Category: News

Dear Members,

As we prepare to celebrate the 5872 High Holy Days season and launch our Kol Nidre Appeal, we do so with gratitude, confidence and optimism. As Rabbi Arthur Schneier recently remarked, “The prescription for the year ahead: be confident and don’t give up. Because the impossible is possible.” At this time last year, we prayed for a return to normalcy. We are especially grateful for the privilege of praying together in our beautiful sanctuary.

Thanks to our dedicated and innovative staff members and clergy, strict adherence to state and local guidelines and the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, we continue to provide vibrant services, educational programs, and a seamless sense of community for our members. We have also launched new programs, including an engaging NextGen minyan for young couples and professionals that will begin this September. Hundreds of children learn our Jewish heritage in our schools and at our youth activities.

Our continued commitment to state-of-the-art health and safety equipment, maintaining our services, programs and landmark 132-year-old Synagogue all require significant financial resources. The Kol Nidre Appeal is an essential part of our annual operating budget. We continue to invest in highly-trained security professionals and best available equipment to protect our Synagogue and school communities from threats. We need your help by matching at least what you gave last year, or if possible, a bit more, to ensure we can continue to serve the Jewish community for the next generation.

I wish you and yours a happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous New Year.

Please make your tax-deductible donation today. Thank you in advance for your generosity.

With all good wishes,

Herman Hochberg
President

Click here to donate.

Rabbi Arthur Schneier appeared on the United Nations “Awake at Night” podcast, hosted by  Melissa Fleming, the United Nations’ Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications.

In the interview, Rabbi Schneier shares his experience as a Holocaust survivor who, after emigrating to the United States in 1949, has devoted his life to interreligious understanding, peace and human rights, as both Senior Rabbi at Park East Synagogue and the Founder and President of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation. He discusses his work as Deputy Permanent Representative for the United Nations General Assembly, his concerns about technology and the resurgence of anti-Semitism, and his hopes for the future.

Click here to listen to the episode.

On June 8, 2021, the Park East Synagogue and Rabbi Arthur Schneier Park East Day School communities gathered to celebrate at the Annual Dinner at Park East Synagogue.

Rabbi Arthur Schneier opened the program with a reflection on the community’s perseverance amid the COVID-19 pandemic and shared a message of optimism, stating, “The prescription for the year ahead: be confident and don’t give up. Because the impossible is possible.” 

Israel Nitzan, Acting Consul General of the state of Israel, addressed the Park East community and underscored the need for public officials to continue to combat anti-Semitism. Senator Chuck Schumer, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Ambassador Gilad Erdan, Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations and Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, joined the celebration virtually, sharing their well wishes for the honorees.

S. Daniel Abraham was honored with the Humantarian Award and as Patron of Higher and Jewish Education in the United States and Israel. Lindsey Dresbach, granddaughter of Rabbi Arthur Schneier, accepted the award on Mr. Abraham’s behalf.

Dayna Langfan and Lawrence Heller were honored with the L’Dor V’Dor Award for Jewish Continuity and Education.

Rebecca and David Zwillinger were honored as Patrons of Education. 

The teachers of the Rabbi Arthur Schneier Park East Day School were honored collectively as educators of the year for their commitment to their students, particularly amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

View the video highlights from the 2021 Annual Dinner.

View the photo gallery:

Photography by Heidi Green.

On Monday, March 15, 2021, Rabbi Arthur Schneier delivered a special address to the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) at their meeting on Exploring Holistic Approaches to Combating Anti-Semitism. 

Following an introduction by High Representative Miguel Moratinos, Rabbi Schneier, who serves as UNAOC Goodwill Ambassador, reflected on his experience as a Holocaust survivor and highlighted the prevalence of anti-Semitism today. “Anti-Semitism has survived millennia because it constantly adapts… United, we must rise to counter its latest form,” he stated, pointing to the spread of hatred on social media and digital platforms and highlighting the need for greater governance.  

Rabbi Schneier recognized the hero diplomats who risked their lives to save Jews during the Holocaust, and acknowledged the United Nations for its 2008 resolution, adopted by 120 countries, to observe International Holocaust Remembrance Day each year on January 27. 

Closing with a blessing for a joyful and peaceful Easter and Passover holiday, he said, “May they usher in healing for a wounded world and a divided humanity. And, united, we will prevail.” 

Rabbi Schneier’s remarks can be viewed at the 18:28 mark in the video below.

Park East Synagogue and the United Nations hosted an International Holocaust Remembrance virtual service marking the 76th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on January 25, 2021. UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Rabbi Arthur Schneier, Senior Rabbi at Park East Synagogue and founder and President of the Appeal of Conscience foundation, delivered remarks. The service included music by Chief Cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, Cantor Benny Rogosnitzky and the Park East Synagogue Choir, led by Conductor Maestro Russell Ger, and the participation of students at Rabbi Arthur Schneier Park East Day School and the UN diplomatic corps.

Rabbi Arthur Schneier pointed to the rise of hate and anti-Semitism in the world today and underscored the importance of Holocaust education in schools, stating, “Children are not born with hatred. They are taught how to hate. When infected, they become carriers of hatred. The antidote is education, education, education.”

In his remarks, UN Secretary-General António Guterres encouraged “coordinated global action, on the scale of the threat we face, to build an alliance against the growth and spread of neo-Nazism and white supremacy, and to fight propaganda and disinformation… Prevention is key to the fight against anti-Semitism, and I sincerely thank Rabbi Schneier and all those who work with and for the Appeal of Conscience Foundation for their efforts to promote interfaith understanding.”