Talk to Me About HIV

by Rabbi Mike Moskowitz and Jesse Katz, with thanks and inspiration to Charles King, CEO of Housing Works and Rabbi Marisa Elana James, Director of Social Justice Programming at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah

This week’s Torah portion starts with: Gen 37:1

וישב יעקב בארץ מגורי אביו בארץ כנען

Now Jacob was settled in the land where his father had sojourned, the land of Canaan.

Rashi explains:

וישב  AND IT WAS SETTLED — Jacob wished to live at ease, but trouble with Joseph suddenly came upon him. When the righteous wish to live at ease, the Holy One says to them: “Are not the righteous satisfied with what is stored up for them in the world to come that they wish to live at ease in this world too! (Genesis Rabbah 84:3)

It is our desire to want to detach from the struggle, that itself generates it. Jacob felt like he had made it and just wanted a break from the struggle. It is intentionally at that moment that Joseph is sold. It feels like we are at a similar place around AIDS. As there have been significant medical advances in recent years, a narrative of progress has developed in the mainstream, and as the perceived urgency is diminished, marginalized communities locally and internationally remain affected. It is our underlining complacency that got us to this place; we haven’t really fixed the problem at all. It is time to raise up the struggle for equality as the role of the righteous.

“And I think that for me it’s never been just about fighting the AIDS epidemic. To me it’s always  been about the drivers that have been behind the AIDS epidemic because I’m quite sure that in my lifetime not only will we end AIDS as an epidemic but we will also find a cure. But if we don’t at the same time find a cure for racism, for homophobia, for transphobia, for stigma that’s put on  people who use drugs, if we don’t find cures to address those things, the fact of the matter is there’s always another virus out there lurking to take advantage of our inhumanity.” – Charles King, CEO of Housing Works

One of the deepest lessons the AIDS epidemic teaches, and the importance of learning the history, is that the devastation is not just a result of the anatomy of the virus itself, but the ways in which communities are marginalized. The virus had allies in every individual who refused to recognize the inhumanity of their ambivalence, or inaction. History also demonstrates that it is always the communities most vulnerable that are hit hardest, communities that are not protected by the privilege of the majority. Mainstream reaction is slow, uncommitted, and often unproductive when catastrophe hits our marginalized communities. In these moments, we see the detriment of our passivity. To not reach out and help, is to deny one’s own humanity.  

With the onset of the digital age, we are inundated with information that can leave us numb and despondent. It is so important to not despair, and remain engaged, and as we make our mental calculations about what we actually have the emotional bandwidth for, it is important to remember that love has no maximum capacity, that you can never run out of ‘thank you’s,’ ‘I’m sorry’s,’ or ‘I love you’s.’ There is a false notion that less love, less engagement, less opening up of yourself to vulnerability will somehow protect you, when in actuality that exposure is what opens yourself up to be blessed and to heal.

This World AIDS Day we remember those we have lost, and in doing so we also remind ourselves of the holiness and the radical strength of love. That we are more ourselves when we connect with each other and that ultimately we draw strength from each other, opening ourselves up for healing together.

 

Rabbi Mike Moskowitz is the Scholar-in-Residence for Trans and Queer Jewish Studies at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah.

Jesse Katz is the Programming Coordinator at Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, and Project Manager for Talk to Me About HIV, an initiative of CBST.

 

As part of our #TalkToMeAboutHIV project and in preparation for #WorldAIDSDay2018, Rabbi Mike Moskowitz shows how getting tested for HIV and knowing your status is part of spiritual health. Many thanks to Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and Dr. Asa Radix for providing testing!

You can get tested on-site at CBST  Friday, November 30, from 4:30pm to 6:30pm. Testing (provided by GMHC) is free, confidential, and open to everyone, with no registration required.

As part of our #TalkToMeAboutHIV project and in preparation for #WorldAIDSDay2018, Rabbi Mike Moskowitz shows how getting tested for HIV and knowing your status is part of spiritual health. Many thanks to Callen-Lorde Community Health Center and Dr. Asa Radix for providing testing!

You can get tested on-site at CBST  Friday, November 30, from 4:30pm to 6:30pm. Testing (provided by GMHC) is free, confidential, and open to everyone, with no registration required.

Aging with HIV/AIDS? Talk to Us!

Join our weekly supportive social gathering – shmooze with Rabbi James, share stories, and compare notes about what it means to be aging with HIV/AIDS. Sessions led by Scott A. Kramer, LCSW-R, ACSW.

