Kol Nidre Letter from Herman Hochberg, President

As we enter this New Year, we can only reflect on this past year and pray for the world to return to normalcy. What a difficult year this has been. Hopefully you and your loved ones have been safe and secure; but regardless, the year has certainly affected our lives in many difficult ways. With 5781 about to begin, our thoughts turn to our prayers and worshipping.

We at Park East have prepared our Synagogue for this year’s worshipping, both virtual and in-person. We have with all our efforts and not sparing any expense have made our House of Prayer as safe as can be. The preventive measures we have implemented include the hiring of airflow experts, top technicians, engineers and architects; as well as purchasing and installing the latest top quality equipment, including video temperature testing equipment, infrared panels in our ductwork to purify the airflow, stand-alone air purifiers throughout the building, and the finest disinfectants.

During these Holidays we are obligated to do Tzedakah. This year, more than ever, we are spending well over our budget to offer you virtual services as well as safely facilitate in-person services. Thus, I am requesting support for our 131-year-old Synagogue that has been serving the Upper East Side. For us to continue in this crisis, we would need your help by matching at least what you gave last year, or if possible, a bit more, to help us continue to be an anchor of Torah values and service to the Jewish people, assuring Jewish continuity through education of our children.

During this most difficult time, we were fortunate to have the steadfast spiritual leadership of Rabbi Arthur Schneier, his Rabbinic and Cantorial team, supported by the Administration led by Cantor Benny Rogosnitzky, and our dedicated teachers. They have helped us sustain faith and hope.

I wish you and your families a safe, healthy, prosperous, and most happy and fulfilled G’Mar Tov.

Herman Hochberg


Herman Hochberg, President

5781 High Holy Days: The importance of tzedaka.

Dear Members,

As we enter the 5781 High Holy Days we are reminded of the importance of tzedakah. Our historic 131-year-old community continues with our mission of L’dor V’dor, providing from generation to generation a fine Jewish education to hundreds of children from all backgrounds every week.  The COVID 19 crisis has forced us to deal with unprecedented needs in our community, beyond our continued need to meet our ongoing commitments to our valued members and families. we have had to spend Hundreds of thousands of dollars preparing our institution and facilities to physically accommodate our schools, prayers and programs. In addition to rising expenses on security, as our concerns for safety is unparalleled, we also are investing in technology for live streaming programming, services and classes to keep everyone connected during these times.

We ask for you to send your generous contribution early to our Kol Nidre Campaign.  We hope you can match last year’s contribution.   We are grateful for the early contributions already received.


Herman Hochberg, President

We’re Open for Shabbat Morning Services

“מִזְמוֹר שִׁיר לְיוֹם הַשַּׁבָּת. טוֹב לְהֹדוֹת לַה’ וּלְזַמֵּר לְשִׁמְךָ עֶלְיוֹן”

“A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.

It is good to praise the LORD, to sing hymns to Your name, O Most High”

Dear Park East Synagogue Family,

I pray that you and your loved ones are well, and are coping with the challenges of pandemic life.

While we have graduated from online to In person daily morning services, it is with great joy that we will start our Shabbat morning services this week, Saturday July 18th, 26 of Tammuz, Parashat Matot – Masei.

While we are excited to resume, we have prepared carefully to be able to open safely in our beautiful Main Sanctuary.

The abridged Shabbat Services will begin at 9:30AM.


In order to participate in the minyan please register here as we will limit the amount of participants. In addition please review the detailed guidelines here.

Advanced registration for attendance is required and cannot be accepted after 5pm on Thursday.

As we will conclude the Book of Bamidbar Numbers with the final Parasha speaking about the many journeys of the Jewish people in the desert, we must remember that en route to the Promised Land there are many stops, places that one must make in order to achieve what is valuable and precious in life.

