Rosh Hashanah 5784
We are still overflowing with gratitude to everyone who made the High Holy Days this year so meaningful, beautiful, and full of music, deep prayer, joy, learning and connection. All praise to the One who has breathed our souls into being. We are so blessed.
If you missed any of the services, the full service recordings are available here. Revisit a drashah you loved or find one you missed. Come back to liturgy that moved you or that is totally new to you. We’ve compiled a few highlights below.
Please consider supporting CBST as generously as you can by donating to the Open Door Appeal, which allows CBST to welcome all to High Holy Day services without requiring payment; the Annual Appeal, which keeps our doors open all year round; or, to our Yizkor Appeal, which honors those who have gone before us. Thank you!
Rabbi Kleinbaum's Evening I Drashah
Rabbi Kleinbaum on her 32 years at CBST and how we can take care of each other when things go wrong.
“We can’t prevent terrible things from happening to ourselves and to each other. But we can transform the way the story is told. …
“When we feel the most broken, the most full of despair, the most full of fear, that light is there. It is up to us to find that light and to spread it.”
Andrew Blecher's Membership Talk
Andrew Blecher shares blessings that his CBST membership has brought him.
“For me, being a member at CBST means that we’re part of this much larger spiritual community that’s grounded and welcoming in love and acceptance for who we are. …
“When I came my first time, I could not have imagined staying sober for 12 years, the richness of my life, the spirituality I would develop. At CBST I’ve learned to accept myself and be proud of the person I am today.”
Rabbi Kleinbaum's Day I Drashah
On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, Rabbi Kleinbaum spoke about the current crisis in Israel, and what it means for us to take the example of Hagar, who opens her eyes and sees the well in front of her, in a moment of profound fear.
“There is a revolution now happening in Israel, and we, I, need to support it. We need to support the NGOs and the organizations supporting that revolution. There is an international tsunami of extreme right-wing authoritarian fascism. That wave is happening all over the world.
“But this extreme, right-wing, authoritarian fascist wave in Israel is taking its own particular form. And it has resulted not in a complete dissolution of the things that we might value about Israel, but it is resulting right now in a transformation. Where it will go, which direction it will take, will be dependent, in many ways, on America.
“If there’s going to be change in the world, here in the United States, or in Israel, we cannot just give in to the despair and the fear. We have to notice it. Whether it’s facing climate, political, or even interpersonal issues. This I believe is Hagar’s gift to us.
“I’m going to end with this. Let’s be all like Hagar. We have the fear and despair in our hearts when we see these situations of great trauma. Let’s look up and see a well. It doesn’t mean we’ll all be fine and good, but it means that we are not going to be the ones who give up.”
Rabbi Werber's Day II Drashah
Rabbi Werber asks what it means to think of God as “yodea ta’alumot,” the one who knows mysteries.
“Yodea Ta’alumot is a prayer, a blessing over the messiness and complexity of endings. It’s a prayer that says, no matter what has come before, no matter what your parents or your ancestors may have taught you or passed on to you, there is a greater universe of mystery out there that allows for a different ending.”
Photos from Rosh Hashanah 5784
View photos taken by Harold Levine before, during, and after Rosh Hashanah services at Masonic Hall in New York City.