The New York Times Highlights Rabbi Kleinbaum's Retirement and Final Services at CBST

Senior Rabbi Emerita Kleinbaum’s retirement was featured in an article in the New York Times that explored highlights and challenges throughout her career.

In a column titled, “A Pioneering New York Rabbi Says Goodbye to Her L.G.B.T.Q. Congregation,” NYTimes writer James Estrin writes:

“In late June, Rabbi Kleinbaum wrapped her prayer shawl over her head, whispered a blessing in Hebrew and walked to the front of her congregation’s sanctuary, which was enveloped by giant rainbow banners. As she began to lead one of her last services as senior rabbi, she was overcome with feelings of ‘inconsolable sadness and ecstatic joy,’ she said.

As it came time to sing ‘Lekha Dodi,’ a 16th-century mystical poem welcoming the “Sabbath bride,” she exhorted her congregants to sing from the heart.

‘Everybody has it hard,’ she said. ‘But we can model what it means to find joy even in the midst of hardship. Even in the midst of despair, even in the midst of fear and anxiety. And we can create a different future.’

‘Joy,’ she told the gathering, ‘is an act of spiritual and political resistance.’”