Friday Evening Services
Friday night services are held at 7:45 p.m. on the first week of the month and feature the "First Friday Speaker Series." On other weeks, an early Kabbalat Shabbat service is held at 5:45 p.m. Several times during the year, our Early Childhood Education Committee sponsors Friday Shabbat services and dinners specifically geared to the needs of our families with younger children. We celebrate children's birthdays at these services, calling them up to the bima for a special blessing and a birthday gift.
Shabbat Morning Services
If you joined us on a typical Shabbat morning, you would find our building filled with activity. Services in the Sanctuary begin every week at 9:15 a.m. and conclude at approximately 12:00 p.m. The following programs for children are also available:
- Babysitting is offered every week for children ages 1 through 5 from 10:00 a.m. until 12 noon.
- "Shabbat Shalom Yeladim," a program of prayer, stories and games for our pre-schoolers twice each month. This program is led by parent volunteers.
- "Shabbat Shalom Chaverim," is for children in grades K through 2. This program is led by parent volunteers.
- "Kehillat Noar" is for children in grades 3 through 6, and is led by Julie Sudenfeld. This program is offered every week at 10:30 a.m.
During the summer services are held in the social hall and are more intimate and relaxed. A highlight of summer services is our Annual Summer D’var Torah Series.
Shabbat Afternoon Services
- Traditional Ma'ariv services are conducted in our chapel every Shabbat afternoon at 5:30 p.m.
Holiday Services
Daily Minyan
A Service Of Healing And Hope
Morning Mindfulness Meditation
Holiday celebrations have a special flair. On Sukkot, for example, our sanctuary is filled to capacity with families celebrating with lulavim and etrogim. Our children listen to stories and play games in the Sukkah during the Torah service. Our annual Chanukah Party and Tzedakah Fair teach the value of giving at a time when many young people only expect to receive. Purim always attracts a full house as surprise visitors (our professional staff dressed in costume) read and share the story of Esther. During Shavuot, children parade through the Sanctuary with their baskets of "first fruits."
Temple Israel offers both a morning and evening Minyan daily. Primarily lay-led, Minyan provides a community that comforts those who come to say Kaddish, supports newcomers to daily prayer, and encourages those who want to improve their davening and Torah reading skills.
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Sunday: 9:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Monday and Thursday: 6:45 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday and Wednesday: 7:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Friday at 7:00 a.m.
Times may change during holidays so please call with the Temple Office at (508)650-3521 to find out the proper time.
A Healing Service is an opportunity for people to share, gain and give support, in an intimate and prayerful community. Sitting informally together in a circle Rabbi Liben leads a service of about half an hour in length that includes singing, sharing, blessing and prayer. It is mostly English, but it includes some Hebrew. It may include guided visualization, or a few minutes of quiet meditation. The prayers emphasize hope, and encourage one to value the preciousness of every God-given moment. It is a service for the renewal of the spirit.
Who is it for? Anyone. Some people who come to a Healing Service are living with illness, or with medical challenges. They may come for support, or they may come to celebrate their ongoing successes. Others are family members who live with the responsibility of caring for loved ones. Others come simply because it provides an opportunity for respite, reflection and renewal in the midst of a busy life.
How does it differ from a "regular" service? Although a regular service in our chapel also includes some prayers for healing, and opportunities to add our individual prayers of the heart, they are really quite different. The community in the minyan builds from our mutual commitment to fulfill the requirements of daily prayer. The community in the Healing Service derives from the unique needs and hopes that we share at that moment. While we use the same booklet from service to service, the format is more open-ended and flexible. Mourners Kaddish is not a part of this service. However, people who want to say Kaddish are able to go to the chapel for minyan at the conclusion of the Healing Service.
All are welcome to attend the Healing Service. You need not be a member of Temple Israel to attend. The service is held the second Tuesday of the month at 7:00 p.m.
Start the day with 45 minutes of Jewish meditation and chanting. First and third Thursday mornings at 7:45 a.m. Second and fourth Shabbat mornings at 8:30 a.m.