When: Tuesday Evenings, 7pm to 9pm, through September 4th, break for the Jewish High Holy Days, resumes October 9th

Where: 130 West 30th Street, Manhattan

Refreshments will be served!

For more information contact TalkHIV@cbst.org or (212) 929-9498
ext. 844 and sign up to join the group at bit.ly/TalkToUsAboutHIV

This project was funded by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene through a contract with Public Health Solutions.

 

Free, Confidential HIV testing at CBST!

Do you know your HIV status? As Maimonides wrote, “When keeping the body in health and vigor, one walks in the ways of G-d.” As part of CBST’s Talk to Me About HIV project, we will be holding free, confidential HIV testing on-site once each month—so come get tested and know your status. #TalkToMeAboutHIV

Free, Confidential HIV testing at CBST!

Do you know your HIV status? As Maimonides wrote, “When keeping the body in health and vigor, one walks in the ways of G-d.” As part of CBST’s Talk to Me About HIV project, we will be holding free, confidential HIV testing on-site several times this spring—so come get tested and know your status. #TalkToMeAboutHIV

• HIV Testing Flyer (JPG)
• HIV Testing Flyer 8.5 x 11 (PDF)
• HIV Testing Poster 11 x 17 (PDF)

Aging with HIV/AIDS? Talk to Us!

Join our weekly supportive social gathering – shmooze with Rabbi James, share stories, and compare notes about what it means to be aging with HIV/AIDS. Sessions led by Scott A. Kramer, LCSW-R, ACSW.

When: Tuesday Evenings, 7pm to 9pm, May 22nd through Aug 21st

Where: 130 West 30th Street, Manhattan

Refreshments will be served!

For more information contact TalkHIV@cbst.org or (212) 929-9498
ext. 844 and sign up to join the group at bit.ly/TalkToUsAboutHIV

This project was funded by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene through a contract with Public Health Solutions.

 

Free, Confidential HIV testing at CBST!

Do you know your HIV status? As Maimonides wrote, “When keeping the body in health and vigor, one walks in the ways of G-d.” As part of CBST’s Talk to Me About HIV project, we will be holding free, confidential HIV testing on-site several times this spring—so come get tested and know your status. #TalkToMeAboutHIV

Rabbi David Dunn Bauer, Director of Social Justice Programming at CBST, authored an op-ed piece for TheBody.com on “Breaking the Silence: Talking About HIV in Jewish Communities.”

Here’s a preview:

In the early years of the AIDS crisis, AIDS was visible because it was untreatable. Those of us who lived or worked in proximity to people with HIV/AIDS saw lesions; we saw people wasting; we went to funerals. Ironically, perhaps, as HIV has become more treatable, it has become largely invisible among individuals and communities not directly affected by the virus.

Click here to read more…

Talk to Me About HIV has begun raising awareness about HIV risk, prevention, treatment, and stigma among Jewish clergy, professional staff, and lay leaders.

CBST is moving quickly to advance “Talk to Me About HIV,” an awareness and education program designed to help clergy, staff and lay leaders at synagogues and Jewish organizations engage more actively with their communities around issues of HIV testing, prevention, treatment, and stigma.

Drawing upon three decades of experience with HIV/AIDS care and activism, CBST through its Talk to Me About HIV project offers practical and pastoral strategies to address the ongoing HIV epidemic, which remains an urgent issue for the Jewish community in New York City in 2017. This effort is aligned with the state’s goal to end the AIDS epidemic in New York by 2020.

On May 11, CBST held at a half-day session for Jewish institutional leaders—rabbis, cantors, youth directors, chaplains, professional staff, and lay leaders—to introduce the Talk to Me About HIV campaign and to help them address HIV-related issues in their own congregations and communities.

Speakers at the program included: Dr. Asa Radix, Senior Director of Research and Education and Dr. Uri Belkind, Clinical Director of the Health Outreach to Teens (HOTT) program at Callen-Lorde Community Health Center on state of HIV today as a medical and public health issues; Rabbi Ayelet S. Cohen, former Associate Rabbi at CBST, on CBST’s own history with HIV/AIDS and how HIV is a social justice issue; attorney and former Board President William Hibsher speaking on legal issues raised by HIV; and noted teen health educator, Scott Fried.

