15 Old Broadway
New York, New York 10027
(212) 662-9767

9th of Tevet, 5785

Tuesday, December 17, 2024

Please Join Us for Our Annual Chanukah Party, Saturday Night, December 28, 2024 at 7:30pm

 

Please join us for our Chanukah Simchah at the Old Broadway. We will have latkes and sufganiyot and the amazing music of Noah Solomon Chase.

Admission: $20 per person

Here is more info about Noah:
Noah Solomon Chase, an accomplished singer and musician, is based in the vibrant city of New York. Born in the USA, Noah's parents moved to Israel when he was very young. Noah was exposed to the rich sounds of Israeli and Jewish music from a young age, thanks to the influence of both his father and the late Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, who was Noah's next door neighbor. Noah's father, an accomplished musician himself, founded the well-known Jewish group "The Diaspora Yeshiva Band" in the 1970s, which played a pivotal role in the emergence of Jewish music as a genre.
Noah's passion for music led him to collaborate with Carlebach himself, performing alongside him in both Israel and New York. Since then, Noah has continued to push the boundaries of musical genres, creating and leading two highly successful bands - Soulfarm, a Rock/Mediterranean/Folk band that has garnered acclaim both locally and internationally, and Citigrass, an urban Bluegrass band that has captivated audiences across the United States and beyond.
Noah's musical talents have taken him on numerous tours throughout Europe, Australia, and Israel, where he has performed in some of the most prestigious venues and festivals. Over the past few years, Noah has also established himself as a highly sought-after "cantor/musician in residence", bringing his unique blend of spirituality and musicianship to synagogues and temples across the US. With his infectious energy and song leading skills, Noah has infused these congregations with "Ruach", creating an unforgettable experience for all who attend.
As a consummate professional, Noah is dedicated to his craft, constantly striving to improve and innovate. He is a true visionary, and his love for music and its power to connect people is evident in every note he sings and plays. Noah Solomon Chase is an exceptional talent, and his contributions to the world of music are truly remarkable

Monday, November 11, 2024

The Seven Wonders of Klezmer, November 23, 2024 at 8:00pm

 The Old Broadway Synagogue, Center for Traditional Music and Dance, the Sholem Aleichem Cultural Center and Yiddish New York present:

