Faith In Brooklyn for Nov. 5

November 5, 2014 By Francesca Norsen-Tate, Religion Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The First Presbyterian Church Choir. Photo credit: Jim Johnson

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First Presbyterian Church Choir releases album

The music ministry of First Presbyterian Church has spread outside the sanctuary to transform the lives of countless others. Now, the choir’s latest album release, “Where I Am,” is the second to be made widely available. The choir hopes to guide listeners through the full range of the human experience — the search for a connection to God and to be a part of a better world.

“Where I Am,” which aims to speak to the listener on many levels, features notable selections from the worlds of Broadway, New York City cabaret and the fine arts alike. This collection draws upon diverse musical traditions —from traditional and contemporary gospel, to African American spiritual, world music, folk, jazz and Broadway.

With theater veteran Chris Neuner as producer and award-winning arts educator Amy Neuner as musical director, “Where I Am” showcases the vocal talents of Broadway staple Mykal Kilgore and noted soloist Bertilla Baker, among others.

The title track (Jami Jackson singing) is about her struggles to get to where she wants to be and her gratitude for finally finding herself fully there. The ensemble piece, “I Need You to Survive,” features everyone’s voice in solo phrases — each one distinct with the wounds and balms of life. No voice or experience is left out. Even the city and the listener’s capacity to change it for the better is embraced in the evocative “Beautiful City” and “With My Own Two Hands.”

First Presbyterian Church of Brooklyn shed its traditional approach in 1986, when the Rev. Dr. Paul Smith became senior minister. The church embraced a vision of an intentionally multicultural and inclusive church, and has since drawn in a lively and diverse congregation as well as friends like the Dalai Lama, Ambassador Andrew Young, the late civil rights lawyer Derrick Bell and 9/11 first responders Engine 205/Hook and Ladder 118. The First Presbyterian Church choir has been under the direction of Amy Neuner since her appointment in 2001 by Dr. Smith, who is now the pastor emeritus.

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Interfaith Study: Plymouth, Congregation Mount Sinai Present Series on Jewish and Christian Scriptures

The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament is the cornerstone and wellspring of both Judaism and Christianity, and it’s bringing two congregations together for a joint interfaith study series this month.

Congregation Mount Sinai and Plymouth Church will co-host a three-part series, starting this week, on Wednesday, Nov. 5, to examine the Hebrew Bible.

As both faith traditions developed over the course of centuries, they developed radically distinct readings of this core religious text. Class participants will engage in a close reading of selections of the Hebrew Bible that are core to both Judaism and Christianity and deepen their understanding, not only of their native tradition, but also of one that is likely quite different.

Rabbi Seth Wax and the Rev. Dr. Jane Huber, interim assistant minister at Plymouth Church, will facilitate this class, which meets from 7 to 8 p.m., followed by a wine and cheese gathering. Plymouth Church, 75 Hicks St. at Orange Street, will host the class on Nov. 5 and 19. Congregation Mount Sinai, 250 Cadman Plaza West, will host the Nov. 12 session.

The series is free, but RSVP is a must. Please advise which sessions you can join by contacting Congregation Mount Sinai via email at [email protected], or by phone at 718-875-9124.

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City Tech Marks 76th Anniversary of Kristallnacht

Michael Schneider, secretary general emeritus of the World Jewish Congress and former CEO of the American Joint Distribution Committee, will receive the 2014 City Tech Jewish Faculty and Staff Association (JFSA) Distinguished Humanitarian Award for his anti-apartheid efforts in South Africa and global humanitarian work.

This presentation will be made on Wednesday, Nov. 12, as New York City Technical College (City Tech) marks the 76th anniversary of the Kristallnacht massacre. Schneider will also be the featured speaker.

Menachem Z. Rosensaft, founding chair of the International Network of Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, will introduce Schneider and present the award. City Tech Professor Victoria Lichterman, a genocide scholar, will moderate the event.

Also honored, posthumously, will be Anne Heyman, a South African-born lawyer who devoted herself to philanthropy and, in particular, to the 1.2 million children who were orphaned during the Rwandan genocide. Heyman’s husband Seth Merrin will accept the JFSA Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award on her behalf.

The event’s focus is on the post-Holocaust consequences for human rights concepts and practice. The featured presentation by Schneider and the subsequent portions of the program will contribute to the enrichment of the intellectual and educational culture of the entire college community.

“As paramount as it is to remember the Holocaust, there exists a moral imperative to remember other genocides as well,” said Dr. James Goldman, founder and curator of JFSA for the past 26 years.

Hazzan Leon Lissek will also receive the JFSA Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award. Lissek, a Holocaust hidden child, gained international prominence with his melodic tenor voice and his wide repertoire of music. He served as cantor at Congregation B’nai Amoona in St. Louis for 30 years and is now cantor emeritus.

During World War II, Lissek’s mother placed him in a Catholic orphanage, where he was cared for by nuns until the end of the war. Lissek’s father perished in Auschwitz, his mother remarried and the family eventually moved to Buffalo, N.Y. Lissek studied music at the Cantor’s Institute at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City.

Young Lissek’s talent showed early and his gift of an unusual, dramatic tenor voice was matched by his love of singing. He participated in operas during college as he pursued an operatic career and the goal of singing at the Met. But his deep feeling for Jewish tradition and music, along with the guidance of mentors, inspired him to become a cantor. He entered the Cantor’s Institute at the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he studied with Cantor Moshe Taube and Cantor Max Wohlberg. Upon graduation, he accepted a position with a Philadelphia congregation before moving to St. Louis in 1969.

