Social Justice Action Roundup, May 2025
As usual, CBST is out in the community doing all kinds of work to repair our broken world, showing up in so many ways to live our values in public. Here’s a roundup of where we’ve been doing the work in May.
Protest/Rally/Demonstration Highlights:
On May 1, CBST showed up for two downtown protests: first, the Rally for the Rule of Law with judges and attorneys demonstrating with pocket Constitutions in hand, calling for protection of due process and integrity in our justice system in the morning, and in the afternoon, the broader May Day protest where speakers called attention to a wide range of issues, from protecting the rights of trans people to immigrant rights and beyond.
As the attacks on our immigrant neighbors heat up, CBST clergy showed up twice at Delaney Hall in Newark, a prison which ICE is using to detain immigrants arrested in New York City and New Jersey. On May 12th, Rabbi Moskowitz joined the vigil along with Cooperberg Rittmaster Rabbinic Intern alumna Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster and other clergy, as they attempted to block access to Delaney Hall. And on May 29, Rabbi Klein, Rabbi James, and CRRI Alana Krivo-Kaufman joined the vigil, spoke to the group and led them in song, offered blessings to family members trying to visit their loved ones, and witnessed a bus full of our immigrant neighbors arriving at the prison, chained and shackled.
On May 18, Team CBST joined the AIDS Walk as we have done for decades, walking together with thousands of others on a beautiful Sunday, and under Team Captain Shep Wahnon’s leadership, raising over $4,000 for GMHC! And on May 30th, we were honored to welcome GMHC’s new CEO, Jon Mallow, for a program after Shabbat services to learn more about HIV/AIDS policy, funding, and advocacy in these fraught times.
CBST’s Actions in May 2025
May 1: Rally for the Rule of Law NYC, organized by the NYCLU, NYC Bar Association, and other NY organizations. Attorneys and judges demonstrated with Constitutions in hand for due process, integrity, and justice at Foley Square. (photo)
May 1: May Day rally at Foley Square!
May 5: Andry Romero support protest at Stonewall
May 6: Rabbi James speaks on a panel for Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association on “Leading Our Communities in a Time of Authoritarianism”
May 9: Press conference and rally with NYC elected officials and lawyers for Andry Hernandez Romero at Stonewall (photo above with Brad Hoylman, Rabbi Marisa James, and Jeremy)
May 10: Brighton Beach Pride!
May 12: Rabbi Mike Moskowitz and former CRRI Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster join a multifaith prayer vigil outside Newark, NJ’s Delaney Hall, an ICE detention center where Newark Mayor Ras Baraka was arrested after trying to inspect the site, blocking access in or out of the facility.
May 15: CBST cosponsors the Combatants for Peace Joint Nakba Remembrance Ceremony, the companion event to the Joint Memorial Day Ceremony in April. If you missed it, you can watch here.
May 16: Freedom to Read Act rally at the New York Public Library with the New York Civil Liberties Union.
May 16: Ark Immigration Clinic at CBST celebrates four students completing their internships with us, the largest cohort we’ve had!
May 18: AIDS Walk NYC, Team CBST marched on a gorgeous May day with tens of thousands of New Yorkers, raising over $4,000 thanks to team captain Shep Wahnon and a major gift from Jay Fischer and Michael Lehrman in memory of Rita Fischer, z”l.
May 29: Rabbi Klein, Rabbi James, and CRRI Alana Krivo-Kaufman join the multifaith vigil at Delany Hall in Newark NJ, currently being used as an ICE detention center. This ongoing multifaith vigil is organized by a coalition of NY and NJ immigration justice groups, as immigrants from both NJ and NY are imprisoned here. Watch video here.
May 30: Jon Mallow, the new CEO of GMHC, leads CBST in a conversation about how HIV/AIDS policy is being impacted nationally, and how we can support good work happening at the local and state levels.
Our Rapid Response Signal group shares opportunities to show up on short notice for rallies, vigils, and more, focusing on issues that are most deeply connected to our community – threats to trans and nonbinary people, immigrants, and religious minorities, for example.
Interested? Join the Signal Group!
Not sure what Signal is or how to use it? Signal is a communications app like WhatsApp or iMessage that allows groups to easily and somewhat privately communicate with each other. Here’s a short video tutorial for how to get started using it.
Interested in being on the Rapid Response leadership team, and maybe being an admin for the Signal group? Email Rabbi James to express