The CBE Shabbat morning minyan grew out of a confluence of trends in the Reform movement. Michael A. Meyer, professor of Jewish history at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, tracing the historical arc of 20th century American Reform Judaism, notes an increase in traditional practice among its congregations. Several years ago, the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) documented a nationwide trend toward Shabbat morning worship, and growing numbers of lay-led minyanim/prayer services.

CBE's lay-led minyan, started by Rabbi Andy Bachman  in 2001 and supported and nurtured by Rabbi Jerry Weider, has become a regular part of CBE's Shabbat worship offerings. About 15 to 25 people gather on Saturday to sing, to pray and to read Torah. It is a makom kadosh/holy place of Jewish learning and celebration.

Our service is highly participatory. Everyone sings, every voice is heard. We use Mishkan T'fila, the new Reform siddur/prayer book, which incorporates more liturgy and more Hebrew (with transliterations) than previous Reform siddurim. Slowly we are becoming more comfortable with Hebrew.

We learn in other ways, too, in our warm, informal setting. We hear people recite an aliyah for the first time, or deliver their first d'var torah, or learn to chant Torah or haftarah. We experiment, try new melodies, add new readings. The minyan is an ongoing creative enterprise.

We invite the CBE community to join us on Saturday mornings at 10:30. For more information, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call the temple office, 718-768-3814.