Lissek has actively promoted Jewish music and culture during his long and illustrious career. He feels that it is important “to let people know about the fantastic musical tradition, which is full of jewels, if only we look for them.”

Lissek’s daughter, Park Avenue Synagogue Cantor Shira Lissek, will introduce him. As a solo concert artist, Shira Lissek draws from her eclectic musical influences to create concerts that span musical genres. To that end, she pours her classically trained voice into opera, classical art song, Broadway, jazz, Jewish music, Israeli songs, world music and pop. She is well-known to many in the Downtown Brooklyn Jewish community, including as a guest soloist earlier this month with The Heritage Ensemble, featuring bandleader, composer and arranger Eugene Marlow. She was previously cantor for Congregation Mount Sinai in Brooklyn Heights.

The program moderator is City Tech Professor Victoria Lichterman. For her, genocide has been the focus of five years of research that has culminated in an educational Readers’ Theatre script that is designed to teach the prevention of genocide to school and college students.

In the past, City Tech has welcomed many distinguished and celebrated speakers through the college’s JFSA Distinguished Speakers Series. Prominent speakers such as Daniel Libeskind, Edwin Schlossberg, Pete Hamill and Menachem Rosensaft have honored the college with timely and inspiring words and greetings during City Tech’s Kristallnacht anniversary programs in November, which are free and open to the public. For more information, contact JFSA Program Director James Goldman at [email protected].

New York City College of Technology, of The City University of New York, is the largest four-year public college of technology in New York state and a national model for technological education. City Tech has an enrollment of more than 17,000 students in 66 baccalaureate, associate and specialized certificate programs. Visit www.citytech.cuny.edu for more information.

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Lindsay Boyer, a widely-respected retreat leader, spiritual director and Cobble Hill resident, presents two opportunities to explore meditation this fall.

Grace Church-Brooklyn Heights will host the first of these, an exploration of Lectio Divina, an ancient practice, with Benedictine roots, of listening to sacred texts with the ear of the heart.

This two-hour workshop on Nov. 8 will offer an introduction to Lectio Divina, which can be used by individuals, or groups. Participants will explore the history and basic movements of this contemplative listening practice and experience a session of the practice.

Leading the Nov. 8 workshop will be Steve Standiford, a psychotherapist and longtime teacher with Contemplative Outreach, and Boyer, a spiritual director, adjunct professor at General Theological Seminary and facilitator of the weekly Tuesday night contemplative prayer group at Grace.

This workshop may be of particular interest to those who attend, or would like to attend, the Grace Church Brooklyn contemplative prayer group on Tuesday evenings, since the practice of Lectio Divina is a part of this ministry.

Boyer is a spiritual director who specializes in working with those who are uncomfortable with institutional religion, or who have more than one faith affiliation, or no faith affiliation. She is an adjunct professor at General Theological Seminary and can be reached at her website, questioningminds.com. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two dachshunds.

This workshop begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8. Grace Church is at 254 Hicks St. in Brooklyn Heights.

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The second event is a full retreat weekend titled “Centering Prayer for Seekers” on Dec. 12-14. This retreat weekend takes place at the Copper Beech Institute in West Hartford, a center also known for being a model of sustainable living.

Centering prayer is a silent, wordless form of prayer based on teachings from the Christian tradition. In this retreat, those of all faiths are invited to explore this form of contemplative prayer. This silent retreat is designed to support newcomers to meditation and contemplative prayer, those who have practiced contemplative prayer in other faith traditions and those who have an established centering prayer practice and would like to practice in an ecumenical community.

The retreat will include instruction in the practice of Centering Prayer, regular periods of silent prayer and discernment work to help participants explore their evolving roles in spiritual community.

“This retreat is suitable for anyone who’s attracted to silent meditation. Centering Prayer is based on teachings from the Christian tradition, but as a silent form of prayer. It’s accessible to participants who have affiliations with other faith traditions, or who are not quite sure where they fit in,” Boyer said. “I’ll be offering an introduction to the practice and some talks to help participants explore their roles in spiritual community, but the emphasis of the weekend will be on experiencing the practice.”

Those wishing to register may visit copperbeechinstitute.org/centering-prayer. For more information regarding retreat content, contact Boyer at [email protected]. The Facebook page is www.facebook.com/centeringprayerforseekers.

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Cerddorion Concert Features Beloved, Inspired Works

Pieces Span from Bach to the Beatles

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church-Carroll Gardens presents the next concert in a series with the Vocal ensemble Cerddorion.

Titled “Models of Inspiration,” this program will feature Orlando di Lasso and J.S. Bach, paired with extraordinary pieces inspired by them. Works such as Bach’s beloved motet Jesu, meine Freude as well as the world premiere of the Beatles’ Motet “Please Please Me” by Richard Boukas will be performed. The show will also feature guest artists Maki Masayuki on organ and Carlene Stober on cello. The concert takes place on Friday, Nov. 14, at 8 p.m.

Now in its 20th season, Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble is one of New York’s most highly-regarded volunteer choral ensembles. A chamber group of 28 mixed voices, Cerddorion is known for its eclectic repertoire, encompassing music from the Renaissance to the contemporary.

Tickets are $25 online and $30 at the door; student/senior tickets are $15 online and $20 at the door. For advance tickets, visit www.cerddorion.org.