A COMMUNITY OF LOVE & SUPPORT IN CHALLENGING TIMES: 

“The CBST community knows what it takes to live through a plague. Love and compassion and support are at the center of survival. Remember to be kind and generous while being cautious and vigilant about staying healthy and keeping others safe. We will continue to be a bold spiritual community of resistance and love. May the Holy One surround you and your loved ones and give you strength and comfort as we face the uncertainty of these times. Be the reason people have faith in the goodness of others.” —Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum

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CBST During Covid-19

Shalom! During the COVID-19 crisis, CBST is creating innovative ways to provide opportunities for Jewish religious observance, Torah study, social justice activism,  Jewish cultural education, and pastoral support. Check the listings below for all the ways you can engage with CBST! Most of our programming is conducted online via Zoom, so please be sure to read up on our Zoom Instructions & Etiquette for Participants. If you need immediate tech support to access our online services and programs, just text 646-450-3556.

Jewish Religious Observance

Weekly Services

• Kabbalat Shabbat Services are livestreamed every Friday night at 6:30pm via CBST's Facebook page. (Anyone can participate. You don’t need to have a Facebook account.)
• Shabbat Morning Services are held via Zoom every Saturday morning at 9:30am. Please RSVP here.
• Havdalah is led by a member of the CBST clergy team or lay leadership on Saturday evenings, with shmoozing at 9 pm followed by the ritual at 9:30 pm. Join directly via Zoom at https://zoom.us/j/654880356.

SACRED TEXT STUDY

Daily Psalm Study with Rabbi Kleinbaum (Monday-Thursday, 10-10:45 am) 

ZOOM; Meeting ID: 513 468 144; Call-in: +1 646 876 9923

Here is some of how Rabbi Kleinbaum recently described this extraordinary class: "Over 80 students join me four days a week. Most are CBST members, but not all. Most are Jewish, but not all. We have participants from Bulgaria, England, France, Mexico, and Sweden (not to mention several US states). Some have deep Jewish knowledge and life experience, while for others this is the first time they are studying a Jewish text. Enthusiasm for the course has grown so much that we now have four students serving as our musical team and two students serving as 'teaching assistants' for the class. We even have a dedicated Facebook group to continue the discussions and where participants post various resources and articles personal psalms. Participants are actively creating their own work based on the texts and commentaries we are studying. Some are visual artists, others are composers. We now dedicate time each week to sharing our work and exploring the creative process. The group is engaged in holy work in the midst of terrible, uncertain, and frightening times. The psalms being created reflect the depth and breadth of human experience found in the original Book of Psalms written thousands of years ago." Click here to Read Rabbi Kleinbaum’s deeply personal description of this class. 

Pirkei Avot Study with Rabbi Moskowitz (Monday-Thursday through August 4th, 4-4:45 pm)

ZOOM; Meeting ID: 926 6553 3458; Call-in: +1 646 876 9923 or +1 301 715 8592.

Pirkei Avot, a classic mishnaic text of Jewish ethics, is customarily studied from Passover (the holiday of redemption) to Shavuot (the holiday of revelation), as spiritual preparation to receive Torah. Our class will learn one mishnah per class, starting at the beginning. No Hebrew necessary. Join us even if you’ve never studied Jewish sacred text before. No registration required. Attend when you can. All are welcome! 

Did you miss some of our previous sessions or classes? No worries. We recorded them! Click here to watch. 

COVID-19 Resources and CBST Community Connection

COVID-19 Resources
Click here for a link to a document compiled by CBST, containing important resources for physical, mental, emotional, & spiritual health, as well as legal, social, and economic resources. We will regularly update this list; please let us know if you have resources to suggest by emailing Judy Ribnick. 

CBST Town Halls on Covid-19: These special programs about life during the pandemic were originally attended by CBST members only. The content was so important that we have made the recordings available publicly.  To learn about CBST membership, email membership@cbst.org, or you can click Renew/Join CBST to complete the process online.

• Town Hall 1 “Medical and Legal Issues” with Judith Turkel, Esq., and Dr. Nathan Goldstein
• Town Hall 2 “CBST During the Pandemic” with Senior Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, Executive Director Yolanda Potasinski, and President Gregg H. Passin
• Town Hall 3 "Social Justice in the Age of Covid-19: What Are CBST Social Justice Teams Doing, and How Can You Be Involved?" with Rabbi Marisa James, Director of Social Justice Programming, and Sabrina Farber, Lee Goldberg, Laurie Magid, Noemi Masliah, and Harold Levine
• Town Hall 4 “The State of the City in the Time of COVID-19” with NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson
• Town Hall 5 "Mental Health in the Time of COVID-19" with Judy Ribnick and Dr. Diane Burhenne
• Town Hall 6 "Updates on How CBST is Doing During This Crisis"
• Town Hall 7 “Reopening Schools Safely and Responsibly” with Randi Weingarten

Mishpachah Mondays with Rabbi James and Sharon Golub (Mondays, 5-6pm; Zoom)

This weekly social gathering is hosted by the Mishpachah group (55+) and open to all! Bring a mocktail and/or a snack and a story to share. No registration required. 

Connecting in Community with CRRI Deborah Megdal (Fridays, 3-4 pm) 

ZOOM; Meeting ID: 256 347 787; Call-in: +1 646 876 9923. A combination of text study and support session. In this stressful time, we need to love and listen to one another with open hearts. No registration required. [Rabbi Atara Cohen, Cooperberg-Rittmaster Rabbinical Education & Pastoral Intern, will be leading during the summer.]

Ongoing Spiritual Practice and Support

Let the CBST Office Know of an Illness and Adding Names to the Refuah List 

Our refuah list is for those with acute illness. Any member can submit their name for one-month inclusion. We only print names of members who have consented. If you or a CBST member you know is ill & would like support, please contact us. We’re here for you!

• A Healing Prayer from Joyce Rosenzweig and Cantorial Intern David Fair 

• Rabbi Kleinbaum's thoughts on "Spiritual Lessons for Today's Plague" 

• A Prayer for Health Care Workers

Music to Soothe Your Soul

• "Beautiful City" performed by Cantorial Intern David Fair, Music Director & Pianist Joyce Rosenzweig, and the CBST Community Chorus at CBST, on Sunday, February 9, 2020. "Beautiful City" was written in 1972 as part of the film Godspell and was re-written in 1993, following the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles.
• "Bless the Lord" (from Godspell) Words and Music by Stephen Schwartz (based on Psalm 103); Cantor Steve Zeidenberg, Cantor David Berger, Galeet Dardashti, The CBST Chorus, Dror Baitel, pianist, Joyce Rosenzweig, conductor; an excerpt from CBST's 2019 Annual Benefit Concert.
• "Somewhere" from West Side Story (1957), written by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. This arrangement by Robert Edgerton was performed by the CBST Community Chorus, Joyce Rosenzweig, conductor, at the 2016 Shabbat Shirah Concert.
• “Alei D’vai” or “Leaves of Woe” a painful and hauntingly beautiful song that forms the final movement of a cantata by the great Israeli composer, Marc Lavry (1903-1967). This recording dates from June 2, 2019 at CBST’s 24th Annual Benefit Concert, “Psalm Enchanted Evening” and is performed by Cantor David Berger, Dror Baitel, piano, the CBST Community Chorus, Joyce Rosenzweig, conductor.
• Min Hametzar, as sung at our 2016 Shabbat Shirah concert by the CBST Community Chorus, Joyce Rosenzweig, conductor, with soloists Marc Molomot and Sam Rosen.