CBST offers many gatherings on Shabbat for worship and community. The following is a description of all services. All services are open to all. We are a diverse community; we celebrate our multiplicity of ways to connect with God and each other. Please feel free to experiment, to try new things and revisit familiar liturgy; we welcome your participation.
Every Week
Friday Evenings at 8:30 pm
This is CBST's "main service." Its leadership is shared by congregants and Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum and uses CBST's own prayerbook. This warm service incorporates Hebrew prayers with English readings and song. Drashot (sermons) are inspiring, moving, and thought-provoking. The Kiddush that follows each service provides an opportunity to meet new people and connect with old friends.
The First Shabbat of the Month
The Liberal Minyan uses the Reconstructionist Prayer Book Kol HaNeshama to sing, pray, reflect, and study Torah. It is a forum to experiment with prayer and study as we strive for spirituality and closeness to God. We meet Saturday morning from 10 am to 12 pm and then have Kiddush. Come join us!
The Second Shabbat of the Month
A Community Shabbat Dinner takes place on the second Friday of every month at 6 pm (sharp!). It's a wonderful way to meet with friends over a good meal. Chicken or vegetarian selections are offered; there is kiddush, singing, conversation, and grace after meals.
The Learners' Minyan
The Learners' Minyan meets at 7:15 pm on the second Friday of every month. Each week we will study the prayers and melodies of the Friday night service - both from historical and theological perspectives as well as our personal (emotional and intellectual) responses to them. All are welcome. The monthly Shabbat dinner begins at 6:00 pm on the same dates, offering the opportunity to fully experience Shabbat delight through customs, ritual, and community.
The Tot Shabbat Minyan
The goal of the Tot Shabbat minyan (11 am - 1 pm Saturday morning) is to familiarize children with the synagogue and its services, as well as to give them a positive feeling about their Jewish identities and the beauty of Shabbat. The pace is quick, energetic, and noisy, to accommodate the 3-7 year-olds who make up the majority of the children. Our service includes lots of songs, hunting through the siddur for aleph-bet letters, an abbreviated Amidah and a Torah service with one Aliyah read. We share a full kiddush lunch after the service. We also host the CBST Children's Jewish Birthday Club. Let us know your child's English birthday and we will let you know what their Jewish birthday is. We invite you to let us celebrate the event at the Tot Shabbat program.
The Third Shabbat of the Month
The Feminist minyan is a gathering of women and men that meets once a month at 6:30 pm Friday evening in a less formal setting to share prayers, songs, poems and rituals of special significance to women. Each service combines traditional text and new literature, music and liturgy, often directed to uncovering and expressing our voices and experiences in community. The planning and leading of the service is done by minyan members who represent the spectrum of tradition and experience.
The Traditional Minyan
The Traditional Minyan meets at 10 am on the Shabbat morning on which we bless the new month of the Hebrew Calendar or on Shabbat Rosh Chodesh itself (when the day of celebration of the new month falls on Shabbat). The service is traditional, includes a full Torah reading and Musaf (the additional service) and is primarily in Hebrew. The Mevarchim minyan strives to be intimate and participatory, and invites all to join in services and in the kiddush lunch that follows each service.
The Fourth Shabbat of the Month
The Hebrew Egalitarian Minyan is "retro" with a twist. No, you don't wear '50's clothing, but your memories may be stirred by the Hebrew songs and prayers that we harmonize through Kabbalat Shabbat and Ma'ariv. We take a break in the middle to listen to one of our member's thoughts on a prayer or Torah portion. Hebrew fluency is not necessary to participate, since we proceed at a moderate pace and the tunes are easy to learn - especially if you come back to the service each month. We start Kabbalat Shabbat Friday evening at 6:30 pm, and the choice of prayer book depends upon the service leaders of the month - we're flexible. It will always have English translation. And, of course, we would not think of ending such a monthly event without a "little" nosh and socializing! So bring yourselves, your kids, friends and lovers, and especially your ruach - spirit - and help create a special Shabbat community within our CBST lives.
Congregation Beth Simchat Torah
Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum
57 Bethune Street
New York, New York 10014-1791
Telephone: (212) 929-9498
Fax: (212) 620-3154; on the Web at http://www.cbst.org
