Welcome/Shalom
Mark your CalendarAll of our services and events at CBA are open to the community. While we do not have regular weekly or daily services, we hold a musical Friday service once a month, Saturday morning service once a month, High Holiday services in the Fall and host events throughout the course of the year. For details on upcoming events and services, please scroll down.
Highlights: NEW Mitzvah Opportunity: CBA "Kiddush Club" For our new, monthly Shabbat morning services we are inviting you to join the CBA "Kiddush Club" to help sponsor the kiddush luncheons following services. You can do this either as a one time or an automatic monthly contribution (please scroll down for details). CBA Saturday Morning Shabbat Service: Saturday, December 14th at 10:00 am. Please see below for details. CBA Book Club Meeting: The next CBA book club meeting will be Thursday, December 19th at 5:30 pm to discuss If This Is A Man by Primo Levi. Please see below for details. Sephard-ish Shabbat Service at CBA: December 20th at 6:30 pm. Please see below for details. The Vintage Jewish Movie Group: The next movie group meeting is Wednesday December 25th at 4:30pm. Please see below for details. CBA Annual Chanukah Party: Saturday, December 28th at 6:00pm in CBA social hall. Please see below for details. Future Dates for Shabbat Services (Fri&Sat): 1/17, 1/18, 2/8, 2/21, 3/20, 3/28, 4/17, 5/2, 5/15, 6/6, 6/19
Please join us for Shabbat morning services at CBA, Saturday, December 14th at 10:00 am followed by a Kiddush luncheon sponsored by Rise' Kulick. Please let us know if you would like to join our volunteer group in helping lead services, read Torah, chant Haftarot, deliver Divrai Torah, and/or sponsor the Kiddush. (see further details below about our "Kiddush Club")
Visit our "Shabbat Learning" page on the website to learn how to daven our Shabbat morning services, There you can find audio and visual reference material that will help you learn and/or master the prayers and components of the service; Preliminary, Shacharit, Torah and Musaf. Additionally, if you are observing Yahrzeit, we urge you to contact the Synagogue for an honor (doing an English reading, receiving an aliyah, opening the ark or lifting, dressing, carrying the Torah). And if you have a simcha or other occasion to celebrate, what better way than by hosting or contributing to the Kiddush?
We are looking for people to help sponsor future kiddushim for our new, monthly Shabbat morning services. If you enjoy a good kiddush -- and who doesn't -- you have a mitzvah opportunity to be a sponsor, co-sponsor or an ongoing member of our "Kiddush Club." Here's how -- simply go to the Donate section on our home page and follow the prompts to contribute, as suggested below:
Full sponsorship in honor of someone special or in celebration of a simcha -- $136 (for approximately 20-40 people). Half sponsorship with the synagogue or in tandem another member -- $68 (for approximately 20-40 people) Participation in our "Kiddush Club" with an ongoing, monthly donation of $6, $12, or $18. Simply hit the button that says "Make This a Monthly Donation" and we'll take acre of the rest. After you click the "Donate" button and go through the prompts, indicate if you would like to sponsor a full or half Kiddush with date and simcha/honoree details or if making an ongoing monthly contribution, indicate "Kiddush Club" in the comments section. You of course have the option of entering a different amount or canceling at any time. Unless you choose to be anonymous, we will include your name in the CBA flyer that is handed out at services. ***We are also looking for people who can help with the shopping for food and/or setting up the tables on shabbat. Please contact Shelly if you are willing and able to pitch in. Your help is much appreciated!
Please join us at the shul on Thursday, December 19th at 5:30 pm when the book club will be meeting to discuss our next book, If This Is A Man by Primo Levi. Copies can be purchased through book sellers on the internet.
Here is a summary of the book excerpted from Yiddish Book Center: Early in 1944 Levi, a young chemist from Turin, Italy was deported to Auschwitz. Some years later he wrote about the twenty months he spent in the camp. This classic memoir is a record of this experience. Levi was not “selected,” and he was ill with scarlet fever when the Germans fled from Auschwitz in January 1945, taking all the healthy prisoners with them. More than an autobiography, this work is also an act of witness and reaffirmation of the author’s worth as a human being. Please RSVP to Shelly at if you plan to join us, so that we can notify you of any time or location changes. ***If you would like to read ahead, our next book will be The Magic Barrel by Bernard Malamud, which we will be discussing on January 28th at 5:30.***
Please join us for Sephard-ish Shabbat Services, Friday, December 20th at 6:30pm. After services we will gather for Kiddush and a potluck oneg in the CBA social hall. Please bring a kosher dairy/non-meat dish or dessert to share and kindly label it if it contains nuts or other allergens.
We hope you can join us as we celebrate Shabbat in our historic synagogue. Contact Cantor Gelman or Marty Kerker if you are interested in playing an instrument. We will have small percussion items available to play, too. Directions and parking information can be found on the right side of this web page. This service is open to the community, so please feel free to bring your friends!
