Rabbi David Gaffney
A native Jerusalemite, was raised on the Lower East Side in New York City. He attended the Rabbi Jacob Joseph School where he was ordained as a rabbi, the youngest student to be so honored. Rabbi Gaffney received his BA degree from Brooklyn College, with a major in psychology; his MA in Jewish philosophy from Yeshiva University, and was honored with a Doctor of Divinity degree from the Jewish Theological Seminary.
The rabbi was a student in the Doctoral Program in the Department of Religion at Columbia University when he was invited to assume the pulpit at the Jacksonville Jewish Center in Jacksonville, Florida. In that setting, Rabbi Gaffney was instrumental in creating a full-service congregation that included nursery school, kindergarten, a Solomon Schechter Day School consisting of eight grades, a Hebrew School and a High School. In addition, synagogue activities included extensive youth, adult education and cultural programs.
Rabbi Gaffney has also served the larger community in a variety of capacities. He was president of the Southeast Region of the Rabbinical Assembly; a member of the Board of The Jewish Federation, a member of the Board of the National Conference of Christians and Jews and its Inter-Faith Committee and a member of the Board of the Jewish Family and Children’s Service. He also led in efforts to facilitate the resettlement of Jews from the former Soviet Union. Rabbi Gaffney has also been involved in a variety of organizations committed to the welfare of the State of Israel.
In assuming the pulpit at the Conservative Synagogue of Fifth Avenue, Rabbi Gaffney expressed the hope that CSFA would always be a synagogue composed of warm and caring, sensitive and thoughtful congregants. He maintains that to be part of the synagogue is to be part of a larger collective Self which has the experience of 40 centuries and has extracted from that experience the wisdom and values, the spirit and inspiration to help inform our personal and social lives. To be part of our synagogue means to be part of a caring congregation and to share with others the opportunities of growing Jewishly and humanly; an intimate circle with whom we can experience the joy and celebration of Jewish life.
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Hazzan Bat-Ami Moses
Listen to our Hazzan: Selections from Kabbalat Shabbat
Originally from Los Angeles, Hazzan Bat-Ami Moses is delighted to be living in New York and serving the Conservative Synagogue of Fifth Avenue.
Hazzan Moses received her investiture as a Hazzan from the H.L. Miller Cantorial School of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America with a Masters of Sacred Music in May 2007. She also holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theater from Syracuse University and an M.S. Ed. in Museum Education from Bank Street College of New York.
Cantor Moses has served in several pulpits, including the Midway Jewish Center, Syosset, New York; Congregation Ahavat Achim, Howell, New Jersey; Congregation Agudas Achim, Iowa City, Iowa; and the Orangetown Jewish Center, Nyack, New York. She has been a guest artist and Cantor at Congregation Ansche Chesed in New York City; Congregation Rodeph Shalom, Bridgeport, Connecticut; and Isabella Friedman Camp, Falls Village, Connecticut. Hazzan
Moses has also produced and performed in many concerts, such as “From Broadway to the Bima” and “Sha’alu Shalom Yerushaliym,” A Benefit concert for ATZUM, an organization dedicated to pursuing social justice in Israel. She has spent summers working as an educator for Camp Ramah in Nyack, New York, and the Nesiya Institute, a pluralistic program in which Israeli and American teenagers experience the land of Israel while exploring Judaism through the arts.
Hazzan Moses is married to Rabbi Jay Moses, who serves as the Director of the Wexner Heritage Program at the Wexner Foundation and is the proud mother of Caleb Heschel Moses. |
