Rabbi Avi Heller on Hilkhos Shabbos

 

Please join us for a three part exploration of the Halachos of Shabbos with master educator, Rabbi Avi Heller. 

Each shiur will take place after 8:00am Shacharis at the Old Broadway Synagogue and will include breakfast. 

July 2:  "A Holistic Approach to Hilchot Shabbat." 

July 16: "Building and Destroying (boneh and soter) on Shabbat." 

July 23: "Some practical issues related to cooking (bishul) on Shabbat." 

We are not charging for this series although we would be happy to have a sponsor so that we could present it in memory or in honor of a loved one. 

We hope you will join us!

 

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

Grammy-winning musicians Lisa Gutkin (violin) & Matt Darriau (clarinet/kaval) of The Klezmatics with Pete Rushefsky (tsimbl/hammered dulcimer)

KLEZMER NIGHT ON OL' BROADWAY

Sunday, June 4, 7pm at the Old Broadway Synagogue

(15 Old Broadway between 125th & 126th Streets in Manhattan)

Suggested donation: $10

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 for The 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”.

Matt Darriau (clarinet, kaval) - Grammy-winning composer and reed player for the Klezmatics and the Paradox Trio, Matt has had an enormous influence on both the Balkan and Yiddish music revivals. His current and past projects have included tribute to Yussef lateef ( Yo Lateef); Duke Ellington (Ballin' The Jack); Celtic music (Cetlic Eclectic) and many more.

Matt was named one of the most influential jazz musicians of the past 15 years by Jazziz Magazine for bringing Balkan rhythms and melodies into jazz. He has collaborated and performed with luminaries such as Gunther Schuller, Elliott Sharp, Marc Ribot, George Schuller, Theodosii Spassov, Mark Feldman, David Byrne, Marc Ribot, Roberto Rodriguez, Itzhak Perlman, Ken Butler, Ben Folds Five and many others in the New York and world scene.

Pete Rushefsky (tsimbl) is an award-winning 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, Yale Strom 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

Passover Message

Nissan 5783
March 2023

Dear Friend,

I hope this letter finds you and your family well. The haftarah for Shabbos Chol Ha-Moed Pesach is Ezekiel’s famous and enigmatic prophecy of the “dry bones.” God shows Ezekiel a valley full of dry bones. He instructs Ezekiel to “prophesize” to the bones three times. The first two times, God fulfills the prophecies, reconstituting the bones into skeletons, then into bodies and subsequently breathing life into them. The third prophecy, which Ezekiel delivers after the people complained that their bones are dry and that their hope is lost, is that God will open up their graves and bring them to the Land of Israel.

The rabbis in the Gemara, Sanhedrin 92b, discuss whether this passage was a parable or if it described something that actually happened. Rabbi Eliezer, the son of Rabbi Yosi Ha-Galili, said that the dead that Ezekiel revived made aliyah to the Land of Israel, married, and had sons and daughters. Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira said that he was a descendant of one who was resurrected. The Gemara also discusses who these people were. One opinion is that they were members of the tribe of Ephraim, who left Egypt prematurely, before Moses, and were slaughtered. Another opinion is that they were the people who denied the idea of resurrection. “Rabbi Yirmeyah bar Abba says that these were people in whom there was not even the moist residue of a mitzvah…” In other words, they were not the most righteous or worthy people, and yet God brought them back from the dead.

Pesach celebrates the redemption from Egypt; it is also traditionally seen as the time of the future redemption. Yitzchak Abravanel, the late 15th, early 16th century exile from the Spanish court and commentator, notes that the resurrection and return to the land of Israel will be for all Jews, both the righteous and the wicked, although the latter will be judged. God will not abandon us. Ezekiel's prophecy encouraged our ancestors during the Babylonian exile and should encourage us as well. God can bring and will bring redemption, but we need to do our part. We should not be so devoid of mitzvos as to be dry bones. Moreover, as bad as things may appear, we should never give up hope, since ultimately, God will be there for us and will restore us. As we prepare ourselves for Passover we should use these words to energize ourselves to meet and overcome whatever challenges lie ahead.

We had a good fall at Old Broadway. The holidays, beginning with Selichos led by Orrin Tilevitz through Rosh Hashanah with Rabbi Reuven Hoff and Yosef Tannenbaum were lovely. Sukkos and Hoshanah Rabba also went well. Attendance has been improving at all services. Moshe Jennings discusses the parashah every Friday night and Rafi gives an in-depth derashah every Shabbos morning. Our Women’s Rosh Chodesh Group has been meeting monthly under the leadership of Rhonda Taylor Ramsuer and Laura Radensky. Rabbi Avi Heller has been giving excellent shiurim each month with topics such as “Insights into Parashas Vayera,” “Vigilante Justice: When Can You Take the Law Into Your Own Hands?“ “Encountering God in the Prayers of the Avos,” and “Character Development in the Megillah.” We had a very lively Chanukah celebration with arts and crafts and the accordionist Aron Gershman, and we had a very successful Purim with live music at night and a very thoughtful shiur in the morning. This fall we also partnered with the Center for Traditional Music and Dance and hosted five well-attended klezmer concerts.