The next Vintage Jewish Movie Group meeting will be Wednesday December 25 at 4:30 PM (doors open at 4:00). Please note the earlier than usual time as there is no Bills game. We will be showing the utterly fascinating (and discussion-worthy) documentary, "Keep Quiet."
From IMDB: Csanad Szegedi's story is remarkable; as vice-president of Jobbik, Hungary's far-right extremist party, Szegedi regularly espoused anti-Semitic rhetoric and Holocaust denials. He was a founder of the Hungarian Guard, a now-banned militia inspired by the Arrow Cross, a pro-Nazi party complicit in the murder of thousands of Jews during WWII. Then came a revelation which transformed his life: Szegedi's maternal grandparents were revealed to be Jewish and his beloved grandmother an Auschwitz survivor who had hidden her faith fearing further persecution. "Keep Quiet" depicts Szegedi's three year journey as he is guided by Rabbi Boruch Oberlander to embrace his newfound religion, forced to confront the painful truths of his family's past, his own wrong doing and the turbulent history of his country. But is this astonishing transformation a process of genuine reparation and spiritual awakening, or is he simply a desperate man with nowhere else to turn. Click here to view trailer. In keeping with tradition, we will go out for Asian food after the film, please contact Marty to RSVP or if you have any questions about the Vintage Jewish Movie Group.
Join us on Saturday night, December 28th at 6:00. BYOM -Bring Your Own menorah (and candles, please!) Latkes or a pareve dish to pass (dairy or vegetarian) would be appreciated. RSVP to Shelly and indicate if you will be bringing latkes or a dish to pass. Update -- we need latke providers!
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Donate to CBA securely online using your credit card or by check in the mail!CBA appreciates your financial support of our temple and we are happy to offer the convenience of online donations. In addition to our annual appeal to cover our operating costs, the "Little Shul on Elmwood" needs your financial help with our continuing renovations and accessibility improvements. Please note that if you make a donation of $18 or more, you will automatically be considered a member unless you choose to opt out and inform us accordingly. Membership requires no further financial or time commitment, although both are much appreciated.
If you prefer to donate by sending a check in the mail, our address is 1073 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo NY 14222. Please download/print our donor form and include it with your payment to let us know how to acknowledge your donation. Thank You!!!! For information about our Annual Appeal and our accomplishments over the past year, Please Click HERE TO RECEIVE OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER AND ANNOUNCEMENTS:
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Questions about Parking and Building Access ?For All Events:
Please note that there are now two handicapped-only parking spaces in front of the Synagogue. Please let us know if you would like assistance with helping you from your car into the building and/or up and down the stairs. Email us at info@congregationbethabraham.net or call 716 435-0658 Click HERE for a map with parking information. Please do not park in the Mr. Pizza or Panos lot - we want to be a good neighbor! ***Note for all those who bike or take the bus: Bike racks are located on Elmwood across the street from the shul and the 20A bus going inbound and outbound has stops near the corner of Elmwood and Byrd Avenues.
Thank You to all our volunteers who helped out on DIY day, Sunday November 10th and throughout the month
A very special thank you to: Joe Atkinson, Jim Carr, Deborah Greitzer, Kris Harmon, Richard Kendall, Marty Kerker, Shelly Kerker, Maxine Seller, Sheldon Soman, Howard Wiseman Many tasks were completed to enhance our enjoyment and use of our 105 year old building. Our front doors now have a new coat of Teal paint to match our name board above. The interior of all our windows were washed along with the trim, all the pews were cleaned, and a portion of the exterior wall was insulated. Other improvements concluded in the months preceding include handrails on the stairs leading to the bimah, a video security system, exterior lighting, heating system air distribution and, ongoing, improved weatherproofing. Couldn't make it Sunday November 10th? We are still open to having volunteers come on future dates. Please contact Jim. Can't help physically? Not everyone can do this work. If it is within your means, please consider making a financial contribution to the CBA building fund. You can donate online at our website or send a check to CBA by mail. Many thanks to all who help in whatever way they can! We Get By With a Little Help From Our Friends
CBA has benefited greatly from the time and talents of our volunteers who have taken on responsibilities from the building repairs, to our daveners and musicians. If you would like to help with Ritual, Programming, or Building improvements, please contact our volunteer coordinators:
To learn the melodies of our "Sephard-ish" Kabbalat Shabbat services, click HERE
To access ALL the playlists on our YouTube Channel,
CLICK HERE
Do you have old photographs of our shul? An article clipped from a newspaper? Memories from a rite of passage?
If you have material to share or are interested in helping with our CBA Archives Project, please let us know by email. Click the cba.timeline to download a PDF of the shul's history, starting in 1919. 
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