Chazak Chazak Venitchazek,
With best wishes,


Rabbi Arthur Schneier

Rabbi Arthur Schneier Special 4th of July Message

Dear Park East Family,

As we celebrate Independence Day we must remember the contribution of the American people to the world and the integration of millions of people who came to this country in search for freedom and opportunity, including the waves of Jewish immigrants fleeing persecution and pogroms, and those who came after the Holocaust and gained a new lease on life. Our Country has not been immune from discrimination, anti-Semitism and racial injustice. G-d created an imperfect world in order for each one of us to help improve and perfect it. This is an ongoing challenge, particularly at a time of division, hatred and civil strife. The pandemic we endure has brought on so much pain, grief and suffering, it calls for united action in healing a wounded and divided country and world.

In our prayers, that can be heard once again in our Sanctuary, let us give thanks for the blessings we enjoy, with hope and commitment to build together a bright and just future for our children and children’s children.

G-d bless America!

Shabbat Shalom,


Rabbi Arthur Schneier

COVID-19 Important message from Park East Synagogue

Dear Members,

At this time of Coronavirus pandemic, we have to be guided by the principles of Jewish Law, Pekuach Nefesh – concern for human life and the sanctity of life, our highest commitment. We are implementing all the precautions recommended by Public Health and Medical Experts and guidelines given by City, State, and the Federal Government.

Al Tifrosh Min Hatzibur, Do not separate yourself from the Community, we must have consideration for the welfare of the entire community. Accordingly, with pain and prudence we are cancelling all Shabbat services for Friday, March 13 – Saturday, March 14. 

G-d can be found everywhere. We must intensify our prayers at home not only for ourselves and our family’s well being, but also prayers for those afflicted, reciting Psalm 121 and 130. We must continue the study of Torah, for Torah is the Tree of Life for those who hold on to it. And we must also pray for our scientists and doctors who are working to help prevent the spread of this virus that already has claimed too many lives. 

What is needed are my three P’s, Prayer, Perserverence and Patience, for there are no instant solutions. Faith amidst of fear. Fear debilitates, faith strengthens. 

Fear has overwhelmed us as we reflect on our vulnerability and frailty. We must remember and rally our strength and regain our confidence. Faith is the antidote to fear.

Hasem li V’lo Ira, G-d is with me, I shall not fear.

Chazak, Chazak V’Nitchazek, Be Strong, Be Strong, let us strengthen one another.

Shabbat Shalom. May it be a peaceful Shabbat.

Rabbi Arthur Schneier

United Nations Holocaust Memorial Ceremony – Theme: 75 years after Auschwitz – Holocaust Education and Remembrance for Global Justice

27 January 2020

United Nations Holocaust Memorial Ceremony – Theme: 75 years after Auschwitz – Holocaust Education and Remembrance for Global Justice

2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, the ending of the Second World War, and the ending of the Holocaust. 2020 also marks the establishment of the United Nations, formed in response to atrocity crimes of the Holocaust and the Second World War, with the aim of building a world that is just and peaceful. Acknowledging the milestone year, the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme has chosen as the theme for Holocaust education and remembrance in 2020, “75 years after Auschwitz – Holocaust Education and Remembrance for Global Justice”. The theme reflects the continued importance, 75 years after the Holocaust, of collective action against antisemitism and other forms of bias to ensure respect for the dignity and human rights of all people everywhere.

The ceremony, taking place 75 years to the day of the liberation by the Soviet forces of Auschwitz Birkenau Nazi German concentration and extermination camp (1940-1945), will be hosted by Ms. Melissa Fleming, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications. Invited speakers include the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, the President of the seventy-fourth session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Permanent Representatives of Germany, Israel and the United States to the United Nations, Mr. Castro Wedamba, Chief of Office, Office on Prevention of Genocide and the Responsibility to Protect, and Holocaust survivors, Mr. Shraga Milstein and Ms. Irene Shashar. Judge Theodor Meron, who served as the President of the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, will deliver the keynote speech. Cantor Shulem Lemmer will recite the memorial prayers. Mr. Itzhak Perlman will deliver a musical contribution.

