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, 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 see details on opposite side of the page (scroll down). Rescheduled! PJ Library Tot Shabbat Service at CBA: CBA will host P.J. Library Tot Shabbat on Friday, November 15th at 5:45 pm. Please note, this is the rescheduled date. See below for details. Kabbalat Shabbat Service at CBA: Lively, musical Kabbalat Shabbat Services will follow Tot Shabbat at 6:30. Please see below for details. DIY Month at CBA: November 10th and on-going. We need help to take care of immediate DIY projects at the shul. Please see below for how you can help. CBA Book Club Meeting: The next CBA book club meeting will be Tuesday, November 19th at 5:30 pm to discuss The Zelmenyaners by Moyshe Kulbak. Please see below for details. CBA Saturday Morning Shabbat Service: Saturday, November 23rd at 10:00 am. Please see below for details. The Vintage Jewish Movie Group: Sunday, November 24th at %:00 pm, doors open at 4:30 pm. Please see below for details. Future Dates for Kabbalat Shabbat Services: December 20th, January 24, 2020.
Thank you, Cantor Gelman and all our High Holiday volunteers and donors. You made this year's services EXTRA special with your participation: Hallie and David Brownstein (flowers on the bima) Myranne Feinstein (break-fast) Madalyn Fliesler Jonathan Fogel Yonina Andrea Foster Deborah Goldman Deborah Greitzer (mid afternoon YK reading) Holly Hutchinson Shelly Kerker (honors coordinator) Aaron Pieri Rabbi Adam Scheldt Miriam Rothenberg Alan Sisselman Gil Wolfe Rick Zakalik Plus all those who had readings or other honors and those who donated machzorim. Todah Rabah and Yasher Koach!
We need your help Sunday November 10th beginning at 9AM to do various painting and repair projects at the shul. We are painting all exterior doors, interior side of all windows and the foyer ceiling. We also need some strong backs to help with A/C removal and fence repairs. We would be very appreciative of the extra hands, so please come and bring anyone who is willing to help!
No skills needed, but please bring work gloves and wear work clothes. We will only work until noon so as not to conflict with the Bills game. Please feel free to stop by anytime between 9 and noon. Can't do Sunday November 10th? We are open to having volunteers come on other dates in November. Please contact Jim or Kris and let us know if you are available to help on the 10th (or are open to other dates). 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 with the designation "November DIY." 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!
Please join us for a special PJ Library Tot Shabbat Service to be held at CBA, Friday, November 15th at 5:45pm. Please Note: this is the rescheduled date. This service is especially for families with children between the ages of 2-8 years old, but all are welcome. We will have a brief Shabbat service and sing Shabbat songs for children, followed by a Kosher juice Kiddush in the social hall. Cookies and other refreshments will be available. Please let us know if your child has any nut allergy or other food allergies.
Volunteers are needed to read stories to the kids. Please contact Cantor Gelman or Marty Kerker if you are interested in helping out. 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!
Kabbalat Shabbat Services will resume, Friday, November 15th at 6:30pm, following PJ Library Tot Shabbat. 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!
Please join us at the shul on Tuesday, November 19th at 5:30 pm when the book club will be meeting to discuss our next book, The Zelmenyaners by Moyshe Kulbak. Copies can be purchased through book sellers on the internet.
Here is a summary of the book excerpted from Yiddish Book Center: Moyshe Kulbak’s The Zelmenyaners is many things: a family saga; a sometimes-earnest, sometimes-ironic portrait of the formative years of the Soviet Union and the Soviet pioneers; and a chronicle of modernity’s uneven arrival in Eastern Europe. For the first time, tramlines, movie theaters, and heavy industry begin to appear in the lives of Kulbak’s Jews—but many customs and patterns of Jewish life also begin to disappear. Kulbak, known primarily as a poet, is a brilliant storyteller, and the book manages the delicate act of being both serious and funny. 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 If This Is Man by Primo Levi, which we will be discussing on December 19th.***
Please join us for Shabbat morning service at CBA, Saturday, November 23rd at 10:00 am followed by a Kiddush luncheon
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 on our home page about our "Kiddush Club") Visit our "Shabbat Learning" page on our 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, Shachrit, 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?
The next Vintage Jewish Movie Group will meet Sunday, Novermber 24th at 5:oo pm with doors opening at 4:30. We have 3 short films with common Jewish themes surrounding Thanksgiving, immigration and family.
The first film, Molly's Pilgrim is a heart-warming, nuanced rendition of the classic children's story-- one that can also be appreciated by adults. The second, the documentary A Storm of Strangers, narrated by Herschel Bernardi chronicles the immigrant experience in NYC during the early 20th century. Both of these films (in the traditional sense of the word ) will be screened by Grant Golden on his 16mm projector, lending a greater sense of authenticity and nostalgia to the viewing experience. The third offering. Today You are a Fountain Pen , stars the late character actor, Len Lesser, best known for his role as Uncle Leo on Seinfeld ("Jerrrrrry!"). All three films are award winners. Total viewing time is about an hour and 15 minutes with short breaks in between. In keeping with our fall-winter schedule, the program will start promptly at 5:00 with doors opening at 4:30. We will gather for dinner and drinks at India Gate after the movie, please contact Marty to RSVP or if you have any questions about the Vintage Jewish Movie Group. |
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.
To learn the melodies of our "Sephard-ish" Kabbalat Shabbat services, click HERE
To access ALL the playlists on our YouTube Channel,
CLICK HERE 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:
We are looking for people to help sponsor future kddushim 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!
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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