Shabbat

The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation, from the world of creation to the creation of the world.

–– Abraham Joshua Heschel

Worship services take place at 6:15 pm on Fridays and 10:30 am on Saturdays. Each month there are regularly scheduled “special” ways to engage in worship:

Kabbalat Shabbat

"Welcoming the Sabbath" is our service for Friday evening. It begins each week at 6:15 pm, and is preceded by an Oneg Shabbat (literally, "the joy of Shabbat," but idiomatally, "good food and conversation") at 5:45 pm. At a typical Kabbalat Shabbat service, the music is joyful and the teaching is brief. The service concludes at around 7:10 pm.

Longstanding Reform Jewish custom is to treat the beginning of public worship as an appropriate time for candlelighting -- whether or not that moment falls prior to or subsequent to sunset. At Temple, we kindle lights to open our Kabbalat Shabbat service each week. We recognize, however the beauty and meaning of fulfilling the mitzvah of candlelighting as the sun prepares to set.

First Friday Kabbalat Shabbat with Kosher Cowpokes (6:15 pm)

A family-friendly Friday evening Shabbat worship with Kosher Cowpokes (Temple Band) when we also welcome all who will be celebrating birthdays and anniversaries for that month to the bimah for a special blessing.

Kabbalat Shabbat Service – Second and fourth Friday of the month (6:15 pm)

Using Mishkan Tefillah, join us as we welcome in Shabbat with the mitzvah of candlelighting.

Classical Reform Service – Third Friday of the month (6:15 pm)

Using the Chicago Sinai Union Prayer Book, the words of our prayers this Friday evening each month hearken back to the familiar words of the prayer book which was used at Temple Mount Sinai and around the Reform Jewish world from 1895 until 1975. This is an opportunity to reflect on days gone by, to be touched by still-meaningful words of prayer, and to be renewed by the history of Reform Jewish tradition.

Soul Shabbat - Second Saturday of the month (10:30 am)

A less formal service with a focus on reflection and introspection.

Shabbat Morning

Our Shabbat Morning Service is held every first, third and fourth Saturday, beginning at 10:30 am and lasting until about 11:45. In those seventy-five minutes, we read from Torah and from the Prophets, and pray the morning service from Mishkan T'filah, the prayerbook of the Reform Movement. As with all services at Temple, music and spirit are our touchstones.

How can a full worship service be held in such a brief period of time? At Temple, we take seriously the Rabbinic principle, "Better a little with feeling (kavvanah) than much without." By "hitting the highlights" of the preliminary prayers, we are able to devote our attention to the main rubrics of the service (the Sh'ma and its Blessings, and the Amidah). Similarly, we read and discuss a brief selection from the weekly portion, our goal being to draw out relevance for our own lives.