Shabbat

Friday and Saturday Shabbat Services - Erev Shabbat services begin at 7:30 pm, except the first Friday of the month or Synaplex, when they begin at 6:30 pm. Shabbat morning services, when scheduled, begin at 10:30 am. We celebrate two different types of Shabbat services at the Village Temple. Check the VT calendar on this website or in the print format for the exact schedule of each type of service. 

Kabbalat Erev Shabbat is a music-filled Friday night service for tuning the soul. It draws upon an alternative siddur created by Rabbi Chava Koster, with music and readings from all over the Jewish world to welcome in the Sabbath Bride with joy and dance. We begin with niggunim -- melodies without words. The prayers and readings are in Hebrew, accompanied by transliterations, and in English. The following morning we join together in our Oneg Shabbat service. Continuing in the same prayer book, we participate in the morning service, with music designed to wake us up, physically and spiritually in stages, as we approach the Torah service and closing prayers.

Classical Erev Shabbat service uses the traditional Reform siddur, Gates of Prayer. Our prayers and music, new and old, are familiar within the Reform movement liturgy. By tradition in our Congregation, there is usually a Torah reading on these Friday nights, harkening back to the days when the Reform movement did not hold Saturday morning Shabbat services. Our Classical Shabbat morning service follows the Reform siddur and musical style, including the Torah service and closing prayers.