The Bar'chu

The call to worship: After initial readings and/or songs, the service proper begins with the Reader's Kaddish, an ancient prayer of praise in Aramaic (not Hebrew) that appears again at the end of the service as the prayer memorializing the dead. This is followed by the Bar'chu, a call to worship that dates back to the time of the Temple in Jerusalem.

The Sh'ma and its blessings

This section expresses three major themes: creation, revelation, and redemption. The Sh'ma, the watchword or motto of the Jewish people, declares our belief not only in the unity of God but also in the unity of all humanity.

The Amidah

This is the central prayer of the liturgy. In a weekday service, this would include a series of petitions to God, but on Shabbat, we content ourselves with prayers of praise and thanksgiving. We usually chant the first two parts of the Amidah. These are the Avot, praising the God of all generations, and the Gevurot, acknowledging God's power. This section ends with a period of silent meditation.

Learning

Because Friday night is our primary Shabbat service, we often read a selection from the Torah. You are encouraged to follow the reading in the thick blue UAHC Modern Torah Commentary. Torah is also read at Saturday morning services. On Saturday mornings, a passage from the prophetic writings (Haftara) is added. On Friday nights, the honor of saying the blessing before and after the Torah reading is given to the congregation as a whole. The blessings are found on pages 443 and 444 in The Gates of Prayer.

Transliterations of the Torah blessings begin at the bottom of page 772. A transliteration of the Torah blessings with musical notation is on pages 13 and 14 of the Hymnal. On Saturday morning, reading of the Torah is the centerpiece of a bar or bat mitzvah ceremony. Here the Torah blessings are read by individuals important in the life of the bar or bat mitzvah. These blessings may be recited in Hebrew or English.

A setting of the Mi Shebeirach, the prayer for healing, is sung at most services.

The Concluding Prayers

Aleynu (“the Adoration”) confirms that we are obliged to serve as God's partners in the completion of creation. The Kaddish (“the Sanctification of the Name”) is recited by the congregation in memory of those who died within the last year and on the anniversary of a death (the yahrzeit). The Kaddish prayer does not mention death but praises God for life and the universe. In Orthodox and Conservative congregations, only mourners stand for the Kaddish. Since the Holocaust, the Reform Jewish custom has been for the entire congregation to rise for the recitation of the Kaddish. The service concludes with the Kiddush, the blessing over wine. In it, we sanctify the Sabbath and recall how God rested after the six days of creation and how God released us from slavery in Egypt. We note the natural alternation between work and rest by blessing wine, a symbol for the Jewish belief that physical pleasure is part of the divine plan for humanity.

Our Prayer Books and the Torah

Our congregation uses The New Union Prayer Book, (The Gates of Prayer ) and The Torah, A Modern Commentary. Like other Reform congregations, we pray in both Hebrew and English. The English text is often interpretive rather than a literal translation. Our prayer book contains multiple services for the same occasion. The rabbi chooses one for a particular service. Periodically, we use the Gates of Prayer for Shabbat: A Gender Sensitive Prayerbook that employs “gender inclusive” language (avoiding male pronouns for God). The leader of the service stands on the bima (raised platform). Congregational readings are indicated by italics. We urge your participation.

The Torah is a hand‑lettered parchment scroll containing the first five books of the Hebrew Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Torah is housed in the ark, behind the velvet curtain at the front of the temple on the bima. In ancient times (and today among Orthodox Jews), the Torah was believed to be the literal word of God. Reform Judaism believes that Torah is a record of the Jewish people's quest to create a society in which the divine image can develop within each human soul. The Torah is revered and treated with great respect. It is dressed in an ornamental cover and adorned with a silver crown and breastplate. These decorations are symbolic of the priestly robes of Aaron, Moses' brother. When the ark is open and the Torah is visible, the congregation stands. A trained scribe called a sofer, who inscribes special ink on parchment, letters each Torah scroll. It contains only the consonantal text of the Torah without any vowels or punctuation marks. In order to chant from the scroll, one must first learn the melody by heart since the scroll does not contain musical notations. It is an honor to read or chant from the Torah.

Kipot and Tallitot

In the Reform movement today, more people are wearing a Tallit (prayer shawl) and/or a Kippah (head covering, also, yarmulke) to enhance their spiritual expereince during worship.  At Temple Sinai, wearing these items is optional, but it is also encouraged.
 
The Tallit has fringes (tzitzit) on its four corners, meant to remind us of commandments we may observe to make our lives holy (see Numbers 15:37-41).  A Tallit is worn only during morning services, and on the evening of Yom Kippur.  Wearing a Kippah is a sign of humility and respect towards God.  It is commonly worn during prayer, but can be worn also at other times.  It can also be an outward sign of Jewish religious identification and pride.
 
Today, both of these ritual practices are being renewed by Reform Jews.  Often, members of our community will wear, or even create, their own Tallitot (plural, also: Tallises), many of which contain bright colors, or were purchased in Israel or by a dear relative.  Kippot are beginning to be worn again in Reform congregations during prayer.  Our rabbi, Rabbi Vogel encourages members of Temple Sinai -- both men and women, and boys and girls of bar and bat mitzvah age and beyond -- to try on these ritual clothing items, as another way to experiment with and re-claim ancient Jewish practices in new and modern ways.
 
Tallitot are available in rear of our Sanctuary and Kippot are available in a basket as you enter. 

Flowers

The pulpit flowers are often donated by temple members in commemoration of a special event such as a wedding, a bat or bar mitzva, or the birth of a child or grandchild. Flowers may also be donated to decorate Ehrenfried Hall for the Oneg Shabbat.