Volunteers Serve Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner at PS 188 to Deserving Students
Posted November 26, 2019
On Thursday evening November 21st, under the leadership of Central member Miriam Herman, along with Suzanne Maltz, Paul Aronoff, and Rich Ostroff, a group of volunteers had the pleasure of leading Central’s 8th Annual Pre-Thanksgiving dinner at PS 188. This event, the result of an ongoing partnership with the Educational Alliance, is always a special day on our calendar. Read more
Central and Leading Churches and Synagogues Sponsor Training for Volunteers to Watch NYS Courthouses
Posted November 20, 2019
Central Synagogue and New York's leading churches and synagogues launched a campaign for their members to monitor courthouses on Tuesday, October 29, 2019. We aim to reduce the number of people sent to jail, advocate for racial justice, and monitor how prosecutors and courts in New York City will implement the pretrial criminal law reform legislation enacted last Spring that will be go into effect on January 1, 2020.
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Rabbi Hilly Haber Moderates Panel of Social Justice Advocates on Yom Kippur
Posted October 10, 2019
On Yom Kippur, Rabbi Hilly Haber moderated a panel discussion between Terrance Coffie, Topeka K. Sam, and Kempis “Ghani” Songster whose lives have been directly impacted by the criminal justice system, and who have dedicated themselves to creating social and political change in America. Read more
Here’s How You Can Help at the U.S. Border Crisis
Posted July 19, 2019
We have been watching with horror the recent news of the callous and inhumane mistreatment of the “huddled masses” now gathered at our borders. The Talmud teaches us that if we fail to protest the actions of our fellow citizens, we become liable for their wrongs. In this moment, we as a faith community cannot afford to stand idly by while children are denied basic necessities. If you would like to support organizations on the front lines, here are two other actions you can take: Read more
Criminal Justice Reform Passes in NY State
Posted April 19, 2019
We are thrilled to share that the NY State Governor, Senate, and Assembly have enacted historical criminal justice reform in our next State budget. Central Synagogue was proud to be part of a group of NY's largest faith communities that worked to bring the first meaningful reform to criminal justice legislation in 50 years. Click to read our interfaith statement about the reform. Read more
We Stand with our Muslim Neighbors
Posted March 28, 2019
Our Torah commands: “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Moreover, our tradition teaches us that all of us are created in the image of God. Jews have so often been the target of discrimination and violence. For this reason, we are all the more sensitive to the pain of other communities when they are targeted. Just as we fight for freedoms and values important to our community, we honor and stand up for others who have been attacked. Read more
Mentors Matter: Helping Underserved High School Seniors with Central Congregants
Posted March 14, 2019
400 high school seniors and only 1 college advisor. That’s what these wonderful, talented students are facing just a couple blocks away from our synagogue, at the High School of Art & Design, an extraordinary, state-of-the-art middle school/high school for kids with artistic talents who major in architecture, painting, drawing, cartooning, film, fashion, graphic design, set design.
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Faith Communities for Bail Reform Advocacy Day
Posted February 27, 2019
Wednesday, February 27, Central congregants were in Albany as part of a Faith Communities for Bail Reform Advocacy Day. We met with 16 legislators, including Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart Cousins and Speaker of the Assembly Carl Heastie, and their staffs, to impress upon them the urgency of this moment and the opportunity to pass meaningful and just bail reform now. Read more
Rabbi Stephanie Kolin at Trinity Church: d’var Torah
Posted February 12, 2019
As a part of our continued conversation about bail reform in New York State, Rabbi Stephanie Kolin spoke to a congregation at Trinity Church about the importance of criminal justice reform. Read more
James Forman Jr. on Ending Mass Incarceration
Posted December 18, 2018
On December 10, 2018, James Forman Jr., a Yale Law School professor, explored the complex relationship between race, class, and the American criminal justice system, and discussed and signed his best-selling and Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America. Read more