THE SEVEN WONDERS OF KLEZMER 
Concert featuring music by Lisa Gutkin (violin), Lauren Brody (accordion) and Pete Rushefsky (tsimbl). Saturday night, November 23, 8PM at the Old Broadway Synagogue (15 Old Broadway between 125th & 126th Streets in Manhattan). Suggested donation: $10
A concert featuring three of the contemporary Yiddish music scene's leading performers - violinist Lisa Gutkin (The Klezmatics), accordionist Lauren Brody and tsimbl (hammered dulcimer) player Pete Rushefsky. This program is presented by the Old Broadway Synagogue in partnership with the Center for Traditional Music and Dance and Yiddish New York.
Biographies of performers:
Lisa Gutkin (violin) - Grammy Award-winning violinist/composer, singer, actor, and composer Lisa Gutkin is best known as a member of the acclaimed Klezmatics, and most recently for her musical score, performance, and music direction in the two time Tony award-winner, Indecent. Lisa has had a storied career that reflects the eclectic nature of her life, passion, and creativity. A cameo performance in Sex and the City, a seat in Sting’s Broadway band forThe Last Ship, a CD of original songs produced by John Lissauer, and scores for two of Pearl Gluck’s films have taken her a long way from her beginnings as back up musician to the Fast Folk songwriters’ collective. Praised for her “hauntingly emotional” vocals by the L.A. Times, she has co-authored songs with Anne Sexton, Maggie Dubris, and Woody Guthrie. A MacDowell and Norton Stevens Fellow, Lisa's song “Gonna Get Through This World”, co-written with Woody Guthrie, was described by Pete Seeger as “a piece of genius”
Lauren Brody (accordion) is an accordionist, singer, researcher, professional piano tuner/technician and Fulbright scholar from New York City. She is a pioneer of the klezmer music revival in the United States and a founding member of the groundbreaking band “Kapelye”, formed in 1979. She has toured, recorded and appeared on TV and film with Kapelye, and with the seminal all-female ensemble “Mikveh”. Lauren has played the with The Klezmatics, Andy Statman, Michael Winograd, David Krakauer, Alicia Svigals, Frank London, Merlin and Polina Shepherd and many other klezmer luminaries. She was a trailblazer in the domestic Balkan music scene and was the first female gadulka player in the United States. Lauren was an original member of the first Bulgarian traditional folk orchestra “Pitu Guli”, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1970 and has taught and performed at EEFC’s Balkan Camp, Klezkamp, KlezCalifornia, KlezKanada, Ashkenaz, Yidstock, Yiddish New York. Lauren was the recipient of a Bulgarian Government stipend to study Bulgarian folk music during the Communist period, from 1971-73, at the Bulgarian Conservatory of Music in Sofia. As a Fulbright scholar to Bulgaria in 1990 she conducted research on the commercial recording industry and folk music, and released two acclaimed reissues of 78 rpm recordings. Lauren continues to perform, with a particular accent on composing new music for her own Balkan/Klezmer-inspired solo project “Lauren Brody’s Accordion Bytes”, as “Tsoyber” with Yiddish singer Susan Leviton, and with the Bulgaria-based accordion duo Brody-Stoikov.
Pete Rushefsky (tsimbl) A leading performer, composer and researcher of the Jewish tsimbl (cimbalom or hammered dulcimer), Rushefsky tours and records internationally with violinist Itzhak Perlman as part of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and collaborates with a number of leading figures in the contemporary klezmer scene including Andy Statman, Adrianne Greenbaum, Steven Greenman, Joel Rubin, Eleonore Biezunski, Michael Alpert, Madeline Solomon, Zhenya Lopatnik, Zoe Aqua, Jake Shulman-Ment, Keryn Kleiman, Eleonore Weill, Alex Parke, Ira Temple, Lauren Brody, Avi Fox-Rosen and Michael Winograd. Since 2006 he has served as Executive Director of the Center for Traditional Music and Dance, the nation’s leading organization dedicated to the preservation and presentation of diverse immigrant music traditions from around the world. He is a founder of the annual Yiddish New York festival, curated the Yiddish program at the 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival and has authored a number of articles on traditional music and culture.
We are grateful for the support of the Atran Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Tuesday, October 15, 2024

Please join us for a special Sukkos concert

with Chasidic singer, composer

 and guitarist


Barak Grossberg

Tuesday, October 22, 2024 at 7:00pm

at the Old Broadway Synagogue

Admission: $20

Monday, July 29, 2024

Tisha ba-Av at Old Broadway, August 12-13, 2024

We are looking forward to commemorating Tisha ba-Av this year with Rabbi Avi Heller.
Rabbi Heller is a thoughtful, sensitive and insightful teacher. We are honored that he will be joining us.
The fast will begin at 7:57pm. Mincha, Maariv and Eicha on Monday, August 12, 2024 will at 7:45pm. Shacharis followed by Kinos on Tuesday, August 13, 2024 will be at 8:00am. Rabbi Heller will be reading Eicha and leading Kinos. He will also give two talks, one in the evening and one in the morning. These will be: Acts of Grief and Actually Grieving Expressing Jewish Pain: Then and Now Minchah on August 13, 2024 will be at 7:30pm. Maariv will be at 8:30pm. The fast will end at 8:41pm.

Warm wishes for a meaningful fast!

Sunday, July 14, 2024

The Schiff Family at the Old Broadway Synagogue

Among the founding families of the Old Broadway Synagogue were the Morris and Rachel Schiff. I have been in touch with their grandsons, Bob Schiff and Joel Schiff. Joel was kind enough to send me some family photos. Unfortunately, Morris and Rachel died before Joel was born, and he does not know much about them. I would love to learn more about the Schiffs so if anyone has any information, please share it with me.

Here are some photos:

Here is a photo of Morris Schiff in some sort of store. My guess is that it is a second hand store since there are a number of disparate objects in the photo, in addition to Morris.

Morris and Rachel Schiff, in later years.

Sidney (son of Morris and Rachel) and Anne Schiff ([arents of Joel Schiff). Probably shortly after their wedding in 1938.

Here are the yahrzeit plaques for Morris and Rachel:


May their memory be for a blessing!