whether from Czars, Stalin, Khrushchev, or Kosygin – remained a powerful force in the 1960s regardless of other political changes. It was during that time that the “Save Soviet Jewry” movement took shape. Audio:  podcast_1965_slavery_with_out_chains.mp3 read more

Fifty years ago, Rabbi Judah Nadich memorialized Senator Robert F. Kennedy in a sermon that coincided with Kennedy’s funeral in St. Patrick’s  Cathedral. Rabbi Nadich deplored the rise of violence in America and expressed concern that attention paid to violence in the media would  threaten democracy.  Read the transcript For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  podcast_1968_rule_of_the_gun.mp3

 As part of our Reading Jewish Lives Author Events, listen as Barry Holtz, author of Rabbi Akiva: Sage of the Talmud shares further insight into the myths surrounding Rabbi Akiva and his life, his unusual place in the Jewish imagination, and his influence on Judaism through the ages. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  podcast_5.8.18_lecture_1.mp3

 On May 12, 1973, Rabbi Judah Nadich spoke on “The Rule of Law - For Some or For All?” As the Watergate scandal transfixed the country, the biblical injunction, “One law shall there be unto you - for the stranger and the native born alike” (Leviticus 24:22), became a central theme, as Americans debated whether those in power are above the law. Forty-five years later, Rabbi Nadich’s sermon remains a guidepost for 2018. Read the transcript. Audio:  podcast_archive_-_the_rule_of_law.mp3 read more

Rabbi Adina Lewittes is the founder of Sha’ar Communities, a network of different gateways into Jewish life that promotes an innovative approach to Jewish engagement and identity building in northern New Jersey and beyond. Listen as she speaks about What We Talk About When We Talk About Intermarriage as part of our Community Conversation about the Changing Nature of Jewish Identity in the 21st century. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  podcast_rabbi_adina_lewittes_4.26.18_1.mp3

On the occasion of Israel’s 70th anniversary this session was an important topic for us to cover together. The poems and Rachel’s interpretation brought to life the distance between the two peoples living together in one land. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  podcast_4.20.18_korazim.mp3

Recordings of commissioned liturgical works premiered at Park Avenue Synagogue are a major component of the Shapiro Audio Archive. The 40th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel was marked at PAS on April 30, 1988 with the Twelfth Annual Shabbat Morning Liturgical Music Service (in memory of Sarah & Samuel Shapiro, z”l). The service, entitled Bless the Land with Peace, highlighted contemporary compositions that had as their texts Shabbat liturgy with the central themes of Israel and returning to the land. Audio:  archive_podcast_-_bless_the_land_with_peace.mp3 read more

Rabbi Cosgrove discusses why Moses ascended Mount Sinai for forty days and what he hopes to achieve for himself and the PAS community during his own time away. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  podcast_-_rabbi_cosgroves_final_sermon_3.3.18.mp3

 Jonathan Ornstein, Executive Director of JCC Krakow speaks about Poland's Jewish Revival and the Holocaust Bill: How will it affect the Polish Jewish community? For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  3.16.18_jonathanornstein_jcckrakow.mp3

 Listen as Francine Klagsbrun is in conversation with Rabbi Zuckerman about Golda Meir. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  3.24.18_windowonisrael_francineklagsbrun.mp3

Listen as Dr. Elana Stein Hain teaches on the Dual Identity of the Festival of Freedom in preparation for Passover. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  3.20.18_elanasteinhain_passoverlearning.mp3

Rabbi Nadich reflects on The Report on the President's Commission on Civil Disorders, moral leadership, and equality. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  archive_podcast_-_the_report_of_the_president_-_march_16_1968.mp3

Listen as Rabbi Zuckerman recaps the past Community Conversations with Rabbi David Ellenson and Rabbi Daniel Gordis on conversion, and Rabbi Bradley Arston and Dr. Arnie Eisen on Interfaith families and Intermarriage. He also brings texts that can help frame the question about Jewish Identity in the 21st through a difference lens. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  conversationsmasterclass.march8th.neilz_.mp3

Listen as Ambassador Itamar Rabinovich give insight into Rabin through the lens of his life, career, legacy, and death. Hear Rabinovich’s first-hand experiences as a friend and colleague of Rabin’s. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org.   Audio:  3.15.18_readingjewishlives_itamar_rabinovich.mp3

Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson is a long-time advocate of human dignity and inclusion and the father of a child with special needs. Listen as he uses first hand stories to discuss how we at PAS can create an even more inclusive community. For more information about services and programs at Park Avenue Synagogue, visit our website at https://pasyn.org. Audio:  2.23.18_jdaim.shabbat.dinner.rabbibradartson.mp3