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LGBT rabbi who confronted AIDS crisis now faces COVID-19

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Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Mary Altaffer/AP
Light traffic is seen on 42nd St. in New York's Times Square, Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Hospitalizations from COVID-19 were rising faster than expected in New York as residents and leaders prepared for a peak in cases that is expected to still be weeks away. Temporary hospitals, and even a morgue in Manhattan, are being setup. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
88 people died of COVID-19 in NYC on Thursday, brining U.S. deaths linked to virus over 1,000
Posted at 10:48 PM, Apr 12, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-15 12:41:44-04

Sharon Kleinbaum was installed in 1992 as rabbi of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah in Manhattan.

It's considered the largest LGBT synagogue in the nation,  and AIDS was killing thousands of gay New Yorkers each year when she took the job.

That experience has given her strength as New York now faces the coronavirus outbreak.

MORE: Coronavirus news and updates

Yet the pandemic poses challenges that weren’t present during the AIDS crisis.

She’s now fulfilling virtually all her duties without face-to-face contact — conducting services online and consoling grieving congregation members by phone rather than in person.

She mostly works from her apartment in far-northern Manhattan, 10 miles from the synagogue.

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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