Temple Avodat Shalom

07/31/2024

11/05/2023

In the last few weeks, I’ve found myself sinking deeper and deeper into the dark pit of despair, helplessness and loss of faith in humanity. This emerging lack of belief in the good in people is the worst for me to handle - I genuinely love people and I live for people, seeking to see the best in them. I have always believed that unconditional faith in humankind is empowering and that kindness is contagious - little kind deeds provoke bigger and more powerful acts of kindness, until the overall amount of good starts to overflow and prevails over the hatred and the evil.

These days it may seem that evil is out there to win and that our little bursts of empathy, love, kindness and goodness are getting lost miserably among the overwhelming senses of hatred, fear and despair. I feel this way a lot lately. I feel this way until I make a conscious effort and force myself to switch my focus. This is very hard to do because there’s so much nastiness circulating around us lately that all we may see is violence, hatred and pain. Yet, when I do manage to switch my focus, I see goodness and kindness all around. People from all corners of the world reach out and bring me to tears with their kind words of love and support. All these people, whose lives I, or someone else, touched, often without even knowing it, all people who were supported by other people in moments of pain and who now want to give back and bring love and support to those who hurt, all these people are now there.

Kindness is contagious and it is reciprocal. One good word leads to another and one kind deed, hug, supportive look or smile produce many more of those. There are so many people who are there for us right now and who want to hug us and to relieve our pain. I invite myself and all of you to try and switch our focus a bit. Let’s share little glimpses of kindness, hope and love we see from the outside world in the comments to this post. Let’s keep reminding ourselves that good will prevail simply for the fact that it is always there and that it is never going away. We just need to continue seeing it in the most difficult of times.

07/09/2023

Cantor’s grand party warming with the members of TAS choir. Mimosas and good singing. We definitely know how to have fun!

05/24/2023

Please join us at TAS for our beautiful Shavuot concert.

05/19/2023

https://jewishstandard.timesofisrael.com/paying-it-forward-3/

Local Russian-born cantor, Ukrainian musician perform together on erev Shavuot

05/16/2023

Many of you know that last summer my daughter, Maya, and I spent two weeks in Warsaw, where we were volunteering in a summer camp for Ukrainian refugee children. I brought back many heartwarming stories and numerous meaningful relationships, which I am still continuing to maintain and cherish. Due to the generosity of my congregation, Temple Avodat Shalom, I have managed to help some of the people I’ve met in Warsaw and I am very grateful for that.

When in Warsaw, I borrowed a small portable keyboard, which was bought some months earlier by my colleague, and which I used to lead music classes in the camp. One day, the camp’s director approached me, asking if I could donate that keyboard to one of the boys’ mom. That little boy, Miron, had a particularly good ear, and he would not miss an opportunity to play the piano. The camp director told me that Miron’s mom was a professional pianist and that she wanted to teach her son how to play, but didn’t have an instrument. While I could not donate the keyboard I borrowed, since it wasn’t mine, I did want to help this woman and her son out.

The next morning, I saw Miron’s mom bringing him to the camp. I asked her if she were a pianist, and she said “yes”. She seemed relieved - when I first approached her, she must have thought that her son did something bad. “I want to buy you a portable piano” - I said without much introduction, I was so excited that, I think, I forgot to tell her my name. “You want to buy me a piano? For real?” - Miron’s mom asked me in disbelief. Her hands were shaking and I was afraid that she’ll start crying. She told me that she was an accomplished pianist in her home city of Kharkiv, but now, in Warsaw, she doesn’t have an instrument and can’t practice or teach. As a musician, I knew how difficult it must have been for her to live without an instrument, and I wanted to help. I thought that if she had a portable piano, she could invite Ukrainian children to practice in her home. This way, she would have a job and the children would have a teacher and an instrument they could practice on.

Below is Alesia standing with her new Yamaha keyboard. She brought it back to the camp and I’m pretty sure that she carried it on public transportation. Alesia was moved to tears and she was so very happy and grateful. After getting the piano, she had immediately started to give back - she was teaching Ukrainian children in her house, did volunteer work, helped children with disabilities and more.

Now I am hosting Alesia in my house in Fair Lawn, NJ and we are working on a series of concerts. Alesia is an incredible musician. Working with her is a true privilege and I am so grateful for this collaboration. Thank you, Temple Avodat Shalom, for making it happen.

Hope to see you at our concerts. The program we are working on is vibrant, diverse and moving.

07/16/2022

Shabbat shacharit services at Ec Chaim synagogue in Warsaw.

https://fb.watch/eiFzxwcRVV/?fs=e&s=cl