Rabbi David Dunn Bauer, Director of Social Justice Programming at CBST, opened the session by addressing “what we talk about when we talk about HIV” from a Jewish perspective, and later led a chevruta session with verses from the Torah and Pirkei Avot.

Additional “lunch-and-learn” sessions have been designed specifically for rabbinical students. On April 25th, Talk to Me About HIV conducted its first such program at the Jewish Theological Seminary where the team was welcomed by Rabbi Stephanie Ruskay, Associate Dean of the Rabbinical School.  Michael Broder, co-chair of the CBST Red Ribbon Team, offered a presentation on “HIV/AIDS 101 for 2017,” underscoring current perspectives on HIV risk, testing, prevention, treatment, and stigma. Rabbi Bauer then led a discussion about different pastoral situations that JTS students might confront around HIV as new rabbis and how they might start discussions about the subject in Jewish settings.

On May 6th, a group of social justice-oriented rabbinic students from Hebrew College in Boston, led by their dean, Rabbi Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, visited CBST for a Social Justice Shabbaton to introduce the array of social justice programming and causes being championed at CBST. During an intimate discussion of the Talk to Me About HIV program, Broder encouraged rabbis to be open to the likelihood that members of their congregations have been affected by HIV in their lifetimes – either directly or indirectly. He noted that rabbis have a pastoral obligation to be ready to talk about HIV with individual congregants or those gathered in community. Rabbi Bauer continued the conversation, leading the students in a discussion of potential scenarios and corresponding pastoral responses.

“No two of these lunch-and-learns are going to be the same,” said Broder. “The structure and function of the program will vary according to the nature and needs of the audience.”

The Centers for Disease Control estimates that there are 1.2 million people infected with HIV living in the United States, one in eight of whom do not even know they are infected and therefore cannot access appropriate treatment.

We are pleased to announce an exciting new initiative at CBST, an HIV prevention and education project called Talk to Me About HIV.

The program is designed for rabbis, cantors, and other institutional leaders at Jewish congregations, schools, and community centers throughout New York City. The goal is to help them engage actively with their communities around HIV- and AIDS-related issues. Through the efforts of the CBST Red Ribbon Team, CBST was awarded a grant from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and we are proud to offer this program to the leaders of Jewish communities of all five boroughs.

The multi-faceted project comprises several elements:

• A resource toolkit addressing key medical, practical, and pastoral issues regarding HIV including risk, infection, care and treatment, living with HIV and AIDS, aging, and much more. A centerpiece of the project, the toolkit will afterwards be made available online.

 

• Video testimonies and conversations with CBST’s rabbis and community members that personalize our community’s storied history and experience with HIV and AIDS and say “Talk to me about HIV.”

 

• A daylong training session at CBST on May 11 for Jewish institutional leaders—rabbis, cantors, youth directors, and chaplains—preparing them to address HIV- and AIDS- related issues in their own congregations and communities.

 

• A series of lunch-and-learn events held at Jewish seminaries and other clerical educational settings in New York City whose graduates will soon join the ranks of professional clergy worldwide.

To execute this ambitious project, the board has authorized engaging three CBST lay leaders as consultants and part-time staff: Red Ribbon co-chair Michael Broder, Communications Committee co-chair Karen Benezra, and member Josh Kruchten. Their skills and experience in writing, outreach, and organization will be crucial to the success of this program. We also welcome the participation of long-time HIV educator and speaker Scott Fried.

All of this work is being carried out under the guidance of Director of Social Justice Programming Rabbi David Dunn Bauer, Executive Director Yolanda Potasinski, Program Coordinator Ariel Kates, and Red Ribbon co-chairs Michael Broder and Lin Rosenbluth. We want to express our profound gratitude to former Red Ribbon co-chair Bruce Pachter, without whose extraordinary efforts the grant would never have come our way.

We hope this project will engage multiple generations of the CBST community. From our current rabbinical team and Cooperberg-Rittmaster Rabbinical Internship Alumni to the current Red Ribbon Committee and Aleinu 20s-30s group, the CBST community has experience with HIV and AIDS that will be given voice through this work.

If you have any questions about this project or want to learn more about it, please email TalkHIV@cbst.org, and we’ll be more than happy to talk to you about Talk to Me About HIV.

L’Shalom,
Senior Rabbi Sharon Kleinbaum, D.D.
Yolanda Potasinski, Executive Director
Nathan E. Goldstein, President