As spring approaches we are looking forward to celebrating Passover and our annual planting of our courtyard garden, organized by Dale Brown, on May 21st. Dale is also organizing our annual congregational visit to the Riverside Cemetery, on June 25th. We are currently taking a break from our klezmer series as we approach Passover and the Omer period. We look forward to continuing the series after Shavuos in late May.

Our building is approaching its hundredth anniversary – the cornerstone for our synagogue was placed in fall, 1923. We are making plans so that our shul can be as well used in its next century as it has been in its first century. Our long term goals are to upgrade the electrical system, restore the walls (some of which had elaborate decorative schemes) and restore our tin ceiling. Shorter term projects include reinforcing the Kiddush Room floor, strengthening the two staircases and restoring the lobby’s tile floor. We hope to report more on these initiatives in subsequent letters.

Your support has enabled us to do all that we have done. With your help, we will continue, God willing, to be a warm spiritual home and a makom Torah in the spirit of Rabbi and Mrs. Kret, זכרונם לברכה. We are grateful for your support and hope that we will continue to be worthy of your assistance going forward.

Warm wishes for a sweet and kosher Pesach

Paul Radensky
President

Purim Maariv, Megilah and Music

Please join us for our annual Purim Simchah at the Old Broadway Synagogue, Monday, March 6th at 6:25pm. We will daven Maariv followed by the Megillah and a Purim party! $10 suggested contribution.

Here is more about the performers:

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, 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.

Ira Khonen Temple (piano, accordion) is a multi-instrumentalist, bandleader, and embedded cultural organizer. Recent credits include accordionist for Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish, and music director of Indecent at the Weston Playhouse, Great Small Works’ Muntergang and Other Cheerful Downfalls, and the Aftselakhis Spectacle Committee Purimshpil. Ira was a founder of the radical-traditional Yiddish music group Tsibele.

KLEZMER NIGHT on OL' BROADWAY

 

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

TURN UP THE HEAT with KLEZMER!

Jake Shulman-Ment (violin), Pete Rushefsky (tsimbl/hammered dulcimer) & Raffi Boden (cello)
Saturday, February 11, 8pm
at the Old Broadway Synagogue
(15 Old Broadway between 125th & 126th Streets in Manhattan)
Suggested donation: $10

Join us for the new klezmer music series at the Old Broadway Synagogue (15 Old Broadway between 125th & 126th Streets in Manhattan) at 8pm on Saturday night, February 11, 2022. We'll be featuring three of the contemporary klezmer scene's leading performers - Pete Rushefsky (tsimbl/hammered dulcimer), Jake Shulman-Ment (violin) & Raffi Boden (cello). Join the trio for a night of rediscovered melodies, newly-composed Jewish melodies, Hasidic spirituals and rollicking dance tunes. This program is presented by the Old Broadway Synagogue in partnership with the Center for Traditional Music and Dance and Yiddish New York.

Please stay after the concert for nosh and an opportunity to meet others!

Biographies of performers:

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, 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.

Jake Shulman-Ment (violin) is at the helm of a new generation of Klezmer and Yiddish music performers. He tours and records internationally in addition to being a widely sought-out teacher of the klezmer fiddle tradition at festivals around the globe. He collected, studied, performed, and documented traditional music in Romania as a Fulbright scholar, and has lived and traveled in Hungary and Greece, learning traditional violin styles. In 2018 he received the prestigious NYSCA/NYFA Fellowship in Folk/Traditional Arts. He was a featured subject of Csaba Bereczki’s full-length documentary film Soul Exodus, and appears on HBO’s Succession, Martin Scorcese’s The Irishman, and a host of other film and theater productions. Jake’s debut solo album, A Redele (A Wheel) (Oriente Musik, 2012) was nominated for the German Record Critics’ Award. His new group, Midwood, released its first album, Out of the Narrows, (Chant Records) in May 2018.

Raffi Boden (cello) is an innovative cellist and educator and a current graduate student at The Juilliard School. A member of the award-winning contemporary klezmer ensemble Mamaliga, Raffi was the winner of the 2018 Oberlin Concerto Competition and performed as a soloist with both the Orchestra and the Contemporary Music Ensemble. In 2016, he spent a month teaching and studying the El Sistema method in Venezuela, and he has performed internationally in France, Venezuela, and around the U.S. Raffi holds a B.M. in Cello Performance and a B.A. in French Language from the Oberlin College & Conservatory.