Thursday, December, 13th, University of Miami commencement speaker Rabbi Arthur Schneier

Watsco Center
Thursday
December 13, 2019

 

 

 

 

In the afternoon graduate degree ceremony for doctoral and master’s students, Rabbi Arthur Schneier, a Holocaust survivor who founded the Appeal of Conscience Foundation to promote tolerance, religious freedom, and human rights around the world, told the 560 graduates to “never give up, have faith, and do not be deterred by obstacles and hardship that may come your way.”

“Search beyond your immediate comfort zone of your particular field or your monetary desires,” said Schneier, who was presented with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. “With wisdom and heart, make a commitment of carrying the torch of freedom forward for peace and unity in diversity. It is your turn to give back—just as I gave back to the blessed United States.”

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Rabbi Arthur Schneier’s commencement speech.

Photos courtesy of the University of Miami.

Rabbi Arthur Schneier will be the recipient of the Doctor of Humane Letters degree

We are pleased that Rabbi Arthur Schneier will be the recipient of the Doctor of Humane Letters degree for his leadership on behalf of religious freedom, human rights, and peaceful coexistence.
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Two extraordinary men who have spent their lives fighting malevolent forces that have destroyed so many other lives will be the speakers at the University of Miami’s fall commencement exercises on Thursday, Dec. 12, when more than 1,100 students cross the Watsco Center stage for their degrees.

Dr. Rodrigo Guerrero-Velasco, a Colombian epidemiologist, academician, and policymaker who pioneered a data-driven approach to combating urban violence, will address more than 550 students at the 10 a.m. undergraduate ceremony. Rabbi Arthur Schneier, a Holocaust survivor who founded the Appeal of Conscience Foundation to promote tolerance, religious freedom, and human rights around the world, will share his advice with more than 560 doctoral and master’s students at the 2 p.m. graduate degree ceremony.

Rabbi Arthur Schneier statement on New York Times anti-Semitism editorial.

Dear Members,

I call your attention to a New York Times editorial (link below) addressing growing concerns of anti-Semitism here in the United States and across Europe.

The New York Times editorial is another wake up call that portrays the widespread cancer of anti-Semitism in Europe and is an alert to American leaders of conscience to counter this hatred also metastasized in the United States. 

AM YISRAEL CHAI – it depends on every one of us.

Stemming a global wave of anti-Semitism

Stemming a global wave of anti-Semitism

As a Vienna-born Holocaust survivor, I recently accepted the invitation of the Austrian Parliament President, Wolfgang Sobotka, to give the keynote address on the 80th Anniversary of Kristallnacht. It was an emotional return to my boyhood hometown, where I first experienced the horrors of anti-Semitism. But it was also painful, knowing that this cancer has reappeared and become widespread.

It brought back memories of November 10, 1938, when I watched indifferent police and firefighters stand by as my synagogue, the Polnische Tempel in Vienna, burned to the ground. Heinrich Heine, the German-Jewish poet, spoke as a prophet when he said, “Where books are burned, in the end humans will be burned, too.” My experience taught me that those who burn books, dehumanize Jews, and burn synagogues would burn human beings in the crematoria of Auschwitz, my family’s graveyard.

I witnessed SS and SA troops vandalize and plunder the apartments in our building. The next morning, on my way to school, I saw Jewish men lined up in front of the Ministry of Defense building, waiting for their deportation to the concentration camps at Dachau and Buchenwald. Some never returned.

With the Anschluss on March 12, 1938, a few days before my eighth birthday, my beautiful Viennese childhood world collapsed. Soon, the city was decked out in swastika flags. Seemingly overnight, I had become an outsider. Most of my Christian classmates shunned me. I became an “Unerwünschter,” an unwanted person in the classroom, on the football field, in the pastry shop, where “Jews and dogs are not wanted.”

