Stained Glass
Prayer doesn't change the world.
Prayer changes us,
and we change the world.
Blessed are all who have joined
together to pray, to learn, to do.
(845) 638-0770
Ark
Calendar URJ 
Click the ark picture to open and close it.
© Copyright Temple Beth Sholom New City, NY 10956
 

  • Rabbi's Monthly
    Message
  • Cantor's Monthly
    Message
  • Rabbi
    Biography
  • Cantor
    Biography
  • High Holy Day
    Sermons
  • Cantor
    Sings

From the Desk of.......................................................................... Rabbi David E. Fass

The Restrictions of Freedom

No bread. No rolls. No soy sauce. Nothing with leaven (chametz) and nothing that has even come into contact with chametz, for seven full days (eight if you’re Orthodox). Strange, isn’t it, that Pesach, the holiday of freedom, seems to place such an incredible number of restrictions on that freedom. This is most evident, of course, in the area of what we can and cannot eat.
   
Why the emphasis on food?  Because Pesach is, at its root, a food holiday.  Long before there were any Hebrews or any Jews at all, shepherds celebrated the new births that usually took place in the spring and farmers celebrated the appearance of the new crops at about the same time.

If the increases were plentiful, the food supply was insured. So the issue is not just one food as opposed to another. The issue is enough food to feed the community as opposed to not enough for everyone. This is not just a matter of choice, but literally a matter of life and death. And that is why, I suggest, our ancestors made not eating chametz such an important part of Pesach.
How so? There are a number of reasons:

1.    Stored food, especially grain and dairy products (the majority of our ancestors’ diets) is apt to ferment when it is stored too long. It spoils and produces variously colored molds. Some are benign, some can make us sick, and some can kill us. Even today, the layperson would be hard put to tell which is which.

Our ancestors were correct in insisting that if we wished to maintain the simplest of freedoms, simple survival, we had to, in our freedom, limit ourselves. We had to, then as now, pick from among possible outcomes, accepting some and restricting ourselves with regard to others.

2.    It is commonplace, even in the most primitive cultures, that leavening agents are used to cause bread to rise, to swell up. The only way to counter this is to punch the dough back down, or see to it that no leaven gets into the dough in the first place.

Even farmers are rarely completely self-sufficient. There are almost always important items that must be gotten from somewhere else. For our ancestors, the puffing up of the dough became a symbol for the denial of this truth. It became a symbol of the puffery, the arrogance, the self-aggrandizement of those who felt they could go it alone without any concern for their neighbors and community. By restricting our individual freedom vis-à-vis what we eat, we affirm our dependence on, and responsibility for, the rest of our community.

3.    There is usually something left over from last year’s “stuff.” These leftovers are where spoilage and fermentation are most apt to occur.

Cleaning out the leftovers became a symbol of trust in God. Why? Because holding onto the few last crumbs was also a way of holding onto yesterday, holding onto the past. Throughout our historical experience our people were told to put their trust in God and to go forward. For Abraham to leave his homeland, Jacob to flee the famine by migrating to Egypt, the Israelites to flee Egypt, make their way through the Sea of Reeds, and begin the conquest of Canaan courage, a letting go of the past and trust in God’s guidance were all needed.

At this holiday of the celebration of our freedom, we freely do what is possible only for us: we make choices. We make the best of our limits. We act like humans, not like God. Part of what we celebrate is our freedom to limit ourselves in the face of limitless choices. This is at the core of our humanity as well as our Judaism. A zissen Pesach to you all.




Cantor Sergei Schwartz

Special Concert

TBS Presents A Very Special FREE Family Concert On Sunday, April 3 At 10:00am.

One of the most interesting qualities of Jewish music is its ability to adjust to modern times. Every decade brings new composers and interpretations of Jewish music. As the Cantor of Temple Beth Sholom I always like bringing you the best examples of new composed music. For the last several years our Children’s choir, Junior choir and all children in the religious and nursery schools have enjoyed singing songs like “Great, Mighty and Awesome,” “We Sing Shabbat, We Sing Shalom,” “Good Shabbos, Shabbos to You,” “Adonai S’fatai Tiftach,” “Standing at the Sea” and many others. All these songs were written by Ellen and Peter Allard – an incredibly talented duo from Massachusetts. 

Their engaging, contemplative, and educational songs inspire young and old equally. Through their music, Ellen and Peter help children and families strengthen their Jewish identities. Ellen and Peter travel constantly around the country, sharing their music and love of Judaism.

On April 3rd Ellen and Peter Allard will be our guests at Temple Beth Sholom. This FREE community event is possible due to the mutual efforts and supports of our religious and nursery schools, as well as your donations to the Rabbi’s Discretionary Fund, Cantor’s Discretionary Fund and the Music Fund.

