Shavuot 5782
Art by Karin Foreman
Art by Karin Foreman
Dear CBST Community,

In the Pesikta d’Rav Kahana, a midrashic compilation dated as early as the 5th century, there is a beautiful teaching about unity, individuality, and most of all Torah. Commenting upon the revelation at Sinai, the moment of matan Torah/giving of Torah that is celebrated at Shavuot, the midrash suggests that every person heard the Divine word at Sinai “each in their own capacity”. As if anticipating our befuddlement, in the very next breath it instructs: “And do not wonder at this!”. What might it mean for an entire community to have stood in the same place at the same time, and yet possibly have heard entirely different things “each in their own capacity”? A miracle, certainly, which is the role that Torah continues to play in our lives as we read its words lovingly over and over again each year and yet make new discoveries about what it has to teach. But it is also a celebration of the unique quality of each human soul in its singularity, though every human soul is fashioned in the Divine image. The suggestion rings as true today as it did hundreds of years ago- that each of us hears the same Torah, and yet each of us feels it differently, needs it differently, tastes it differently. Just as when manna came down from heaven, the midrash concludes, to each individual it tasted differently.

This Shavuot we have before us a veritable feast of Torah, and many myriad opportunities to study, sing, move, and even taste Torah differently at our Tikkun Leil Shavuot with our partners at the Marlene Meyerson JCC of Manhattan on the Upper West Side! We will join with Jewish individuals and communities from across New York City to “Stay the Night” and sample a broad array of classes, concerts, and conversations from 10PM to 5AM! Be with us as we open the evening with a special CBST gathering at 8:30, transitioning into an opening Havdalah ceremony at 9:15, and then keep an eye out for a full CBST track of classes from our clergy that spans the night- or discover something new!

It is a personal pleasure for me that for the first time our two extraordinary institutions combine on this celebratory occasion, as I am delighted to share with all of you that I will be spending a lot more time at the JCC of Manhattan come September! Following six years of immeasurable blessing as CBST’s Assistant and then Associate Rabbi, I will be stepping into the role of Director of the Gottesman Center for Jewish Living and the Selma and Lawrence Ruben Center for 20s + 30s at the JCC! It is the Torah that I have learned at CBST that has inspired and prepared me for this next step in my life as a rabbi, and the profound words and moments of blessing that I have experienced with each one of you that has readied me for this new role. CBST has my deepest thanks, and always has my heart.

Moadim l’simcha! These are sacred times for rejoicing! I look forward to seeing you at the JCC, back at CBST, or online as we celebrate this z’man matan Torahteinu, this time of recognition of the gift of Torah- in deeply personal and widely communal taste.

Chag Sameach,
Rabbi Yael Rapport
Celebrate Shavuot with CBST

The CBST office will be closed in observance of Shavuot from Sunday afternoon through Monday. In case of a pastoral emergency, such as a death, please contact 917-513-0413.
SATURDAY, JUNE 4

8:30 p.m. - CBST Gathering at the JCC
9:15 p.m. - Havdalah Service on the JCC rooftop
10:00 p.m. - 5:00 a.m. - Tikkun Leil Shavuot (see classes below)
SUNDAY, JUNE 5
No services at CBST
MONDAY, JUNE 6
10:00 a.m. - Shavuot Day II - Yom Tov / Yizkor Service

Ba’al Tefillah: Cantor Sam Rosen
Service Leader: Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum

Meeting ID: 831 8516 0235
Call-in: +1 646-876-9923 (New York)
This year CBST is delighted to partner with the JCC for Tikkun, offering a dedicated CBST track with our clergy teaching throughout the night! Come together with people from across the spectrum of Jewish Life for a free, revelatory night of study, film, music, dance, yoga, and more in celebration of Shavuot. Come for an hour or stay the night! No registration necessary; proof of ID and vaccination required. Learn more »
Jewish Ukraine, Past and Present
10:00 p.m. - Mezzanine Classroom
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum + Yelena Goltsman
The history of Jews and Ukraine is a long and complicated one, filled with hate, antisemitism and violence: the Chmelnitzky massacres of 1648–49, Babi Yar, Nazi genocidal violence and local Ukrainian complicity, Soviet Jew hatred and erasure. It is also filled with deep Torah learning, profound Yiddish culture, theater, music, and literature. How do we Jews react to the Ukraine of today's news? Rabbi Kleinbaum will discuss the history of Jews in Ukraine and engage in conversation with Yelena Goltsman, who was born in Kiev, educated in Lvov, and moved to the United States as part of the wave of Soviet Jews who relocated here in the 1980s.

B'teiavon, Mit a Gutn Appetit! The Taste of Jewish Music
11:15 p.m. - Mezzanine Classroom
Cantor Sam Rosen + Joyce Rosenzweig
Get a sneak peek of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah's upcoming annual music benefit concert, "Let My People Eat!" featuring songs about food, and food in song, with CBST Music Director Joyce Rosenzweig and Cantor Sam Rosen. Join us for delicious learning and singing!

Everything Is Illuminated: Shedding Light on Jewish History + Family
12:30 a.m. - Mezzanine Classroom
Rabbi Yael Rapport
When it was published in 2002, Jonathan Safran Foer's novel Everything Is Illuminated offered a new perspective on the age-old story of Jewish identity seeking, set in Ukraine. Who are you? Where do you come from? Tonight, we'll use this text and the 2005 film adaptation to study how our perspectives and attitudes towards lineage, tourism, and politics have shifted in the past 20 years—and what remains unchanged.
 
Paper Bridges: Yiddish Women's Poetry
1:45 a.m. - 7th Floor Beit Midrash East
Rabbi Dave Yedid
We will read four poems by Kadya Molodowsky and Anna Margolin, pioneering Yiddish poets who wrote powerfully about homeland, displacement, violence, and theology. What bridges do they construct from their lives to our reality today? How does gender show up in their work? In what ways are these texts sacred, and how might they be considered in the wider Jewish canon?
 
שלום/Мир/Peace: Street Art for Ukraine in the U.S. + Israel
1:45 a.m. - Mezzanine Classroom
Rabbi Marisa James
Join Rabbi Marisa James for a virtual visit to the walls of Brooklyn, Tel Aviv, and beyond to see how graffiti artists are responding to Russia's war on Ukraine.

Tales of Rebbe Nachman: Entering the World of Imagination
3:00 a.m. - 7th Floor Beit Midrash East
Rabbi Yael Werber
Through a close reading of text, we will delve into Rebbe Nachman's unique thoughts on prayer, and spirituality and take a deeper look at the man behind the Breslov Hasidic movement. All levels of experience are welcome and texts will be offered in translation!


An Interview with Rabbi Moskowitz on Shavuot & LGBTQ Acceptance

Rabbi Mike Moskowitz gave this interview for Israeli radio on Shavuot and LGBTQ acceptance.
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