Shabbat services are now online via Zoom
This will include Mincha, Kabbalat Shabbat, a sermonette from the Rabbi, and Ma'ariv led by the Rabbi.
We will leave the zoom room open for 24 hours. If you wish to have your own private prayers before the ark you can jump into the room and see a steady streaming image of our sanctuary.
Saturday Morning with Rabbi Fruithandler
9:00 - 9:30 - Shacharit
9:30 - 10:00 - Abbreviated Torah Service, including Torah reading, questions on the Parashah, and a Haftarah
You can follow along to the Torah reading in English HERE and in Hebrew HERE
10:00 - 10:20 - Being Jewish during a pandemic - Rabbi Fruithandler's sermon
10:20-10:50 - Musaf
10:50 - 11:15 or so - Schmoozing
Friday Night Services
The Friday night service is split into two parts: Kabbalat Shabbat and Ma’ariv.
Kabbalat Shabbat is a service that was added in the middle ages. It comes out of the kabbalistic movement. The format of the service is six psalms symbolizing each of the days of the work week. Then we pause before the liturgical gem that is l’cha dodi.
L’cha dodi imagines that Shabbat is a beautiful bride from whom the people of Israel have been separated for a whole week. Each verse of L’cha dodi evokes a different kabbalistic aspect of God. It concludes as we face the door and welcome the Shabbat bride in our service. If someone is in shiva (the first seven days of mourning), they do not enter the service until after this prayer.
Kabbalat Shabbat concludes with two psalms that represent the day of Shabbat and mourner’s kaddish. Kabbalat Shabbat became so popular that often the entire Friday night service is referred to as Kabbalat Shabbat even though it is technically only the first half. At WJC, we do a selection of the prayers that compose this beautiful service.
Ma’ariv is the name for the daily evening service. It includes the Shema with its accompanying blessings and a silent Amidah (personal prayer). The Shabbat Ma’ariv service includes v’shamru (the paragraph in the Torah that tells us to protect Shabbat) and a few prayers after the Amidah. It is the custom at WJC for the rabbi to teach a little about the week’s parashah or some relevant topic of Judaism during this service.
Celebrate your next Shabbat with us.