D'var Torah by Guy Izhak Austrian, Social Justice Rabbinical Intern, and Ari Lev Fornari, Cooperberg-Rittmaster Rabbinical Intern
In the past few years, we have both taken the opportunity to spend some time in Hebron – a city located south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. It was a priority for us to personally witness the occupation, to talk with Palestinians and Jewish settlers who live there, and to support struggles for peace and justice.
Walking through the streets of Hebron today feels a bit like an archaeological dig. The Old City of Hebron has become a ghost town—virtually a ...
Over the past two months we have witnessed the tragic suicides, torture, and bullying of LGBTQ youth. Unfortunately, this is not a new situation for our community, but it is new that the media has picked up on it.
At CBST we have been working on supporting all members of the LGBTQS community, and using every tool available to us to stop the bullying and torture of our people, and prevent suicides. (Indeed our very ...
This Wednesday, 10 future/current clergy came to CBST learn with Rabbi Kleinbaum in our first session of Topics in LGBTQ Pastoral Care. Largely from the Conservative movement, and one from the Orthodox movement, the group discussed the nature of pastoral care, where it happens, when it happens, how it happens, etc. One perspective Rabbi Kleinbaum shared was the importance of expanding our understanding of what pastoral care actually is. For many people who do pastoral care, it involves active listening, text study, ritual, etc. While this is entirely accurate and essential, the scope of pastoral care is much broader. It ...
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum and CBST member Rick Landman helped to reach out in solidarity with Serbian LGBTQ activists who were preparing for the worst ahead of their October 12 Pride Parade in Belgrade.
The Serbian activists asked Rabbi Kleinbaum to sign an international letter of support aimed at getting the Serbian government to permit and protect the rally. Rick joined a demonstration outside the Serbian mission to the UN here in New York, alongside members of AXIOS , the organization of Eastern Orthodox Gay and Lesbian Christians. (Photo by Daniel Cacace.)
So what happened? On Wednesday in Belgrade, ...
CBST is transforming Judaism. This may not be news for most people in the congregation who have already prayed with our innovative liturgy, participated in our adult or children’s educational programs, or heard any of our rabbis speak.
What may be news to folks is that we’re taking the show (shul ?) on the road—we’re training Jewish leaders to be better equipped to work with LGBTQ communities. In March, we had a conference for rabbinical and cantorial students from HUC, JTS, Hebrew College, AJR, and even AJU in Los Angeles.
On October 20th , CBST is launching a monthly series on Topics ...
Twelve years ago today, Matthew Shepard lay in a coma at Poudre Valley Hospital after being beaten, tortured, and left tied to a fence in Laramie, Wyoming. The following morning, a cyclist found him, thinking that Matthew was a scarecrow. Matthew died in the hospital on October 12, 1998--a day after National Coming Out Day.
Now with the rash of LGBTQ youth suicides captured in the media, we are painfully reminded of the fragility of queer life and left wondering how many other queer youth are being bullied, harassed, and outed? The numbers are high.
This Tuesday, on the 12th anniversary of ...
I am heartened to share with all of you a beautiful letter of thanks we received from the Cordoba Initiative in response to our community's poster size card wishing them an Eid Mubarak.
As you will recall, over Rosh Hashanah, hundreds of you signed this card and we were later able to get it to Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. These folks are working ...
On Yom Kippur, over thirty people gathered during the break between Musaf and Mincha to discuss LGBTQ youth homelessness and the Ne’ilah liturgy—the closing gates. “Be for them a shelter, and rescue them from terror, Seal them for honor and joy, at the hour of the locking.”
The discussion was lively and reflected the work that CBST has been doing around this issue—including the Mutlifaith Martin Luther King Jr. service we had this past year, Rabbi Kleinbaum serving on Mayor Bloomberg’s Commission on LGBTQ Runaway and Homeless Youth, and most recently, the Koleinu action team’s decision to develop a campaign to ...
Over 25 members and staff from the CBST community turned out to join with 1000 Muslims, Christians, and other Jews at an interfaith rally on 9/12 -- the day after 9/11, when it seemed like all New Yorkers were united in cooperation, solidarity, and compassion.
The rally at St. Peter's Church downtown focused on supporting the proposed Park51 Muslim community center that's been so controversial. But speakers were clear that the real issue has become much greater: the fight for the future of the U.S. as a pluralistic democracy in which minorities, people of color, and even unpopular opinions are valued ...
Throughout the yamim noraim (the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) members and guests of CBST have been signing a greeting card wishing our friends at Park51, the folks behind the proposed Muslim Community Center in Lower Manhattan, a good Eid ul-Fitr. Eid is a three day holiday marking the end of Ramadan. The image of hundreds of names from our community to theirs is as moving as it is meaningful.
We wish the members of Park51 many years of peace, celebrations, freedom and acceptance.
