Celebrating the Holidays: The Sacred Flow of Jewish Time
The Jewish year begins with the Days of Awe (yamim noraim). We celebrate the creation of the world on Rosh Hashanah, and ten days later, Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). We not only have services that speak to adults on their level, but also services aimed at toddlers, school age children, and teenagers.
On each of the three pilgrimage festivals (chagim) — Sukkot, Pesach and Shavuot — services are held at 9:00am on both the first and concluding days. Yizkor (memorial prayers) are included on the last day of Sukkot (Sh’mini Atzeret-Simchat Torah) and Pesach.
We believe in the full emotional range of Jewish observance! We celebrate Purim and Simchat Torah with a strong emphasis on family involvement and joy — even frivolity!
Prayers for forgiveness, or Selichot, are recited in preparation for the coming new year. We gather together for services and study on Saturday, September 24.
Next year Selichot is September 1, 2018
Sukkot Dinner: Wednesday, October 4, 6:00pm- Reservations Required
Reform Sukkot Service: Wednesday, October 4, 7:30pm
Beginning five days after Yom Kippur, Sukkot is named after the booths or huts (sukkot in Hebrew) in which Jews are supposed to dwell during this week-long celebration. According to rabbinic tradition, these flimsy sukkot represent the huts in which the Israelites dwelt during their forty years of wandering in the desert after escaping from slavery in Egypt. The festival of Sukkot is one of the three great pilgrimage festivals (chaggim or regalim) of the Jewish year. For more information, see Sukkot 101 (courtesy of MyJewishLearning.com).
Simchat Torah: October 11-12, 2017 (21 Tishrei-22 Tishrei 5778)
Simchat Torah Dinner: Wednesday, October 11, 6:00pm – Reservations Required
Simchat Torah Service: Wednesday, October 11, 7:00pm
Simchat Torah celebrates the conclusion of one and the beginning of another annual cycle of readings from the Torah. It is celebrated at Temple Beth Abraham by unrolling the Torah scroll and wrapping it around all the children in the synagogue
Bring your Chanukiah and candles for the seventh night of Chanukah
Chanukah Dinner (with Latkes!): Friday, December 15, 6:00pm – Reservations Required
Shabbat Service: Friday, December 15, 7:30pm
Tu B’Shevat or the “New Year of the Trees” is Jewish Arbor Day. The holiday is observed on the 15th (tu) of the Hebrew month of Shevat. Today, many Jews hold a seder where Israeli fruits, nuts, and seeds are exhibited and eaten. The holiday also has become a tree-planting festival in Israel, in which Israelis and Jews around the world plant trees in honor or in memory of loved ones and friends. You can do so here:
Purim: March 11-12, 2017 (14 Adar 5776-15 Adar 5776)
Purim Dinner: Saturday, March 11, 6:00pm – Reservations Required
Purim Service and Shpiel: Saturday, March 11, 7:00pm
This year will feature “Shpieler on the Roof”
Scenes from 2014’s Shpiel:
Passover, the feast of unleavened bread, will be April 10 through April 17, 2017 (15 Nissan-22 Nissan 5777)
The first two days of Passover (from sundown of the first date listed, until nightfall two days later) are full-fledged, no-work-allowed holiday days. The subsequent four days are Chol Hamoed, when work is allowed, albeit with restrictions. Chol Hamoed is followed by another two full holiday days.
Passover is a major Jewish spring festival, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt over 3,000 years ago. The ritual observance of this holiday centers around a special home service called the seder (meaning “order”) and a festive meal; the prohibition of chametz (leaven); and the eating of matzah (an unleavened bread). Jews gather with family and friends in the evening to read from a book called the haggadah, meaning “telling,” which contains the order of prayers, rituals, readings, and songs for the Passover seder.
Sunday, April 23, 2017 (26 Nisan 5777) at 7:30pm
We gather as a congregation to hear words of witness and memory
The service will include a memorial candle lighting. All are urged to attend and this service is appropriate for children aged 8 and up.
Next year Yom HaShoah will be April 11, 2018
Monday, May 1, 2017 (5 Iyar 5777)
Community service at 6:15PM in memory of those who lost their lives creating and defending the State of Israel (Israel’s Memorial Day – יום הזכרון), followed by dinner, Israeli-style and a speaker. The speaker is Rabbi Fred Schwalb. He is the current president of the American Friends of Beit Morasha. Beit Morasha of Jerusalem is devoted to advancing a vibrant and inclusive vision of Judaism, through cultivating inspired and dynamic Jewish leadership for the State of Israel and the Jewish world.).
Shavuot is the festival that marks the giving of the Torah
During this service, we will celebrate the
and also hold a culmination of
EVERY1COUNTS -our COUNTING THE OMER program
Tuesday, May 30, 2017:
6:00pm Erev Shavuot Dinner (reservations required)
7:00pm Erev Shavuot services
Wednesday, May 31, 2016 at 9:00am:
Shavuot Morning Service in the Conservative tradition, including Yizkor