The event will start at 10:00 with “Wow T’filah” – a new approach to worship - and will smoothly transfer into a concert with participation of our Children’s choir, Junior choir and all our children in the religious and nursery schools.  While this event is planned during religious school hours, adults are very welcome and encouraged to attend this special and upbeat concert. Please join us on Sunday, April 3 at 10:00am.

This year we were able to produce our first ever Temple Beth Sholom CD. (Take a look/listen.)

This CD is the result of the hard work of the Temple Beth Sholom Junior Choir.  I hope those of you who had an opportunity to listen to this CD enjoyed it, and those who didn’t receive the CD please contact the Temple.  I would like to thank everybody involved in the creation of this CD, especially Nikolai Kachanov for producing this CD, and Gene Fryer for creating the wonderful design of the CD.


 

Rabbi Fass Rabbi David Fass has been the Spiritual Leader of Temple Beth Sholom of New City for the past twenty-six years. In the local Jewish community, he is a Vice President of the United Jewish Federation, serves as a volunteer Chaplain with the Rockland County Sheriff’s Department and on the Clarkstown Board of Ethics. Rabbi Fass has established interfaith dialogues between Temple Beth Sholom and the First Baptist Church of Spring Valley and the Islamic Center of Rockland. Under the auspices of the Rockland Federation, the national Rabbinic Cabinet of the UJA, the American Reform Zionist Association, and the International Committee for Peace in the Middle East, he has visited Jewish communities in Israel, Cuba, Morocco, Spain, Turkey, Argentina and Brazil, and has met with officials in Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and the PLO on the West Bank.

A prolific writer, Rabbi Fass has published a children’s book (The Shofar that Lost Its Voice), numerous journal articles and book reviews, and many of his sermons have appeared in the major homiletic journals. His CD of 2,000 pages of sermon illustrations is used by Rabbis of all denominations. His story-telling, particularly the tales of the Wise Men of Chelm, is now delighting a second generation of children.

Ordained in 1973 from the Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, Rabbi Fass has undergraduate degrees in Philosophy and in Hebrew Letters, and Masters degrees in Hebrew Letters and in the Sociology of American Religion. Married to the former Marian Kirtchik, they have three children, Melinda, Evan, and Pamela, a wonderful son-in-law, Eric, the best machatunim anywhere, and three extremely blond granddaughters, Mara, Sabrina, and Jadyn.

 

Cantor picture Cantor Sergei Schwartz was born in 1971 in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine and has been singing since the age of six. Despite religious prohibitions and restrictions, Jewish music was always heard in his home. After graduation from the College of Music with a major in Choral Conducting in 1990 he and his family emigrated to Israel. There he was immediately accepted to the Jerusalem Rubin Academy of Music. He graduated with a bachelor degree in 1995 with a major in Choral Conducting. Soon after coming to Jerusalem Cantor Schwartz joined the Jerusalem Great Synagogue Choir where he absorbed an ever-deepening love of cantorial music.
In 1995 he started studying in the Jerusalem School of Cantorial Art under the direction of the famous conductor and cantor, Elli Jaffe. In Jerusalem, Cantor Schwartz studied with world renowned Cantor Naftali Herstik, Chief Cantor of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue. In 1996, Cantor Sergei Schwartz was accepted to Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, from which he successfully graduated with a Master of Sacred Music Degree and Investiture as Cantor in May 2000. Cantor Sergei Schwartz has appeared at concert halls across Europe, Israel and the United States and has performed both as a Cantor and as a member and soloist of the Jerusalem Great Synagogue Choir. Since 2000 Sergei Schwartz has served as the Cantor of Temple Beth Sholom in New City, New York. Before coming to Temple Beth Sholom, Cantor Schwartz served as a cantor in Beer-Sheba Reform Congregation (Israel); Temple Emanuel, Baltimore, Maryland and Temple Beth-El, Jersey City, New Jersey.

 

 

To search for text in sermons and other website documents, enter your search terms and click 'Submit.'


Complete High Holy Day sermons are available by clicking the "" links below.

  Sermon
Themes
Rosh
Hashanah
Evening
Rosh
Hashanah
Morning
Rosh
Hashanah
Day
Yom
Kippur
Evening
Yom
Kippur
Morning
Yom
Kippur
Yizkor
Shabbbat
Shuvah
2009    
2008    
2007            
2006    
2005    
2004  
2003  
2002
2001  
2000

 

Here is a sampling of some of Cantor Schwartz' beautiful musical renditions: