How long is shabbat service

Sometimes instead of using a printed prayer book, we will project a PowerPoint version of the service onto the wall near the ark. We ask that you turn your cell phone on silent before services begin. Please ask anyone visible in the photographs you take if they are comfortable with you posting the picture online before sharing it on social media.

Our services contain a number of English readings, but more than half of the service is traditional Hebrew prayers that we sing or chant. English translations and transliterations Hebrew words written out in English letters appear in our prayer books as well. Some services feature piano accompaniment, while others have a songleader playing guitar. For special holidays like Simchat Torah and Chanukah, we often have a full klezmer band play. This Spotify playlist includes a number of melodies that we use at Friday night services or teach in our Religious School.

You can find some of the other melodies we use on this YouTube channel. It is best to arrive by pm if you want to have an honor in the service. If I want the name of a loved one included on the Mi Shebeirach healing list or Kaddish memorial list, who do I contact? Please email our administrative assistant Maria at office or-ami. If you have any questions about accessibility, please visit our accessibility page.

That means: 1. What time do Shabbat evening services start? Are there Saturday morning services? Do I have to wear a mask at in-person services? How welcome are children at services? Do I have to be Jewish to attend services?

You do not have to be Jewish to attend services. Everyone is welcome at Or Ami! How should I dress for services? Do I need to wear a head covering? Do you use the standard Reform Jewish prayer book called Mishkan Tefilah? Am I allowed to take pictures or use my cell phone during services? What language do you pray in? At the end of the service, people will often greet one another informally as they move into a different space, often a social hall adjacent to the sanctuary, for refreshments and socializing.

On Friday evenings, this period of time is known as the oneg Shabbat Sabbath joy and usually begins with the Shabbat Kiddush blessing over the wine and HaMotzi blessing over bread or challah , although in some congregations, these blessings are recited from the bimah at the end of the service. On Saturdays and holidays, the reception following the worship service is known as the Kiddush , named for the prayer recited over wine or grape juice.

Everyone who attended services is invited and encouraged to stay to socialize, even if only briefly. Although it might seem intimidating to introduce yourself to someone new in such a setting, try sharing your name and a simple statement that this is your first time — or one of your first few times — visiting the congregation, and see where that takes you.

Remember that others in the room may also be guests or infrequent attendees. Jane E. Herman , a. Affiliate Hat ReformJudaism. Home Jewish Holidays Shabbat. Outside the Building Although some congregations request the presence of local police officers or employ private security personal as a precaution at the door, anyone — regardless of belief or religion is welcome at worship services. In Orthodox communities, only men and boys wear kippot, while in liberal Jewish communities some women and girls choose to wear kippot.

Also called a yarmulke Yiddish or skullcap. Historically kippot were worn by Jewish men and boys during worship and at other times as a sign of respect to God.

In Reform congregations today, both men and women — whether they are Jewish or from another faith or cultural tradition — wear kippot if they choose to do so as a sign of respect, spirituality or prayerfulness.

If their kippah falls to the ground, some people will kiss it as they place it back on their head. Like the kippah or yarmulke, prayer shawls are optional. In the Sanctuary There may be ushers or greeters at the door of the sanctuary or worship space, but unless the service is extremely crowded, the ushers do not generally seat worshippers. On Friday night or Saturday morning, the worship service may incorporate one or more celebratory events: An auf ruf , a short ceremony for honoring and blessing a couple prior to their marriage A baby naming, to bestow a Hebrew name upon a child and welcome him or her into the Jewish community A conversion, at which a person who has chosen Judaism as his or her religion, publicly affirms this choice to the community On Friday Night: Sitting, Standing, Bending, Bowing Throughout the worship service, the prayer leader will direct the congregation about when to sit and when to stand as people are able.

In some congregations, the ark will be opened for this prayer. During the Amidah Standing Prayer , which is the central portion of a Jewish worship service. The congregation may recite the beginning portion of this prayer together before continuing and concluding individually, in which case each congregant sits down when finished.

Or, the entire prayer may be recited together, in which case the prayer leader will invite the congregation to rise for the Amidah and to sit when it is finished. Whenever the ark is opened. In some congregations, it is customary to read from the Torah on Friday nights, even though the traditional Torah-reading days are Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. The Torah service explained more fully below begins when the Torah is brought out of the ark and carried throughout the congregation so that worshippers can touch it as a sign of love and respect.

The prayer leader will instruct the congregation to be seated once the Torah cover and the other decorative items have been removed from the scroll and the cover has been placed over the scroll as a sign of respect. After the scroll has been read, the congregation will rise as the Torah is dressed, and again when it is returned to the ark.

For the Aleinu prayer, which often immediately follows the return of the Torah to the ark, so worshipers may already be standing at this point in the service. The leader may then invite others to add names of people they are remembering before everyone is asked to rise for the Kaddish.

While this article focuses on what to wear and do — and some of the people you will see — we recommend you also consult our Guided Tour of the Synagogue and Highlights of Shabbat Morning Worship. Dress codes — and attitudes about small children and whether or not it is acceptable to whisper with your neighbor — also vary widely. To learn more about the particular synagogue you will attend, you may want to consult its website or speak to a friend who is a member or has been there recently.

In more traditional communities, clothing tends to be dressier; women wear hats and are discouraged from wearing pants. A tallit, or Jewish prayer shawl. Because the braided fringes at the four corners of the tallit remind its wearer to observe the commandments of Judaism, wearing a tallit is reserved for Jews.

Although an usher may offer you a tallit at the door, you may decline it if you are not Jewish or are simply uncomfortable wearing such a garment. Kippah, or yarmulke : A kippah KEEP-ah or head covering called a yarmulke in Yiddish , is traditionally worn by males during the service and also by women in more liberal synagogues. Wearing a kippah is not a symbol of religious identification like the tallit, but is rather an act of respect to God and the sacredness of the worship space.

Just as men and women may be asked to remove their hats in the church, or remove their shoes before entering a mosque , wearing a head covering is a non-denominational act of showing respect. In some synagogues, women may wear hats or a lace head covering. A basket of custom-stitched yarmulkes. Maintaining sanctity: All guests and participants are expected to respect the sanctity of the prayer service and Shabbat by:.