Congregation Beit Simchat Torah | - T H A N K Y O U … AIDS Memorial...who did not live through...
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April 2015 Volume 3, Issue 4 BOARD OF DIRECTORS Keith Fox CHAIRMAN Christopher Tepper COFOUNDER Paul Kelterborn COFOUNDER John Tantillo TREASURER Richard Burns Guillermo Chacón Eric Cruzen Patricia Evert Ethan Geto Debra FraserHowze Paul Kawata Fraser D. Mooney Susan Rodriguez Eric Sawyer Andrew Shackett Kendall Thomas Janet Weinberg SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS ACT UP African Services Committee AIDS Community Research Initiative of America AIDS Service Center NYC The Alpha Workshops amfAR Architectural Record Architizer Bailey House BOOM!HEALTH Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS The Center for HIV Law & Policy The Church of St. Luke in the Fields Circle of Voices Congregation Beit Simchat Torah DIFFA Empire State Pride Agenda Friends In Deed Gay Men's Health Crisis Greenwich House INTERVIEW WITH SHARON KLEINBAUM SENIOR RABBI AT CONGREGATION BEIT SIMCHAT TORAH Tell us a little bit about your involvement in the early days of the AIDS epidemic. It's impossible to overstate the role of AIDS in the early life of CBST, when the disease claimed 25% of the men in our congregation. I arrived on August 1, 1992 as CBST's first rabbi, and a month later I led the funeral service for the immediate past president of the congregation, Mel Rosen, who was the first executive director of GMHC. AIDS was one of the most important factors leading CBST to hire a rabbi. Someone needed to handle the spiritual crisis exacerbated by the constant drumbeat of illness, death and bereavement. I was doing more funerals than other life cycle events, burying people my own age, while trying to create a community of people not completely diminished by this burden. Jewish funeral homes wouldn't handle with dignity someone who died of AIDS. I had to fight the funeral homes to get respectful Jewish funerals for our congregants. There were often two different memorial services, one arranged by the family that did not mention the words "gay" or "AIDS" and then ours, where we could acknowledge him in his wholeness.
Transcript of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah | - T H A N K Y O U … AIDS Memorial...who did not live through...
April 2015 Volume 3, Issue 4
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Keith FoxCHAIRMAN Christopher Tepper COFOUNDER Paul KelterbornCOFOUNDER John TantilloTREASURER Richard BurnsGuillermo ChacónEric Cruzen Patricia EvertEthan GetoDebra FraserHowzePaul KawataFraser D. MooneySusan Rodriguez Eric SawyerAndrew ShackettKendall ThomasJanet Weinberg SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS ACT UPAfrican Services CommitteeAIDS Community Research Initiative of AmericaAIDS Service Center NYCThe Alpha WorkshopsamfARArchitectural RecordArchitizerBailey HouseBOOM!HEALTHBroadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDSThe Center for HIV Law & PolicyThe Church of St. Luke in the FieldsCircle of VoicesCongregation Beit Simchat TorahDIFFAEmpire State Pride AgendaFriends In Deed Gay Men's Health CrisisGreenwich House
INTERVIEW WITH SHARON KLEINBAUMSENIOR RABBI AT CONGREGATION BEIT SIMCHAT TORAH
Tell us a little bit about yourinvolvement in the early days ofthe AIDS epidemic. It's impossible to overstate the roleof AIDS in the early life of CBST,when the disease claimed 25% ofthe men in our congregation. Iarrived on August 1, 1992 asCBST's first rabbi, and a monthlater I led the funeral service forthe immediate past president ofthe congregation, Mel Rosen, whowas the first executive director ofGMHC. AIDS was one of the mostimportant factors leading CBST tohire a rabbi. Someone needed to
handle the spiritual crisis exacerbated by the constant drumbeat ofillness, death and bereavement. I was doing more funerals thanother life cycle events, burying people my own age, while trying tocreate a community of people not completely diminished by thisburden. Jewish funeral homes wouldn't handle with dignity someonewho died of AIDS. I had to fight the funeral homes to get respectfulJewish funerals for our congregants. There were often two differentmemorial services, one arranged by the family that did not mentionthe words "gay" or "AIDS" and then ours, where we couldacknowledge him in his wholeness.
