As Jews observed Tisha B’Av, a solemn day of reflection on the consequences of division and hatred, the new spiritual leader of Lake Success Jewish Center spoke instead about the power of music, learning and listening to bring people together.
Interviewed while fasting Thursday, Rav Brian Shamash said one of the central lessons of Tisha B’Av is to avoid sinat chinam — baseless hatred — by embracing dialogue and understanding.
“When one person starts to hate another, and a group starts to hate another; then comes war, destruction and division,” Shamash said. “We can even benefit from different perspectives as long as our ears and our eyes are open to hear the other person’s position.”
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The 50-year-old rabbi and hazzan officially began leading the Lake Success synagogue on Saturday, July 18, bringing a rare combination of roles that blends scholarship, pastoral care and music. After serving for years as a hazzan, or cantor, he returned to school to earn rabbinic ordination, allowing him to lead both prayer and religious life.
Shamash said music has shaped his life since childhood. Raised in Baltimore, he credits his Polish-Russian Jewish mother, an artist who created Judaica, and his father, who grew up in Baghdad and filled family car rides with prayer, for nurturing his faith. During bar mitzvah lessons, his hazzan predicted he would one day follow the same calling.
Today, music remains at the heart of his ministry.
“I love to learn and teach through music,” he said. “Music is a vehicle for learning texts and concepts and bringing people together.”
That philosophy extends beyond the synagogue walls. Throughout the summer, Shamash plans to lead outdoor “camp-style Shabbat” gatherings at Steppingstone Park, where families can pray and sing in a relaxed setting open to the broader community.
“If we just stay in our sanctuary, people don’t get to experience what we’re doing,” he said. “When we’re in a public space, everyone is clearly welcome.”
Shamash said Lake Success Jewish Center’s location near major highways, hospitals and residential neighborhoods gives it an opportunity to reconnect with Jewish families while welcoming neighbors of all backgrounds through concerts, educational programs and shared cultural experiences.
Shamash also hopes to foster respectful conversations within the congregation by encouraging members with differing opinions to listen to one another with open minds. When conflicts become emotional, he believes each person should first have an opportunity to speak privately with the rabbi and work through their frustrations before coming together again for a constructive conversation.
Education is a family calling. Shamash and his wife, Emily, a doctor of education at Fairfield University, have been married since 2005 and are raising three children. Together, they hope to expand educational programming for children and adults alike.
His favorite Jewish teaching, he said, is simple: “Eyzehu Chacham, who is wise? The one who learns each and every one.”
And fittingly, his surname reflects the mission he hopes to bring to Lake Success.
“Shamash means ‘helper,’” he said. “If each of us starts to see ourselves as a helper, our world will be transformed.”
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