Welcoming Shabbat with Oseh Shalom by Cantors Azi Schwartz and Shira Lissek

Today we welcome Shabbat with a beautiful rendition of Oseh Shalom, a part of the liturgy, sung by the two cantors of New York's Park Avenue Synagogue, Azi Schwartz and Shira Lissek.

Azi Schwartz joined the Park Avenue Synagogue clergy in 2009. He follows distinguished predecessors, including Cantor David Putterman and Cantor David Lefkowitz, whose musical leadership established Park Avenue Synagogue as the flagship of Jewish liturgical music in the United States.

Born and raised in Israel, Cantor Azi Schwartz has sung with prestigious orchestras and choirs around the world, including the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Berlin RIAS Kammerchor. He has performed in the United Nations’ General Assembly Hall, the United States Capitol Rotunda, and the Knesset, as well as in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Mann Auditorium. Cantor Schwartz serves on the faculty of the Debbie Friedman School of Sacred Music at HUC-JIR in New York City and on the faculty of the cantorial school of Abraham Geiger College in Berlin.

Cantor Shira Lissek joined the Park Avenue Synagogue clergy in July 2013 and serves as Associate Cantor. A third-generation hazzan, she brings to her cantorate a wide knowledge of Jewish music, an inspiring voice, a vibrant spirit, and life long synagogue experience. She is also a concert artist, operatic soloist, and educator.

Oseh Shalom is the closing sentence of the Kaddish and the Amidah. This version is not the liturgical version but a concert version that adds v'al kol yoshvei tevel (and to all the inhabitants of the earth) as a more universal message.

Enjoy and Shabbat shalom.

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