I learned, for the first time, that children are not born with hatred –they are taught to hate.

After the Holocaust, I did not think that we would have to talk about anti-Semitism again. The cancer of anti-Semitism seemed to be in remission – it was no longer socially acceptable.

But now the cancer is back, and it has metastasized in Europe and in the United States, the latest manifestation in Pittsburgh. The internet has turned into a borderless space for anti-Semites to find and encourage one another.

Europe has had a tragic history for Jews: inquisition, persecution, ghettoization, pogroms, and the Holocaust. After emancipation, wherever Jews were welcome, they made a contribution to culture, science, music, medicine, and the arts, as well as to the welfare of their host country. Jews always fared better in times of stability and suffered during periods of turbulence and instability.

The current upheaval in the European Union, including the integration of immigrants, some of whom have been indoctrinated with hatred for Jews, threatens the safety and security of Jews in many European countries and has stimulated the rise of anti-Semitism.

Europe’s peaceful and prosperous future is linked to a Europe free of anti-Semitism and camouflaged anti-Zionism.  In an encouraging sign, some world leaders recognize that and are no longer silent. German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently stood in a Berlin synagogue and condemned a troubling resurgence of anti-Semitism in her country. She warned that even a subtle erosion of vigilance against hatred can allow it to take root anew. The same day, French Prime Minister Edouard Phillippe cautioned that anti-Semitic incidents had increased nearly 70 percent this year.

It is also encouraging to see the youngest European Head of State making it a priority to combat this plague. Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, currently serving as the President of the Council of the European Union, convened a high-level conference this month to explore how to combat an alarming rise in anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism across Europe.  The conference is a clarion call to action.

The scourge of anti-Semitism is like a genie out of the bottle: we can’t undo it, but we can hope to contain it while we try to prevent the poisoning of the current generation.

Let’s be clear: anti-Semitism not only victimizes Jews, it’s an indicator of how a society treats other religious, ethnic and racial minorities. Anti-Semitism is a hate crime perpetrated by those who want to erase the dignity and values of each and every human being. It is the fodder for violence against humanity, culminating in crimes of racism and xenophobia, its natural mutations.

In the Book of Leviticus it is said: “neither shalt thou stand idly by the blood of thy neighbor.” Silence is not the answer. It only encourages the perpetrators and demands a high toll in the end. We must isolate the perpetrators who incite hatred and conflict and reject peaceful co-existence.

We can learn from this that disunity and division, hatred and discord are the false answers to the many questions that living together in a society ask from us.  We have to win over the silent majority – and shake them awake. I am convinced that the silent majority wants peaceful coexistence in mutual respect.

In Europe, government alone cannot stem the scourge of anti-Semitism; this work requires coalitions of business and religious leaders, intellectuals and educators. Every nation should be encouraged to designate an official whose sole task is to coordinate efforts to stem hatred and encourage a sense of common humanity.

In education, we should adopt policies on Holocaust education and curricula that includes not just tolerance of the “other,” but mutual understanding, respect, and acceptance of the “other.”

“And you shall teach them to your children and speak of them,” says Deuteronomy 6:7. Teaching “love your neighbor as yourself,” and a transmission of the democratic values are the cornerstone of the civilized world. Maybe, in classrooms of diverse peers, the children and grandchildren of those subsumed by hate will learn why hate leads nowhere. Hate has never built anything.

Let us work together with clear commitment: Never again.

Let us resist man’s inhumanity to man. Our common destiny requires us to develop bonds of common humanity. United we prevail, divided we fail. We cannot change the past, we must remember and learn from it; today, we can shape the future for our children and grandchildren, a future of peace, freedom and democracy.

BY RABBI ARTHUR SCHNEIER, for The Hill — 

Rabbi Arthur Schneier is president and founder of the Appeal of Conscience Foundation and senior rabbi of Park East Synagogue in New York.

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