Greenwich VillageChelsea Chamber of CommerceHeritage of PrideHetrickMartin InstituteHousing WorksJim Owles Liberal Democratic ClubLambda Independent Democrats of BrooklynLatino Commission on AIDSLenox Hill Hospital The LGBT Community CenterLove Heals the Alison Gertz Foundation for AIDS EducationLower 5th Street Block AssociationNational Black Leadership Commission on AIDSNYC & CompanyNYC up & OUTParityPoint FoundationPRIDE DemocratsQueer History AllianceRobert Mapplethorpe FoundationSAGESMARTStonewall Community FoundationStonewall Democratic Club of New York CitySTONEWALL Veterans' AssociationUpper West 13th Street Block AssociationVillageCareVisual AIDS
A meeting flyer from 1982 Did AIDS find its way into the liturgical life of the congregation? Yes. While the epidemic was transformational for our congregation,eventually the deaths abated. I stopped looking out into thecongregation to see who looked sick, who was missing. Theconstant funerals stopped. We made several quilts, one for theNAMES Project, and two others we still display at our services.Each year on the Friday closest to World AIDS Day, we have aspecial shabbat service that features prominent speakers from theHIV world, including from an international perspective. We alsoadded special HIVrelated readings to our siddur, our prayer book remembrances from congregants, as well as poems and literary anddramatic excerpts by writers such as Tony Kushner, William Finnand Thom Gunn which we read together at services throughout theyear. At the service, we ask members to share their remembrancesof congregants who died of AIDS. Together, we take on the sacredresponsibility of remembering our dead. How is the congregation dealing with the epidemic today? People with HIV in our congregation still need support, spiritual andotherwise, and congregants need to know how to protectthemselves from contracting the virus, especially younger peoplewho did not live through those terrible times. Our Director of SocialJustice Programming, Rabbi David Bauer, has taken on this roleand is creating some novel programs, including the first ever Jewishsafer sex campaign, funded by UJA. How the times have changed. Part of this program is condom distribution. Unbeknownst to herparents, our Associate Rabbi's fouryearold daughter took a handfulof condoms to her preschool in Park Slope and distributed them toher friends. When the principal called CBST to speak to her parent,she said the young girl had said she was giving the condoms out to"help keep grownups safe and healthy."
T H A N K Y O U T O O U R S P O N S O R S
Philip Aarons & Shelley Fox Aarons · Arcus Foundation · David BohnettBruce Bozzi & Bryan Lourd · Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
Calamus Foundation · Donald Capoccia & Tommie Pegues · Andy CohenThe Consuelos Family · Anderson Cooper · Todd DeGarmo & Bill Sales
Keith Fox & Tom Keyes · Gilead Sciences · Richard J. Grossman & Adam ShefferKeith Haring Foundation · John Heist & Michael Neumann · Kevin Huvane
Janssen Therapeutics · Elton John AIDS FoundationLenox Hill Hospital/North Shore Medical · The MAC AIDS Fund
Office of Manhattan Borough President · Joe Mantello · Robert Mapplethorpe FoundationMcGrawHill · Fraser D. Mooney · New York City Council · OraSure Technologies
Alfredo Paredes & Brad Goldfarb · Mickey Rolfe & Bruce TracySeth Rosen & Jacob Goertz · Jordan Roth & Richie Jackson · Eric & Wendy SchmidtBill Schwinghammer · Frank Selvaggi & Bill Shea · Hamilton South & Manuel Bellod
Joan H. Tisch · Joy Tomchin · Diane von Furstenberg & Barry Diller
For more information about the NYC AIDS Memorial- and how to get involved - please visit us at: nycaidsmemorial.org
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